- In order to highlight HPE’s small business IT solutions, Digitas, The Connected Marketing Agency, in partnership with Group Nine’s internal creative agency, Brandshop, created an original short form video series, called Making of a Monster, running across NowThis’ social channels.
- While HPE is well known for their large enterprise offerings, when it comes to the Small-to-Midsize Businesses (SMBs), many customers may not be aware that HPE has an SMB offering.
- Leveraging HPE’s “IT Monster” character, each episode features a fictional small business, real IT problems and real insights, and tells the story of how those issues compromised their business.
- “Meme Shop Mix-Up” focuses on a meme creator’s project management system getting hacked and their clients’ meme placements getting mixed up; “Shoe Snafu” features a shoe manufacturer losing tons of orders after a power outage; and “Donut Shop Hack” is about a donut distributor’s poor cybersecurity hygiene and lack of IT support leading to a malware-induced donut disaster.
- “With Making of a Monster, we created a heavy awareness campaign to show small business owners that HPE does have tailored solutions specifically for SMBs,” says Caitlin Bergmann, VP/Content Director, Digitas. “Since we don’t typically reach out to our I.T. decision-making audience with scripted content, we bet big with the leader – Group Nine & NowThis – in this space. This audience has a particular set of needs – and we sought to make a disruptive splash on social by connecting with them in new and humorous ways.”
- “These are parables – funny and satirical -- but they’re inspired by true IT struggles,” said Marissa Freeman, Chief Brand Officer, HPE. “Getting IT right for a small business can truly be a monster. Much of the time, they’re looking for tech that works and that doesn’t expose them to cyber or financial risk. But the right technology can also set a company apart. With HPE, customers get the solutions and support they need, allowing them to spend their valuable time on growing their business.”
- "NowThis x HPE's 'Making of a Monster' quickly grabs viewers’ attention with comedic relief and TV-quality branded entertainment, all while showcasing the real solutions that HPE can provide small businesses," said Yosef Johnson, SVP, Head of Brandshop at Group Nine. "The team created truly engaging content that helps bring HPE's brand message to audiences at scale with NowThis' massive distribution."
- Making of a Monster campaign will live across multiple Group Nine properties, and the original video series will run on NowThis.
- Paid media will drive viewers to watch the episodes on a custom series landing page on the NowThis Originals site.
- These spots also build off of the established equity of HPE’s monster campaign and SMB TV spot, which can be seen here.
PUBLISHED
18 October 2019
