Founded in 1979, EMC Corporation is the world’s leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information.
Strategy: broader business objectives
EMC understands it has to work hard to get channel partners onboard and were a tough crowd to please. Partner adoption rates of previous campaign initiatives had no meaningful pattern, and little or no reporting was captured to monitor campaign success and return on investment.
Additionally, as a new product proposition, EMC SourceOne needed to fight for partner attention, focus and consideration – not only against other ventors’ solutions, but also against other products from the broad EMC portfolio.
To achieve volume sales through the channel, it was clearly essential to engage and gain advocacy from the partner community, as well as provide the tools to go to market with and reach end-users.
Objectives of the campaign
The core objectives for the campaign focused on:
- Supporting EMEA and North America channel sales targets for 2009/10
- Establishing the EMC SourceOne proposition in the marketplace and the
partner community - Galvanizing the channel partner community into getting involved and
supporting the product - Creating a marketing support model for channel partners that is sustainable
and capable of generating leads
A scalable end-user marketing campaign, beyond the means of most channel partners, was created to deliver market leadership stature and high levels of end-user engagement.
Partner engagement packs were employed to cut through the noise of alternative vendor solutions and establish a statement of intent from EMC SourceOne to aid adoption rates. A commercial proposition delivered with a bit of craft and charm.
A clearly defined implementation model and team was then created to address the lack of partner marketing resource/skill, with the aim of easing the process of campaign adoption and implementation.
The target audience
There were multiple target audiences for this campaign:
- EMC Velocity Programme Partners (channel)
- End-User Target (direct)
- EMC Internal Audiences (awareness)
Media, channels or techniques used
Marketing to the partners consisted of telemarketing and face-to-face meetings, supported by DM packs and emails providing links to experience the campaign microsite and sign up to run the campaign.
The partner-to-end-user integrated campaign, Sourceone City, is a mid- to long-term strategy, with new waves of partner/EMC co-branded activity that partners can run each quarter to build presence and consideration over time. Each campaign wave consists of a series of emails, DM, SEM, banner advertising, all with links through to the partner’s individual campaign microsite. The marketing mix is then adapted and deployed to best suit each partner.
The campaign is designed to actively engage and differentiate from the standard ‘man in white shirt and glasses’ stock image style marketing that is all too common in this space. By creating a more rewarding and inclusive experience for the target audience we hoped to increase initial consideration rates and create a strong platform for sales to convert leads into sales.
Timescales of the campaign
Results
Campaign adoption:
Since launching in September 2009, the campaign has:
- Been adopted by 30 partners in 15 languages worldwide
- Delivered a 200 per cent improvement on previous average campaign adoption rates
Client testimonial
Channel partner
“Fujitsu A/S has been helping organizations managing their growing volume of information for many years. EMC provides the right combination of incentives and resources for partners, enabling us to be profitable and grow our business. Since rolling out the SourceOne City marketing campaign in the last three months, we have over 30 new EMC SourceOne projects in the pipeline.”
Michael Søriis, business development manager, Fujitsu A/S
EMC
“EMC’s commitment in building mutually-beneficial channel partner relationships is stronger than ever. Delivering EMC SourceOne and supporting it with comprehensive channel programs are drawing top distributors and resellers worldwide….[through] the SourceOne City marketing campaign, EMC will continue to see sustained growth and success with our channel partners.”
Jay DeWalt, vice president of worldwide channels and alliances, content management and archiving division, EMC