Touchpoint Helps Publicis Rainger to “Make It Possible” for HP
After any contested merger the real battle starts: winning hearts and minds. When global computing giant HP launched its
worldwide above-the-line campaign, after completing its complex merger with Compaq Computer, the New Zealand operation
capitalised on an opportunity to do just that.
The campaign, a series of finely tuned case studies executed for television, outdoor, and press, illustrates the
successful partnerships HP enjoys with high profile global brands, like Hollywood company DreamWorks, and how these
companies employ HP technology to achieve outstanding results. Cartoon movie hero Shrek featured prominently in the
outdoor creative with the tagline dreamworks + hp = everything is possible, as did formula one team BMW Williams, and
others.
Management recognised that the strength and popular appeal of the campaign opened the way for an internal extension
which would re-energise staff and channel partners post merger, at the same time as communicating the brand relaunch. A
second but equally important goal was to change internal perceptions of HP, broadening it from the reputation it enjoyed
as a supplier of printers and peripherals to being a total IT solutions and services company.
Before launching the television commercial, HP wanted to ensure that staff and channel partners understood HP’s
relationship with the various partners promoted in the campaign. Agency Publicis Rainger was briefed to undertake a
local campaign to capitalise on the compelling DreamWorks and Universal Pictures case study.
“We had a simple goal,” says Simon Morgan, General Manager of Publicis Rainger. “We wanted people to read these case
studies, because if they did we were confident they’d understand the background to the HP brand campaign and would be
able to articulate what HP stands for. We decided the best way to achieve this was to offer strong encouragement and a
sense of fun and reward – a free DreamWorks DVD of their choice if they answered our questions.”
HP wanted to target employees, higher level channel partners, selected enterprise customers and some media. All were
sent a direct mail communication containing a DVD case with a fake DVD in it. On this DVD there was a unique code and a
URL. Recipients were directed to the website to enter their unique code, and then were asked to read three case studies
and answer simple questions about them.
Once they answered correctly, they were sent their choice of free DVD from a catalogue of more than 23 Universal
Pictures titles.
Naturally, the most compelling aspect of the promotion for respondants was the offer of their choice of DVD. However
that introduced a layer of logistical complexity: ensuring that the correct DVD selection was ordered from the
distributor and then sent to the correct person at the correct delivery address. Publicis Rainger solved the problem by
outsourcing the entire execution to Touchpoint, who hosted the campaign and also automated its back end and fulfilment
components. Touchpoint managed the ordering and fulfilment automatically by emailing a weekly order file to the DVD
distributor and a fulfilment file to the mailhouse. Touchpoint’s realtime reporting enabled Publicis Rainger and HP to
monitor the campaign and track response from their desktop.
“The response rate was fantastic – over 68 per cent of people responded and claimed their DVD, with some segments
exceeding 90 per cent response” says Darryn Keiller, Marketing Development and Planning Manager at HP New Zealand. “We
count this as a very successful campaign, and it was executed extremely smoothly.”
“Printed material is easy to ignore and hard to follow up,” says Steve Shearman, Director of Touchpoint. “You simply
never know who has read it and what they’ve taken from it. By using an email plus web response combination we were able
to closely monitor exactly who we reached and when, how successfully the message was delivered and how well it was
internalised by individuals in each segment.
“If the goal is to change perceptions, this combination makes for a very powerful, cost effective and measurable
delivery mechanism.”