Summary
In preparing the campaign strategy for the ‘What’s blocking you?’ campaign, we researched the state of the cloud computing market and found there was general confusion about cloud computing with media owners, not brands, leading the conversation. The real tangible business benefits that cloud could bring to businesses were misunderstood and although there was a lot of content already existing about this subject matter, there was also a lot of hype and myth that needed dispelling. This resulted in the market taking a ‘wait and see’ position – but created a gap for credible and authoritative information on cloud computing.
The ‘What’s blocking you?’ campaign was planned as a fully integrated campaign – but with compelling and targeted content at its core. This meant the development of a suite of authoritative content to provoke the maximum number of interactions and conversations with a focus on ‘making cloud real.’
Fujitsu were the first to market on delivering infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to Enterprises in the UK, so we set out to position Fujitsu as an authority and expert advisor on cloud in the face of much uncertainty.
About the client company
Fujitsu UK & Ireland is part of the global Fujitsu Group which offers ICT and micro electronics solutions, and services across 70 countries. This business division offers IT services, systems and products from Data Centres and outsourced IT services, to strategic IT consulting.
Strategy
In a fragmented media landscape, content needs to be of better quality and more compelling than ever before. As the internet has become a key business tool, the purchase behaviour of IT and technology decision makers has very much changed the context within which information exists – online content is often the starting point of an engagement cycle which could lead to a sales conversation. The background to the creation of content for this campaign was that the cloud computing marketplace was becoming increasingly cluttered with a plethora of new vendors purporting to have cloud computing offerings arriving every month. Fujitsu believed that they had a strong, competitive offering that could cut through all of the hype and confusion.
To re-affirm Fujitsu’s position as an expert and advisor in cloud computing solutions, a suite of compelling and authoritative content was created to cut through the hype and ‘make cloud real.’
Objectives of the campaign
To develop a suite of compelling content that would:
1. Position Fujitsu as a thought-leader in cloud computing for the Enterprise.
2. Build awareness for Fujitsu as the only brand delivering infrastructure as a service for enterprises today.
3. Demonstrate Fujitsu’s ability to guide and advise on this new technology in the face of much uncertainty about cloud.
The target audience
The campaign target audience was CIOs, IT directors and IT managers inlarge and medium enterprises in the UK. This group is highly marketed to with a whole range of different IT messages through multiple media channels.
Content created
The goal of the campaign was to deliver a broad spectrum of highly relevant content to all target audiences in support of the campaign objectives:
Video content for IT decision makers
Working with Computer Business Review (industry publication) we commissioned the editor to conduct a probing discussion with two Fujitsu experts on how they saw enterprises harnessing cloud computing.
The purpose of this piece – ‘The Truth about cloud computing’ – was to cut through the market hype and position Fujitsu as practical advisors and enablers of cloud computing.
Video content for influencers
An element of the campaign strategy was to target business leaders and educate them on the benefits to their organisation of harnessing Cloud computing. The aim was to assist the IT decision makers when they had to convince their board that Cloud computing was beneficial and to stop any
early stage objections.
Working with Management Today (industry publication) we commissioned the editor to carry out five video interviews with industry leaders ranging from CEO of Regus, CIO of Rentokil to the marketing director of British Gas. Each video interview discussed cloud computing from their specific viewpoint. This enabledus to create content that appealed to a variety of audiences.
Research report
Research was conducted amongst 100 early adopters of cloud computing to share their experiences. The findings revealed key insights that the target audience could consider in their decision-making. In the absence of any named case studies this piece alleviated concerns in the marketplace that cloud computing was an untried and untested concept.
Social media generated content
Through the use of poll units on CIO website we were able to gauge what hot topics our target audience were interested in. We noticed that questions around security and contractual negotiations were very popular. In response, we interviewed a number of Fujitsu experts to ascertain the Fujitsu position on these topics to create whitepapers.
Practical guide
To demonstrate Fujitsu’s leadership and practical advisor position Fujitsu believed a no-nonsense practical guide to cloud computing would berelevant to the target audience. Produced in consultation with some of the UK’s leading CIOs a 60 page guide was created by CIOs for CIOs. It contained a clear definition of the different cloud computing models available and their appropriateness. Plus set out best practice for and practical approaches for cloud adoption.
Content distribution
Through development of this content we were able to offer a variety of media formats and messages that our target audience could utilise during online search and through the buying process. All content resided online and has pushed out by our various media partners (press ads, banner ads, direct email comms to subscriber base, feature spots in editor’s news roundups); through a direct communications approach (a calendar of email and DM comms planned for Fujitsu’s database); through telemarketing (content used as follow-up to call to nurture lead), and at f2f roundtable and trade events as giveaways.
Direct feedback from the sales force confirmed that this content strategy played a direct role in influencing prospects during the sales cycle.
Campaign timescales
Planning/Concepts April 2010
Production/Build May 2010
Direct Comms June 2010 (ongoing)
Telemarketing June 2010 (ongoing)
Social Media June 2010 (ongoing)
Media Partnership June – November 2010
Events September 2010
Client testimonial
“To see 70 per cent of our leading prospects for Cloud come directly from our content marketing effort shows how effective a targeted and relevant content strategy can be in the buying chain.”
James Collister, Head of Campaigns, Fujitsu UK & Ireland
