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EM launches brand campaign in UK and Ireland to gain favour of business decision makers.
Marketing Week reported that the brand campaign launched by HP is the company’s biggest since it acquired Compaq in 2002; with the “new style of IT” campaign including TV advertisements and a “dedicated microsite showcasing how the company provides solutions across mobility, cloud, big data and security”.
HP’s aim is to show that it can help big businesses, industries and governments to “address their IT challenges”, as well as “help consumers with their businesses and personal IT demands”. The campaign will also see HP sponsor the Guardian’s online coverage of the Ryder Cup, with journalists able to use its HP Explore data analytics technology. A partnership with the Financial Times will also see the creation of a “new style of IT” microsite.
In terms of print advertisements, the article notes that the copy is “softer” than the OEM’s previous marketing material as it focuses on targeting “potential customers as ‘people’ and not just with tech jargon”; with Miguel Adao, Enterprise Group Marketing Director and One HP Marketing Lead, explaining: “We are trying to inject a little bit less seriousness. We are still a trustworthy, reputable, premier IT company that the biggest companies in the world deal with – we don’t want to move away from that – but just soften the approach.”
Adao added: “We are more than just printers and PCs. We want to tell people the complete story – particularly among enterprise customers – how HP helps big businesses and government address the biggest IT challenges of our age and educate the market by showcasing the breadth and depth of our portfolio.”
HP also hopes that the campaign will demonstrate to consumers how it has been moving towards becoming “One HP” internally as it has improved the alignment of its six divisions and cut costs since Meg Whitman’s appointment as CEO three years ago. As a result, the company has in recent months formed a “One HP” marketing council – led by Adao – as well as a One HP sales community and One HP internal communications group.
Explaining why HP has chosen to launch its campaign in the UK and Ireland now, Adao said: “The UK is leading the G8 in terms of GDP and employment. HP’s second largest subsidiary outside the US is the UK, which acts as the beacon for other regions in terms of thought leadership initiatives.
“We are in the third year of Meg [Whitman]’s tenure and our UK and Ireland Managing Director Andy [Isherwood] is in situ. We have our leadership in place and have been talking about One HP and a ‘new style of IT’ internally for some time but there was a feeling that HP doesn’t shout loudly enough about what we offer.”
Commenting on the campaign’s effect on HP’s brand, Chris Carmichael, EMEA Director of Media and Digital Marketing at HP, said: “We are trying to drive a reappraisal of the brand. Overall our brand metrics are good and awareness is strong but we are looking more in terms of consideration rather than awareness.”
Last month, The Recycler reported that HP had discouraged the use of remanufactured toner in one of its IT business eNewsletters, with the company questioning the reliability, “hidden costs” and environmental benefits of remanufactured products.