As a leader in digital services, Atos UK and Irelands’ marketing strategy is always evolving – but it’s account- based marketing model achieved a significant step change. It developed a strategic, systematic and creative approach to winning new deals, both with existing clients and new clients.

ABM has delivered extraordinary business growth for Atos and has elevated its marketing team into becoming truly client-centric. Now, as a business and as marketers, it’s more innovative, creative, digital, braver and bolder.

About Atos

Atos is a leader in digital services, with annual revenues of €11 billion and 110,000 employees in 73 countries. The group provides cloud, cybersecurity, high- performance computing, big data, business applications, BPO and digital workplace solutions. Atos’ marketing team has always worked closely with account and sales/deal teams to create new business opportunities through differentiated, high-value content and client engagement.

Three years ago, its SVP for sales and marketing had seen that what marketing was doing on some of the bid/deals was differentiating it from competitors. The SVP challenged the marketing team to devise a model for doing this more systematically and consistently across all new deals, in a way that would give Atos a competitive advantage.

Objectives

• Create a 50% increase in new business won over a three-year period
• Increase the win rate on deals by 20% within a 3-year period
• Ability to support an additional 30 deals during 2018/2019
• Bring 10 new clients into the business during 2018/2019 › Deliver a 50:1 ROI through the programme during 2018/2019

Target audience

Senior client/prospect buyers on Atos’ bids/deals including board level individuals (CEO, COO, chief digital officer, CTO/CIO, CFO, CPO) and their direct reports. Covering private and public sector markets.

Media, channels and techniques used

Atos’ approach embedded a new business-wide model that applies ABM technologies, techniques and methodologies to winning new deals. Marketers spend 50% of their day supporting deals and work collectively on 10-15 deals each day.

Specialist agencies included:

• 
  Agent3:
  
  Built a client insight team specifically within marketing, which provides deal-based client insight on individual stakeholders.
• 
  Coterie:
  
  Delivered value propositions/messaging by working with Atos’ marketers on market/industry-based content that is re-used and tailored to each deal.
• 
  Oliver:
  
  Joined a hybrid creative onsite team specifically to work on each deal. This provided individual, personalised and digital creative for each deal.

Example ABM campaigns

Atos included a mix of media/channels in supporting each deal from initial awareness generation through to closure, with different tactics chosen depending on what was needed to respond to the target audience.

Example:

A leading gas and electricity provider (new client, winning new business)

The challenge was to illustrate Atos as a digital disruptor in the gas and electricity industry so that the prospect would have confidence in their long-term relationship bringing new possibilities, delivering transformation and future-proofing solutions.

• 
  Creative:
  
  Atos delivered a 12-month campaign under the theme of ‘What If…’ This included presentations, emails, executive summaries, infographics, diagrams, direct-mail shots (hand delivered), social media to provide consistent, personalised and differentiated messaging. Interactive rich pictures, animations and videos to illustrate the long-term journey they would embark on together.
• 
  Client insight:
  
  Stakeholder mapping and relationship trackers, utilising the client insight platform to provide real-time insight to the sales/deal teams. Events: Sponsorship of an industry summit, innovation sessions, workshops and a site visit to demonstrate credentials and build relationships.

Example:

Public sector body (existing client, winning new business)

The challenge was to radically change perceptions of Atos from a traditional IT vendor to a trusted digital innovation partner at the heart of public sector modernisation. Atos introduced an innovative 18-month campaign: ‘Reimagining the User Experience’ which rebranded/repositioned it by showcasing its digital story and end-client focus.

• 
  Creative:
  
  Blend of digital and printed collateral, including interactive rich pictures, augmented reality and use of AtosConnect (its personalised digital app for clients).
• 
  Events:
  
  Sponsorship of innovation and diversity events bringing the key stakeholders andclient influencers together.
• 
  Messaging:
  
  Utilised for a new account vision with senior Atos stakeholders.

Timescales

• 
   Jan-April 2015:
  
  Research and planning
• 
  May-July 2015:
  
  Business case and pilot model deployment
• 
  Aug-Dec 2015:
  
  Pilot model deployment
• 
  Jan-March 2016:
  
  Pilot review and model sign-off
• 
  2016-now:
  
  Full model deployment and refinement including resource expansion in January 2019
• 
  Weekly:
  
  KPI calls, sales/deal/marketing team workshops/resource/results/progress calls

Budgets

This is the largest investment Atos has ever made into a marketing programme. The costs cannot be provided as they are commercially sensitive but include all resources, media, technology described in this case study.

Results delivered

• 
  167%
  
  increase in new business won over a three-year period (against 50% target)
• 
  76%
  
  deal win rate in 2018/2019 (compared with a 34% win rate in 2015/2016) (42% increase compared with 20% target)
• 
  18
  
  new clients brought into the business in 2018/2019 (compared with three newclients in 2015/2016) (15 new logos increase compared with target of 10)
• 
  40:1
  
  ROI delivered during 2018/2019 (against 50:1 target)

Additional results/benefits

Marketers are more creative, proactive and braver in their approach.

Marketers feel highly valued, illustrated through receiving 87% in 2018’s Great Place To Work survey 7 x internal accolades received.