Winner: Accenture - Strategy Launch
Accenture’s clients were familiar with its Accenture Technology and Accenture Operations businesses. However, Accenture wasn’t always in the picture against pure strategy consultancies like McKinsey and BCG.
So they expanded their existing strategy capabilities by launching a new business, Accenture Strategy, bringin together both business insight and a deep understanding of the impact of technology.
The effort targeted Forbes Global 2000 C-Suite executives, including CEOs, chief financial officers, chief operating officers and chief strategy officers. This audience is very small, notoriously hard to reach and even harder to impress.
Accenture needed a highly focused media strategy to stand out, so it exploited the fact that C-Suite executives take over 18 business trips a year in order to leverage a unique media strategy: dominating airports. Accenture secured 160 high-impact spectaculars and strategically placed units targeting airline clubs and lounges, as well as units in high-traffic locations. That meant Accenture was guaranteed to hit 100% of all travelers in its desired terminals.
Accenture drove hyper-targeted C-Suite digital placements with publishers online, on tablets and on the mobile web. They launched with digital ads featuring bold and engaging headlines strategically targeting top-tier business publications. This initial set of ads drove awareness of Accenture Strategy in the C-Suite audience.
To build upon momentum, Accenture launched a series of content-specific digital ads highlighting Accenture Strategy research and thought leadership. To enhance the impact of these ads, Accenture implemented both a paid search campaign as well as an aggressive social media effort on Twitter and LinkedIn to drive dialogue around each of the featured content pieces.
This project was a big success. In August 2013, 38% of Accenture’s audience were aware of its strategy services and 24% were considering its strategy services. After the launch, 54% of its audience was aware of its strategy services and 46% were considering hiring on Accenture Strategy. (Those are increases of 42% and 92%, respectively).
Honorable Mentions:
- Bell Helicopter - Digital Toolkit
- Business Wire - BizWireTV
- Think PR - Aloft Emoji Room Service