Insight
For the first time ever, HP wanted to launch a campaign that would appeal to a female-skewing ‘’younger millennial’’ demo (12-16), a previously untapped market for the brand. But it knew how media/socially savvy this audience was, and so needed to do this in a totally credible, authentic way.
However, for a brand which millennials viewed as a ‘’dad’’ brand, with 52% of them not even considering the brand as relevant, this was going to be a major challenge.
HP was the leading brand in personal computing in Australia, with number one market share, and one of the most recognised brands on the planet. But when PHD conducted some local research it found out whilst millennials were aware of HP, when it came to tech products, they didn’t consider it.
So the agency asked: how to talk to a very young, female-skewing audience more obsessed with taking selfies than thinking about the product?
Digging a little deeper, it found that, actually, when HP showed millennials its products, they liked them. So the problem was not the products, but one of perception.
Strategy
To smash this perception problem, HP would need to do something different. A traditional TVC and media campaign was not the answer.
There were a few things it knew about its target audience:
• Nearly four in five say they have a laptop, and the vast majority own a mobile phone (with 63% having a smartphone)
• They don’t watch TV as much as they used to, but instead watch content online, with YouTube being one of the preferred platforms (75% of 12-17 year-olds have visited YouTube in the last 4 weeks (Roy Morgan 2015)
• Social media is second nature to them and millennials are very comfortable building relationships online, which makes them very difficult to dupe.
To woo this millennial audience it would need to appear real, the campaign would need to be authentic and it needed to permeate their social and cultural bubble.
The insight was that it would need to speak to them on their own turf, on their terms and in their own way. But how does a nearly 80-year-old technology company do this?
PHD decided on a strategy which not a lot of brands are happy to embrace – give up total control of our brand and let someone else do the talking… This was a risky strategy, but one it would have to try if it was to get the cut-through it desperately needed.
This audience don’t follow or have any interest in conventional ‘’celebrities’’ and the YouTube vloggers and influencers that they choose to follow wield far more influence than traditional film, music and TV talent.
So the agency embarked on the HP YouTubers campaign, enlisting the help of some of Australia’s brightest YouTube stars to speak up and create the content for HP.
Execution
At the core of the campaign was a unique and extensive partnership with YouTube which included a major sponsorship of the ever-growing YouTube Fan Fest Sydney event.
HP then partnered with three amazing Aussie YouTube creators who were enlisted to make bespoke content for HP: Singer Troye Sivan; Sketchshe, the Aussie lip syncing sensations; and Tyde Levi, a 15-year-old DJ and vlogger.
Each produced unique and bespoke video and social content, integrating various HP devices. Importantly, the brand let the reins go, and told them that as long as they featured the products, it would be hands-off when it came to the content they produced and they would have 100% artistic control over it. This is a very risky territory for a brand as formerly conservative as HP, but a risk PHD was willing to take.
Content included:
HP funded the making of Troye Sivan’s ‘’Fools’’ music video, in which the HP Pavilion x360 played an integral role in the story, and then hosted its world premiere at special HP stand at You Tube Fan Fest at which Troye made an appearance to his screaming fans.
Sketchshe created a music video with their version of the classic 90s track ‘’Ice, Ice Baby’’ as a call-to-action to find someone who would sing with them on stage at YouTube Fan Fest and be the ‘Sketchshe Stand-In’.
And Tyde Levi would become a roving reporter on the red carpet, interviewing the YouTube stars and DJ’ing in front of a pumped-up audience.
Results
• The three artists produced a total of 66 HP content posts across the campaign reaching a total of 14.86 million people
• There were a total 1.97million engagements (likes, comments and shares etc.) across the content
• This included Troye’s music video ‘’Fools’’ (into which the HP Pavilion x360 was integrated and which played a pivotal role in the video) which received 6.5 million views on YT during the campaign with 283k likes and 22k comments – a huge result for what was effectively a piece of branded content.
• Across Facebook and Twitter Troye posted eight posts which gave 63,986 and 57,744 engagements respectively.
• Sketchshe’s ‘’Search for the Sketchshe stand-in’’ call to action and music videos, which were geo-locked to Aus/NZ, amassed 796,637 views on YouTube and over 960,950 views on FB
• Their ‘’Vacation’’ music video amassed 357,164 views on YouTube with 5k likes; and 464k on Facebook with 6.5k likes.
• The campaign proved positive and very well received online, with over 95% of comments made to HP campaign posts either positive or neutral in sentiment.
• A vast majority of people commenting on their love for Troye Sivan or tagging friends and forcing the HP branded posts into others newsfeeds – extending brand exposure.