Eaton

Overview

IT professionals tend to seek out power solutions only when their current solution no longer works for them (every 3-5 years). Eaton wanted to find a way to keep IT professionals engaged and familiar with the brand year-around.

Target audience

We went beyond the B2B basics of demographics, business needs and decision making authority to understand what truly makes IT professionals (both current customers and new ones) tick — as professionals and as people.

Insight and strategy

Selecting the right power quality brand every four years can require just as much research, be just as hotly contested and take just as much consideration as casting a vote in the presidential election. And IT professionals don’t buy power quality equipment based on technology and specifications. They’re looking for brands that they have trusted and enjoyable relationships with.

Idea

Introducing Eaton’s Desk Toy Decision. A tongue-in-cheek election that took place concurrently with the US Presidential Election. IT professionals voted for the desk toy candidate that most closely represented their (business) challenges, (vendor) values and hot button (IT) issues.

Experience

Desk toys jumped out of their IT pros’ cubicles and into a mock-presidential race. They attempted to curry IT professionals’ support through stump speech videos, slogan bumper stickers and live chats to become the voice of Eaton’s marketing campaign, which has been running with an existing cast of desk toy characters for the last five years.

Votes for one of three desk toys that were “campaigning” were cast online by IT professionals. Those who voted for the ultimate winner of the election won their own replica of that desk toy for their workplace.

Along the way, voters were encouraged to engage with the candidates. A Candidate Matchmaker tool gathered information about IT professionals and their priorities in the spirit of matching them with a candidate who shared the same values. Meanwhile, Eaton was progressively profiling its prospects with incremental data capture. Voters were also encouraged to learn more about Eaton’s products and solutions through the voting experience. Thus, building familiarity with the brand.