#SLACKTRAM

Title#SLACKTRAM
BrandSLACK
Product / ServiceSLACK
CategoryC02. Use of Real-Time Data
EntrantMERKLE DWA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation MERKLE DWA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement MERKLE DWA Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Shivani Patel Merkle DWA Account Director, ANZ

Why is this work relevant for Media?

Slack, the global collaboration software, challenged us to increase awareness and consideration among critical business decision-makers, reach end business users who influence the sales funnel and generate direct sales leads … using minimal budget and in an aggressively competitive market. We worked with two innovative, start-up digital platforms, Hivestack and Tapad, to use Slack’s sales teams’ account and prospect data to buy real-time, programmatic digital out-of-home display in targeted commercial business zones, complemented by takeover of a public transport tram, to drive the real-time ABM messaging across the literal journeys of target individuals and audiences.

Background

The collaboration software space has always been profitable. Even before Covid-19 increased the demand and urgency for communication tools, analysts had tipped the market to see a CAGR of 10%+ over the next five years, being worth some USD$18bn+ by 2026. Despite reaching 12m global daily users across 150 countries towards the end of 2019, Slack remains the underdog to platforms with similar functionality, particularly Microsoft Teams, which now exceeds 75m daily users since being introduced in 2016. So when they tasked us with a thorny challenge, the account team were apprehensive: In such a cluttered marketplace, how could Slack achieve its main objectives of going head-to-head with enterprise competitors, to increase awareness and consideration among critical business decision-makers, reach end business users who influence the sales funnel and generate direct sales leads … all using minimal $200k budget?

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

After multiple strategy sessions and data analysis, it was clear that targeting key metro areas in ESB Australia would ensure wide visibility and brand awareness, but focusing on Melbourne as a priority would allow targeted messaging to reach key individuals within prospect accounts. To ensure increased effectiveness, the additional lightbulb moment was being able to reach these audiences during commuting times and routes, when their work was in-mind and Slack could present their solutions.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our planners immediately set out to identify placements which would capture target account individuals throughout their professional day in Melbourne - across tentpole airport sites on terminal and lounge assets, key transport placements across metro, and innovatively, beta digital OOH programmatic placements, supported by paid social to remain top of mind during work-day contexts. Throughout the process, the client account team worked closely with both marketing and sales disciplines, to make sure that all account-based inputs were as up-to-date as possible; and to build a structured cadence of ensuring data was refreshed and optimised as much as possible from backend process perspective during the campaign run.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We worked with two innovative digital advertising start-ups, Hivestack and Tapad, to directly use account and prospect data from Slack’s sales teams to drive campaign targeting. Focusing on programmatic DOOH in commercial business zones, pre-identified using different data points as prospective customer travel routes and offices, these locations were geo-fenced, to capture mobile device IDs in the vicinity. Using additional 3PD audience profiling to identify IT decision-makers, business influencers and business decision-makers, this allowed key segmentations to be created, for delivering different content variations. Additionally, heatmapping was applied, to track mobile devices in transit and deliver relevant advertisements to these individuals in real-time across roadside panels, office lift and lobby screens. The takeover wrap of a tram was also empirically-based: data showed that a specific route would generate broader top of funnel awareness among Slack’s target accounts, and be an important physical supplement to digital activity.

List the results (30% of vote)

Almost immediately after the campaign launched, we identified a 200%+ increase in surging prospect accounts, particularly in Melbourne, between Nov-Dec 2019. This included 197 net-new companies, including key target businesses such as Rio Tinto, SAP, Samsung and Coca-Cola. #SlackTram on LinkedIn and Facebook earned more than $23k worth of social amplification, with a correlation with search volume spikes in Melbourne – including a 45% increase in site traffic overall. More importantly, prospects and customers began referencing the campaign unprompted, when speaking to Slack’s account teams. Sales in Melbourne increased 35% in the immediate months preceding the campaign launch, which has translated to real impact on the business bottom line. and Slack's marketing team are widely thrilled - not only due to a 50% cost reduction from buying DOOH placements programmatically, but also because tangible value is being created for their sales team – a critical outcome in B2B marketing.

Describe the use of data, or how the data enhanced the campaign output

Without combining the ABM data inputs of sales teams, and overlaying geographical, real-time programatic and mobile inputs, this campaign would not have been the success it was. The insights derived from correlation analysis of such complicated granular targeting, significantly improved sales opportunities and learnings can be applied for future work. This would have been challenging at a mass-market consumer level, but the B2B context means this truly was a high-impact, high-performing campaign. Overall it has been hailed as an innovative success for Slack, with replications being potentially explored in other cities around the world.