With offices around the world navigating pandemic protocols and hybrid work environments, Envoy needed to position its platform as the number-one solution provider for hybrid, remote and in-office businesses. The Mx Group partnered with Envoy to launch a brand awareness campaign, within a short time frame, to meet the surging demands of the modern workplace. Their goal was to boost traffic to Envoy’s website and increase qualified leads, revenue and brand awareness.
To accomplish this, they launched a multi-channel campaign that targeted specific major metro market locations such as Chicago, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City. Within these markets, Mx narrowed the target audience to technical directors, security leaders, HR professionals and workplace managers to generate qualified leads with an exposure campaign spanning six months.
About the client company
Envoy is transforming modern workplaces for hybrid work and safely bringing people together. Envoy’s workplace platform has redefined how companies welcome visitors, keep employees safe, book desks and conference rooms and manage deliveries in over 14,000 locations around the globe by designing products for a flexible workplace experience. Companies like Slack, Pinterest and Warby Parker rely on Envoy to keep their offices safe and compliant.
Envoy is a startup SaaS company, founded in 2014 with headquarters in San Francisco, California, and Kansas City, Kansas. Envoy’s initial offering was visitor check-in. In 2019, the company expanded its marketing operations to include demand generation departments with campaigns including SEM, social posts and foundational analytics. By 2020, the pandemic necessitated a new way of working. Envoy’s product offerings expanded to accommodate the changing workplace.
Strategy – broader business issues the company faced
Envoy had been operating prior to 2020. But there was a lack of awareness of Envoy’s relevance to the pandemic and how its platform could help businesses navigate the complexities of a hybrid workplace. The SaaS company realized the imperative for an extensive brand awareness campaign with a lead generation strategy. The campaign needed to be launched in a rapid timeframe, spanning multiple channels. Envoy wanted to showcase its workplace management platform as the preferred choice.
Objectives of the campaign
The six-month campaign goal was to reach the target audience with media that would have a positive impact on the brand itself — increasing awareness and trust. Mx chose high-quality placements in channels like OOH, print, podcasts and more that would expose Envoy’s brand to targets in a way that was relatable, top-of-the-line, and communicated authority in the marketplace.
The full campaign ran for six months and culminated in a platinum sponsorship at the Human Resource Executive and HR Technology Conference. Materials were in market just 17 days after briefing. The campaign was built to ramp up quickly with breaks around the holidays to maximize impressions and accommodate the target audiences’ holiday schedules. The messaging was updated several times throughout the campaign to account for the ever-changing work environment.
The target audience
Envoy aimed to be the preferred leader for flexible, hybrid work solutions. The campaign targeted decision-makers like technical directors, security leaders, workplace managers and HR administrators in primary metro markets like Chicago, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and additional secondary markets. These leaders are responsible for creating the policies and procedures their businesses use to navigate pandemic protocols and hybrid work environments. The targets not only needed to understand the benefits of Envoy for their businesses, but Envoy’s brand also needed to appeal to the audience as end-users. The audience would need to relate, understand and train employees on the software.
Media, channels or techniques used
Brand trust with the target audience was gained by offering demos of the platform. While a range of channels were covered, Mx specifically used OOH, podcasts, and launched a large-scale print takeover.
Mx creative teams elevated Envoy’s existing brand idea by bringing to life Envoy’s workplace vision. The lively messaging expanded to both national and local newspapers. The ads were juxtaposed with bleak, black and white headlines about the pandemic. The creative pieces demonstrated an upbeat view of the “return to office” journey with bright colors and optimistic slogans showcasing Envoy as the bright, people-centric solution businesses are searching for to relieve anxiety.
The placement of these ads was key to their success. Mx purchased placements in multiple high-impact publications (Forbes, Wired Inc., etc.) that included eight-page spreads and selected premium-priced billboard placements within the targeted metros. They wanted to ensure the ads demonstrated best-in-class quality.
The ads were spread across multiple paid social channels and platforms. OOH was launched in key metro areas to create an even larger market-specific impact. Envoy’s brand was displayed throughout major cities, like London, with custom taxi graphics and wraps. The full launch culminated in a platinum sponsorship at the Human Resource Executive and HR Technology Conference.
Timescales of the campaign
Mx debuted a robust, fully integrated campaign in mid-July of 2021. The first phase of materials in market included print ads in local and national newspapers. At the same time, digital and paid social displayed the ads on popular tech and business organizations’ websites like Society for Human Resource Management. Phase two of the campaign expanded to OOH, and phase three pushed into radio with ads featured on platforms like Pandora. Additional channels included digital TV and OTT. The ad was viewed on platforms like Pluto TV and CBS News. The final phase of the campaign included a dynamic presence at the Human Resource Executive and HR Technology Conference.
Throughout the campaign, website traffic, inquiries, closed sales and revenue were tracked and compared to similar timeframes to measure impact. A pre- and post-campaign brand survey was conducted to measure brand awareness impact specifically in the target metros. While the results ultimately can’t be directly attributed, the reporting did show a direct correlation to campaign elements and increases in all campaign KPIs.
Results
Mx’s strategy led to Envoy raising $111 million in Series C financing to help businesses navigate pandemic protocols. Results were measured through a pre- and post-campaign brand awareness survey showing that Envoy’s non-branded SEO position for “hybrid work” went from 45 to 1, site visits grew 98%, Envoy’s brand awareness increased 13%, and sales-qualified leads increased 146%. These campaign KPI accomplishments cannot be directly attributed to any specific media, but there is a relationship between the media in-market and number of deals closed/won.
“The campaign launched in a rapid timeframe with materials quickly in market. The targeting strategy across multiple channels was effective at increasing brand awareness and trust in our hybrid solutions for businesses navigating new hybrid workplaces"
