Changing the World, One Case at a Time

The Client: PGMBM is a unique partnership between Brazilian, British, and American lawyers passionate about championing justice for the victims of corporate wrongdoing. The firm has represented hundreds of thousands of affected consumers globally in class action cases against BHP, Volkswagen, Bayer AG, and many more major multinationals.

The Brief: In early 2020, PGMBM approached Sherlock Communications for communications assistance related to a US$6.5bn legal case against BHP, an Anglo-Australian mining company and co-owners of Samarco Mineração SA. When the Fundão Dam collapsed in Mariana in 2015, causing the largest environmental disaster in Brazilian history, it was Samarco’s toxic waste that spilled into the Rio Doce, killing at least 19 people, destroying nearby villages, contaminating close to 700km of waterways on route to the Atlantic Ocean, and causing untold environmental damage.

To support the case, the client needed us to help rebrand their firm from SPG Law to PGMBM (including the initials of all partners, a legal requirement in Brazil) and to help tell the story of the disaster, revive interest among the public, and — through media in Brazil as well as Australia and the UK (where shareholders were primarily based) — highlight details of the legal case being brought against BHP on behalf of more than 200,000 individuals, 25 Brazilian municipal governments, 530 businesses, and members of the Krenak indigenous community, whose sacred waters and lands were destroyed during the tragedy.

Target Audience: The target audience was broad, ranging from ABC1 adults and business decision-makers to lawmakers, government officials, environmental activists, influential journalists, and BHP’s institutional shareholders (including large pension funds). After years of a very intense and effective marketing by BHP, Brazilians had almost forgotten about the disaster and been led to believe compensation and reconstruction work had been fairly completed.