| Title | THE TEAM BEHIND THE TEAM |
| Brand | MICROSOFT |
| Product / Service | OFFICE 365 |
| Category | B04. Business Equipment & Services |
| Entrant | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Media Agency | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Media Agency 2 | UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Hayley-Ritz Houlton | Ensemble | Production Manager |
| Natalie Collins | Wunderman | |
| Charlie Leahy | Ensemble | Director Of Content |
| Tom Disapia | Um Australia | Strategy Director |
| Nick Sinclair | Um Australia | Communications Director |
Prompted awareness of Office 365 grew from zero to 56%. Over one third of ITDMs recalled the Office 365 V8 content - well above the industry average of 18%. The idea earned us coverage in key B2B publications and fuelled social conversations that reached 34,000 Twitter accounts. By the end of the campaign one third of ITDMs had shared the story with their peers. Of those who saw the activity, 95% went on to find out more information and 25% went on to trial Office 365. Traffic to the Office 365 trial page tripled and sales doubled.
We integrated Office 365 into V8 team operations and created an online content series to tell the story of the IT team who work behind-the-scenes there. Against the backdrop of high octane thrills each episode showed how the ‘team behind the team’ was using Office 365 to make a real difference to the business. To kick off the campaign we rebranded one of the flagship V8 races to the ‘Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 race’. Influential IT decision makers and tech bloggers were invited to get up close to the drivers, teams and technology that fuel the V8s. The social story spread via the #Office365V8 hashtag. The launch was amplified through a media partnership with News Limited. The content was promoted in key business and IT environments through editorial integration and digital and print placements. Microsoft owned channels were leveraged and all connections facilitated sharing via social feeds.
Microsoft challenged us to drive take-up of Office 365 amongst IT decision makers (ITDMs). We found that ITDMs spent so much time keeping the lights on they couldn’t focus on the big business challenges and solutions. The only time they got noticed is when systems went down. Insight: It’s the people behind the scenes that make the biggest difference in a company, but their hard work often goes unnoticed. We set out to show ITDMs exactly how Office 365’s access-anywhere system would make a real difference to their business and get them the credit they deserved. Strategy: Give ITDMs their moment in the spotlight and celebrate the ‘team behind the team’. We avoided typical boring business-to-business communications and took Office out of the office. Idea: A unique partnership with V8 Supercars to show how Office 365 enabled the V8 IT team to take the sport to the next level.