A new marketing approach for HP's first direct-to-consumer service
With Instant Ink, a new printing service that sends ink directly to your door before you run out, HP was poised to reinvigorate printing. But awareness was low and growth was slower than anticipated.
The strategy: Garnering momentum required a new approach. Instant Ink was a direct to consumer service versus a typical retailer driven product from HP. To make Instant Ink irreplaceable in consumers lives, HP needed to build a relationship directly with them.
1. Re-invented HP's approach to digital
Moving away from a model reliant on TV and in-store, launched the company’s first ever direct response campaign on social:
Created over 15,000 ads and tracked them all the way through conversion, unearthing which ads, and which parts of each ad, were driving (or not) subscriptions.
Got rid of the bad, bought more against the good, and created new ads based on best performing elements – in real time.
The results:
For the first time ever at HP, created the right message, for the right person, at the right time,
effectively connecting with our consumer,
and changing the way all brands would approach digital at the company.
2. From advertising a product to building a consumer-centric brand
With comms comprised of functional messaging that looked and felt completely different depending on the medium, HP II needed to be reborn as a brand.
Created a consumer-driven positioning based on simplicity that informed a new personality and visual identity which was translated across the entire ecosystem from advertising to evergreen assets such as the website and packaging to PR.
The results:
Contributed to driving record annual enrollment growth, a noteworthy achievement within an engineering driven company where marketing was still working hard to change the culture.
