HP "Shorty" campaign

“How can we get IT professionals excited about (another) server?”

That was the big question at the briefing. IT managers are constantly bombarded with the “newest, fastest, & highest capacity” fill-in-the-blank piece of hardware. After learning about Hewlett-Packard’s new entry level blade server we began to see the true potential to challenge the current standard of business infrastructure in an exponentially more efficient manner.

We needed a way to reach these managers on their level and show them how this little server, nicknamed “Shorty,” could change their business infrafructure for the better.

This account being vital, my client established 3 teams of designers and writers (I was the only outside contractor to the agency). Although the principle deliverable was direct mail, we developed e-mails, microsites, and banners as well.

Again, how could we invigorate IT managers with another server? I kept thinking about software packaging—there are always “Minimum Requirements” listed on the side of the box. Since this server has the ability to cool itself and you can plug it into any outlet, I immediately knew this was the key—Minimum Requirements. So, how could we deliver this message to them?

In a really big envelope!

There was talk of mailing out an array of chotchkies, but I really wanted them to have something practical that directly related to the product.

With the exact measurements of the server, I taped a bunch of paper together to get an idea of Shorty’s size. BAM! there was my concept! How great would it be if we could have our advertising space to brag about how great Shorty is, while the IT personnel could fold out the piece to visualize how small the server’s footprint actually is. I imagined them taking the mailer to a broom closet and laying it on the floor to verify that there’s enough space. This, I believed, was a lot more practical for both our budget and for the relevance to the consumer.

For our presentation to HP, I shot how the piece was supposed to work, fold by fold. Here’s a demonstration:

Internally, it was a great success, our group won the internal competition. A few days later, it was presented to HP and they absolutely loved the idea!

Work completed: July 2007
Tagged as: advertising, campaign, direct mail