THE PORTRAIT – LENA ALVLING
WITH THE WORLD AS WORKPLACE
We meet Lena Alvling, Marketing and Event Manager at Stena Bulk, in Bohuslän’s archipelago where she finds the necessary relaxation all year round. Lena is employed at Stena Bulk with the formal title of General Manager Marketing & Corporate Events WW. The role often entails travelling worldwide as responsible for a variety of international events. The working pace is high, the details are many.
NAMING CEREMONIES – A SPECIALTY
Few people have participated in as many naming ceremonies as Lena Alvling. Especially as Manager of the events. So far, there have been about 20 namings worldwide. From Concordia Maritime’s P-MAX tankers in Croatia to Stena Bulk’s Suezmax tankers in South Korea. And most recently, the IMOIIMAX vessels built in China but often named in different parts of the world.
”Working with ship namings is great fun. It’s not ‘just’ an event, but also a way to work strategically with customer relations and partners to preserve old traditions and build brand,” says Lena.
The work covers everything from finding the best place for the event to establishing contacts with different suppliers all around the world. As well as cooperating with the vessel crews of course. And, very importantly, establishing a good connection with the godmother, who usually has not been in a similar situation before.
To ensure that everyone involved are confident with their tasks and are well prepared, and to make sure that the guests have an enjoyable and flawless experience are things Lena deems important and always pays extra attention to. “The details are important,” she emphasises.
All namings are unique in their own way. From smaller events, such as the naming of the Stena Imperial in Savannah, USA, with some 50 guests. To the much bigger event when the Stena Weco Impulse was named in Copenhagen, with Crown Princess Mary of Denmark as godmother and a huge media coverage.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR MANY DIFFERENT EVENTS
Over the years, Lena has been responsible for many kinds of events and sponsorships. Including the sailing tournament Stena Match Cup Sweden on Marstrand, where Stena was the main sponsor for several years. She had the overall responsibility for Stena AB’s activation of the sponsorship, planning and activities. It was a challenging task initially, as it was the first time that all the companies within Stena AB and Stena Metall AB were to be promoted under one umbrella in the same sponsorship.
”At the same time, we saw a unique opportunity to showcase the broad range of our different companies and increase awareness of the wide scope of businesses that Stena covers,” Lena says.
Another rewarding project was the worldwide platform created for the Volvo Ocean Race, which several Stena companies used in 2017-18. It gave them the opportunity to represent internationally at their customers’ home base – a much appreciated approach.
”It’s really great when we can offer a platform that fits many of the companies and is used by several of the companies to spend valuable time with their customers, as a group or individually,” she adds.
In 2017, Lena also had the honourable assignment of managing Dan Sten Olsson’s official 70th birthday celebration. Both locally in Gothenburg and for international guests in London.
”Continually at home and marketing wise we currently focus a lot on how we work globally with the brand, culture and visibility of Stena Bulk – also an exciting task!”, Lena Alvling concludes.