Services: Marketing strategy, campaign design and execution including collateral creation, Web design and technical development.
Takeaway: People make decisions based primarily on emotions. Connect to the right emotions and you can achieve extraordinary results.
Story: While we have done numerous projects for Microsoft, ironically, our most successful has little to do with marketing software. Several years ago, we became Microsoft’s marketing partner for their internal employee giving campaign. We were selected over several long-term vendors because of our unique approach to understanding audiences and building campaigns around their specific needs. For Microsoft, this meant applying a marketing/fundraising approach to what was traditionally just an awareness campaign. In our first year, we took the campaign – for which we were involved in everything from strategy, collateral (posters, signage, clothing, giveaways, etc.), video, email, Web and in-person promotions – from around $17 million to over $28 million. We progressively increased the campaign each year for five years at which point Microsoft took over the campaign internally. Equally significant was the launch of the new Microsoft “Realize Potential” brand internally to all employees during our second year with Microsoft.
Our work with Microsoft is an excellent example of what can be done when you connect with people’s deeper aspirations and emotions in ways that are tangible and relevant through a fully integrated marketing campaign.
