The Campaign

Our idea was “Office of the Future.” Knowing that our ITDMs were also ‘digital nomads’ and spent an increasing amount of time on their mobile devices, we needed a way to get in front of them and show what a future office could look like, with a focus on workplace mobility and design. The challenge here however, was finding an innovative way of interrupting shorter attention spans and doing more with less screen real estate. Augmented Reality was selected as the innovative mechanism to demonstrate “Office of the Future”, virtually turning their current location into a future office space and allowing them to digitally actualise HP’s concept. Already considered futuristic technology, HP could leverage this perception of AR to achieve a halo effect back onto the brand and campaign messaging. In doing this, we channelled Marshall McLuhan’s expression, “the medium is the message.”

Creative Execution

Understanding that users on mobile had short attention spans, the creative execution was simple and clear. Upon entering the banner, viewers were greeted with a HP laptop which automatically rotated on its axis, utilising the gyroscope function of the phone. Hotspots were available on different areas of the laptop, giving users the option to explore the unique and superior features when tapped. When prompted, users could initiate the AR experience with one click and explore the device in their physical environment. In this real-time setting, users were able to obtain a first-hand experience of the mobility of HP’s commercial products. To further this exciting execution, we leveraged smart media buying and targeting tactics. Deeper understanding of our most receptive audiences was determined through Google’s 2nd party audience targeting, and by layering affinity segments across different industry verticals, we were able to A/B test and identify the best performing segments. Regular optimisations throughout the three-month campaign period also helped to reveal insights that were leveraged in the creative. In doing this, our ARDP banners were optimised mid-campaign to incorporate lifestyle elements that appealed to specific audiences, thereby increasing the overall relevance of the ads to the viewing audience.

Media metrics of CPM and CTR were analysed in comparison to standard banner performance. We delivered an innovative execution at the same cost as standard banner activity (unique reach CPM of $1.53) and this resulted in campaign click-throughs being three times higher than those seen from previous HP activity. To identify the connection to HP’s message, we focused on engagement time to determine quality time spent with the brand. Across the markets, engagement rates averaged 12.2% - a strong result that highlights the formats ability to spark interest and delight our audience. Overall, our innovative idea had a significant impact on sales. Data shared by HP showed monthly sales per model saw an increase over the campaign period with uplifts ranging from 20% to a staggering 900% across the markets. A great result that validated the use of an innovative format for an innovative brand.

Knowing the concerns of AR – user experience and scalability – we pursued AR Display Placement (ARDP) to combat both. This innovative creative execution enabled digital display banners to launch AR experiences directly through the mobile browser, with no app required. To further scale our activity, we needed to engage ITDMs beyond the traditional B2B manner. Understanding these individuals were not the typically perceived male, 35+ demographic, we leaned on insights from HP’s ‘One-Life’ lifestyle which uncovered that ITDMs were also employees and consumers at different moments. By expanding our understanding of the audience, we had a greater scope to target beyond the standard definition of ITDM. The audience scale paired with ARDP and targeted programmatically, would enable us to reach our ITDMs at every possible touchpoint, providing HP with the opportunity to “showroom” – that is, showcase and learn about the product in situ, ultimately make the intangible tangible.