Dell is utilising its sponsorship of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 to change perceptions of the brand via storytelling. Jessica McGreal reports
What comes to mind when you think of Dell? Computers, right? Wrong. The brand has grown rapidly in the last couple of years and is now an end-to-end solution provider with ‘The power to do more’. The tech giant knows it has a big problem when it comes to brand perceptions and plans to correct this via its sponsorship of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games happening in July this year.
This sponsorship deal has allowed Dell a rare opportunity to be creative in a new way – engaging with its audience via something they are interested in: sport. Plus, as the official hardware and software supporter of the Games the company is utilising the worldwide platform to showcase its brand story and change perceptions of Dell as just a PC maker. The activity also aims to cultivate a winning culture internally.
However, before launching the campaign the brand was faced with multiple creative challenges. The main problem was highlighting the power of its technology. This is because it will only be completely deployed at Games time. This meant Dell could not illustrate the benefits of its end-to-end solution until after the event. As a result, it has chosen to humanise the brand by focusing pre-Games activity on what’s going on behind the scenes in the run up to Glasgow 2014 and telling three unique stories.
Storytelling
The creative campaign, aimed at businesses of all sizes, features real-life stories from three individuals involved in the event: ‘The importance of technology designed to scale’ following Glasgow 2014’s chief information officer. ‘Delivering a truly connected workplace’ featuring the village accommodation manager. Finally, ‘Supporting athletes in their journey to Glasgow 2014’ highlighting the story of Dell’s athlete ambassadors, who include cyclist Elinor Barker and Paralympic gold medallists, swimmers Sam and Oliver Hynd (MBE).
As part of the project, March saw the brand launch print, digital, outdoor and social activity, including a media partnership with the Glasgow Herald. Plus, the company has used video to introduce the three diverse stories to the audience with the aim of driving an emotional connection with the viewer.
Karen Morton, EMEA brand director at Dell, believes having a multichannel campaign is “absolutely critical” to the success of any B2B campaign. She explains: “I think it’s critical in different ways. I think it’s about reinforcing the story and having that consistency. It’s obviously a very cluttered marketplace for everyone nowadays. For us there is all sorts of media trying to get your attention. So a clear, consistent, single-minded message is key and really pushing it across all channels.”
This is especially important in this case, where the company has three different stories to tell. As a result, content release will be staggered across the six months leading up to the Games.
Winning culture
The ‘Power to do more’ campaign is also being used to unify Dell employees under one clear goal and cultivate a winning culture.
As well as having staff as volunteers and attendees at the event this summer, Dell has decided to unite the brand by keeping all marketing inhouse. While, employees’ knowledge of the brand allows them to bring the stories to life in the most engaging way possible, this has also seen other benefits, including the ability to turn things around quickly.
Gold Medallist
As a result, the project is creating massive engagement internally, with employees hugely excited and proud of Dell’s involvement in the Games.
Externally, the inital video has received over 900 views on YouTube to date without any active promotion. The company’s Twitter reach has increased by 206 per cent in this first quarter of this year. These are sure signs people are engaging with the content.
Despite the technology solution only being fully deployed at Games time, Dell is quietly confident this campaign will bring great success. Looking ahead, it hopes this sponsorship will lead to future sports sponsorship deals.
