Check out this 40-second web video! As far as B2B content goes, this video made a lasting impression on me. With most well done web commercials, I vividly remember the story, the actors, and even the last minute twist, but I am unable to recall the brands. But for this video it’s easy to recall these elements, as well as the humor, the products, and the brand.
Now, go ahead and play this creation by Doremus for Logitech.
The Brand Content Challenge: Global to Local
I’ve been asked how to create global content with minimal localization and translation while taking into account local needs. This video is a great illustration of how to approach the task. Unlike conventional B2B content that focuses on products, this video puts storytelling and emotional connection first, and then weaves the products into the story in an organic way.
The 5-Step Brand Content Solution: Identity to Broadcast
1. Discover the brand identity: At a macro-level, marketers need to understand why the brand exists, and then communicate that to the audience.
Logitech is a well-known computer peripherals brand. Chad Thompson, Worldwide B2B Marketing Director at Logitech, and Joe McCormack, Creative VP at Doremus, tried to unearth the new spirit of the Logitech B2B brand in their campaign.
With ubiquitous connections and on-the-go mobile devices, work and personal boundaries no longer exist; any place can now serve as an office. Logitech identifies itself as offering products that are designed to help business users work in offices, wherever they may be; thus, the idea for “The New Office” was born.
2. Start with crisp strategy: Three marketing strategies were in play here to bring the Logitech brand persona to life.
Reclaim relevance: Showcase Logitech products’ compatibility with new technologies to solve “office anywhere” challenges.
Cross-promotion: Focus on the usage models. Here, Logitech redefined the categories not by devices but, rather, by the concept of “workspace”. Four workspace categories are relevant to the Logitech brand: larger/open workspaces, smaller office spaces/cubes, home offices, and to-go workspaces (e.g., a café; the airport). This strategy of focusing on the category, rather than on a specific product, also allows for cross-selling of multiple products.
Engage customers: Redesign websites and customer-facing interfaces or collaterals with new creative to reflect the new brand promises.
3. Create stories to scale: Once they identified the “why” (brand essence) and the “what” (marketing strategies), Logitech and Doremus created the “Welcome to the New Office” campaign.
From the get-go, they set their minds to creating video content that could easily be distributed throughout different regions. Because of this, the creative content could not heavily tie into rituals, local customs, cultural differences, or too many dialogues. Yet, the story framework needed to be familiar and understood by all audiences, regardless of where they live. This video, featuring a dad making dinner for his kids and attending a meeting, is something that small business owners or working professionals, like me, can relate to.
4. Find a great director: Once you have a good story and script, the next step is to find a director who can bring the story to life in a visually compelling way.
Given that the budget was tight, it was even more essential for the Logitech team to find a director who would be attracted to good storytelling. They were very lucky to find Eric Steinman, who loved the script and was willing to work astutely within the tight production budget.
5. Make it happen.
The original script had more dialogue.To make it work more globally, the team worked hard to find visual ways to “show” the dialogue without words. They also made casting global. The shooting took only one day in Los Angeles, using non-union talent. The whole process from planning to production took three months.
A good product markets itself. A good story idea attracts collaborators who want to be part of it. The secret is to find the humanity.
Really take the time to pinpoint scenarios that highlight your audience’s pain and present the solution in a very human, simple, and universal way.
(Special thanks to Joe McCormack of Doremus, who shared his insights and thoughts for this article.)
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