HP’s APAC Commercial PC Marketing Division was facing a challenge – it wasn’t being seen as an innovative brand in the context of the changing workplace and was facing challenges from brands that were communicating innovation via new product launches across the region. HP does have a good commercial range, but it was suffering as it didn't have new commercial products in the pipeline.

This perception issue was resulting in slow sales of the commercial range and this cycle looked like it would continue unless a compelling remedy was put in place.

We were given two core objectives:

(1) To build a perception of “innovation” and “cool” on the brand, without a new product launch to anchor this to

(2) To spark an increase in monthly sales for Commercial & Premium PCs

Our key insight was that in this category, and for our key target audience - the time-poor, multi-tasking, IT Decision Maker (ITDM) – “SEEING IS BELIEVING”.

We needed to pivot from just talking about our products, to SHOWING our innovative products in the context of the modern agile workforce. This would help us drive cut-through with a tough to convince ITDM audience and would encourage them to re-engage with HP and its products. In doing so, we would overcome a big barrier to selecting HP as their supplier of choice.

Our big idea was the "OFFICE OF THE FUTURE" - a creative way of positioning HP's products as a crucial part of every modern, digital nomad heavy workforce - suitable for both the office setting and the cafe.

Our media strategy had to hit 2 key notes

(1) Show HP's products in situ, to bring the OFFICE OF THE FUTURE to life

(2) Create a perception of innovation, without the benefit of a new product

The only format that could bring this to life for us was Augmented Reality (AR). Not only would it allow ITDMs to interact with an HP laptop wherever they were, but the newness of the experience would halo on to the brand.

But, AR has had its issues – low scale if delivered through an app, and high drop-offs if it required multiple steps.

We solved this by innovating how AR is delivered, and ensuring an easy experience. We did this by piggy-backing on the existing, and very vast eco-system of mobile advertising and delivering our AR experience as something that could be initiated by clicking on a mobile banner ad.

We knew mobile users have short attention spans so the execution needed to be simple and clear. ITDMs were greeted with an HP laptop that offered hotspots for exploring the superior features.

When prompted, users could initiate the AR experience and explore the device in their physical environment. In this real-time setting, users gained a first-hand experience of the mobility of HP’s commercial products.

We leveraged smart media buying and targeting tactics over the three-month campaign period. Deeper understanding of our most receptive audiences was determined through Google’s 2nd party audience targeting, and by layering affinity segments across different industry verticals, we were able to A/B test and identify the best performing segments.

Regular optimisations throughout the campaign helped to reveal insights that were leveraged in the creative. Our banners were optimised mid-campaign, incorporating lifestyle elements tailored for specific audiences, thereby increasing overall relevance of the ad to the viewer.

The “OFFICE OF THE FUTURE” Augmented Reality campaign drove excellent media and business results:

(1) Campaign CTR of 0.29%, 3x higher than previous HP activity

(2) High engagement rates of 12.2%, showcasing Augment Reality’s ability to spark interest and delight our audience.

These improved results were driven at a unique reach CPM of 1.13 USD – the same cost as standard rich media banner activity, meaning that we were driving innovation at the same cost as a normal media buy!

ITDMs across our key markets experienced Augmented Reality in a new setting, driving perceptions of innovation on the brand. This resulted in business growth.

Average Monthly Unit Sales increases, as a direct result of our activity, were as follows:

(1) Australia +101%

(2) Malaysia +159%

(3) Singapore +64%