Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
Dell was in trouble in India.
Conventional advertising was not working and share in the small
business sector was falling steadily, a real problem as SMEs
accounted for 60% of sales.
Despite these challenges, current Dell
SME customers were very loyal and maintained long-term
relationships the brand. We realised that these customers were the
best advocates for Dell.
Our insight was that entrepreneurs are
heroes in India. Their stories could become the perfect platform
for Dell to prove its value to India's small business sector.
However, in a country where consumers are bombarded by celebrity
endorsements, our heroes would have to do more than just appear in
adverts.
Our strategy was to leverage Dell's
happy customers by getting them to actively talk about how Dell had
been part of their entrepreneurial success. We recruited a dream
team of successful entrepreneurs and put their stories at the heart
of our campaign.
Creative Execution:
We partnered with Bloomberg UTV and
created an interactive journey for consumers. Via a content-driven
series of messages that lived on and off TV, we got entrepreneurs
to talk about their success and how Dell got them there. The
message was "if we can do it, so can you".
The communication was arranged in 3
stages:
Stage 1: A high profile,
editorially led, six-part series investigating the stories of
Dell's top entrepreneurial heroes during prime time.
Stage 2: We created a Dell
"Business Excellence Awards" where budding entrepreneurs were
invited to write business plans judged by the Dell
heroes.
Stage 3: Dell heroes and Award
winners took their ideas and Dell's message to business schools
across the country via mentoring workshops.
The series was promoted via business
dailies/magazines, B2B web portals, outdoor, and promos on UTV.
Dell was positioned throughout the
whole campaign as the perfect partner for business growth.
Results and Effectiveness:
Dell's message made an immediate
impact. In four weeks Top of Mind increased by eight points and
usage of Dell products went up by 12%.
More than 15,000 entered our awards
competition - 15 times the expected participation levels; 10,000
visited our microsite.
Awareness increased by 45% and
consideration for Dell's small business products has doubled.
Sales increased by 10%, doubling
market share in the SME sector.
For the first time in seven years Dell
is number 1 in the commercial & consumer business category,
toppling HP.
This campaign is now being rolled out
in nine other markets.