How can International FinanceCorporation (IFC) advisory teams with limited numbers andbudgets trigger actions among multiple players to bringabout an impact that reaches the scale of a country or asector? The IFC Russia Cleaner Production Programencountered that question when initiating a benchmarkingstudy of the ferrous foundry sector in Russia. The authorknew that no agent of change is more powerful than an idea.The key is to get the idea firmly planted in the hearts andminds of the participants, who then will act on it andachieve the desired impact. To engage the whole sector inconverting to resource-efficiency practices, the author hadto approach communications strategically. The objective:root the use of benchmarking in the minds of sector decisionmakers and engage multiple stakeholders the author did nothave direct access to and convince them to participate inthe study. This smart lesson outlines the three keys toeffective strategic communications, which can apply to anyAdvisory Services (AS) program with a similarly ambitioustarget of changing the mindset of stakeholders.