Insight
Worldwide PC sales have been decreasing YoY as PC owners hold onto their PCs longer. Share of mind and buzz have moved to new computing categories, like tablets and smartphones, diminishing the desire to upgrade PCs in the same regular fashion people do with their smartphones. Compounding this, consumers have become desensitized to the incremental “better”, “faster”, “longer” value proposition messages coming from the PC ecosystem. Yet over the past four years there has been an explosion of innovation in PCs that has either gone unnoticed or substantially undersold.
Multiple players competing head on in the PC market are all telling their ‘own’ story, which only increases consumer confusion. Increasingly, the market has become fragmented, and the PC is losing ground.
PCs are not stagnating, but consumers are being left behind. Intel had a major product launch coming up, but if consumer interest in the PC category overall was down, and individually, major players were simply creating a clash of competitive messaging, there was a real danger its launch would get lost.
But what if these key players could all come together to tell one coherent story…?
OMD's key challenge was to shift consumer apathy to urgency and action, and convince them that there’s never been a better time to upgrade to a new generation of PCs.
Strategy
The agency needed to break the cycle of apathy and disruptively engage a sense of urgency.
So – as a major pioneer within the PC industry, Intel instigated a coming together of the top technology leaders, under a single flag. It helped them create a world-first pan-industry collaboration to shake up the PC industry like never before.
For the first time in history, the PC industry united behind a unified campaign to showcase the next generation of PCs and reinvigorate the PC category. The combination of Intel’s best ever 6th Generation Intel® Core™ processors – Microsoft’s latest OS, Windows 10 – and new innovative designs from Dell, HP and Lenovo created a unified strategy and direction.
The fully integrated, cross-industry campaign would showcase the innovation happening across PC industry, to generate real excitement, show that a ‘movement’ was underway with a new generation of PCs, and reach the critical mass of positive opinion.
OMD focused on creating cultural relevance to influence the unmotivated consumer. To awaken consumers from apathy, it surrounded them with a massive disruptive integrated campaign, and took over news and entertainment feeds across screens.
It created customised native advertising and content amplified across highly engaging social platforms to spark genuine conversations. It enlisted trusted news and lifestyle influencers to deliver the campaign’s core disruptive though… “PC Does Whaaat?!” and illustrate the massive innovation of today’s PCs.
A truly ground-breaking, fully integrated, multi-partner digital strategy was key to the success of the campaign. OMD commissioned purpose-built technology to enable it to share post-campaign cookies between the five companies for future retargeting. It was not only a first for the PC category – it was a media first.
Execution
OMD ran a pioneering, fully integrated data-driven campaign delivered through TV, cinema, social, programmatic, online video, brand integrations, branded content and native.
Leveraging cultural influencers, it sparked conversations by creating 70 pieces of content with 13 media companies, delivering a unified message with their distinct voices. All connected with a world-first multi-partner data “DMZ”, where post-campaign non-PII (cookie) data was divided equally and passed to the OEMs for future retargeting; all adhering to strict privacy policy guidelines.
On-air integrations with The Ellen Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! showcased the new generation of PCs. Native news content hubs with NewYorkTimes.com and Mic.com drove credibility. Lifestyle partners People.com, EW.com, Gimlet, Wired.com and Refinery29 created engaging stories about unlocking PC possibilities. An original comedy series created in partnership with The Onion ran on Facebook.
Heavyweight media investment ensured breakthrough levels during prominent broadcast and marquee events (Prime Network Takeovers, Late Night Roadblocks, Thanksgiving NFL, World Series, College Football and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade), amplified with national cinema buys in award contenders (Spectre and The Martian).
The agency targeted users through contextual and 3rd party data, and its multi-channel programmatic plan leveraged 1st party data and enhanced data segments across multiple exchanges.
All digital media was tracked with real-time attitudinal studies, ensuring the agency hit its key KPIs of stimulating demand.
Results
The campaign gave the opportunity to create, partner and execute a successful pioneering campaign, moving the whole industry in ways never imagined.
• Created a breakthrough campaign that inspired PC owners to take a fresh look at their device and convinced them that there’s never been a better time to upgrade to a new generation of PCs.
• Drove substantial purchase intent, with a lift above control group of +12 ppts – a notoriously difficult metric to move, especially for a category in decline.
• Increased ‘recognition’ from 30% norm to 47%.
• Step-changed key attitudes: “Computers are better than they have ever been” up +6 ppts, and “Now is a great time to buy a new computer” rose +8 ppts.
Together, it successfully communicated that today’s PC does what no PC has done before.
OMD inspired a category-first, integrated media, content and advertising campaign that educated consumers to reconsider PCs by sparking curiosity around one simple question: “PC Does Whaaat?!” Together, they changed the conversation and the course of the PC industry.