SAP Vision & Purpose
SAP Vision & Purpose
CRITICAL MASS | COPYWRITING, CREATIVE DIRECTION
Run live, run simple.
SAP is a company of big solutions and bold taglines.
"Run live, run simple."
"The best-run businesses run SAP."
"Helping the world run better. Improving lives. That's our purpose."
You might think, "one of these things is not like the others," but that's not true. SAP is synonymous with big data (which is great for their sales), but they also have a long history of compelling social responsibility. It's one of the core tenets of the company. The story of real impact – on individuals, the economy, the environment, and our society – was so muddled that even SAP employees were unaware of their company's contributions to global change.
Our task was to explain how a company called Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing was not only a positive force for change but a true leader in making the world run better. The target was not just the general public or potential customers, but SAP itself.
2015: The Cinemagraph Era.
The message was big, but the budget was not.
To reach a wide audience at little expense, we pitched the idea of "cinemagraphs" (which were really looped movie files). Each featured simple messages covering topics from healthcare to education to environmental initiatives, and were designed to be shared within SAP and across social channels. We delivered a total of twenty, with supporting post copy.
The simple solution turned out to be the right one. Our client loved them. Her colleagues shared and posted them. And, most importantly, the message of Purpose began to spread.
2016 – 2017 The Film Era.
Following the welcome (if somewhat unexpected) success of the cinemagraph campaign, our client gave us the green light for Season 2.
Still operating with a limited budget, we created a series of short videos to be featured on social. I got to play ACD, from concepting and writing to co-creating storyboards and selecting final audio tracks. Our work was featured across SAP social channels, a Vision & Purpose microsite, and presentations at industry conferences. SAP CEO Bill McDermott used them as a looping video backdrop for his speeches.
“Environment”
“Responsible Growth”
“Society”
“Health”
There were about a dozen of these, but you get the idea.
We concluded the campaign with an anthem video that built on all the previous work and encapsulated the main message of Purpose. I scripted, storyboarded, and selected video and audio for the final product.
2018: The Campaign of Change.
The Purpose campaign won no awards. And, to be honest, most people on the street still won't know how much good work SAP makes possible on a daily basis. However, its impact within the company was tremendous. In 2018, SAP launched the Best Run Campaign making the message of the Purpose campaign into a new marketing strategy. As a three-time Purpose campaign veteran, I guided the early stages of the content strategy and set goals for the talented folks who took over the full execution.
The Creative Team
Purpose Campaign: Simona Ternblom, Ryan Frank
Best Run Campaign: Simona Ternblom, Andy Wong, Songyi Park, Laura Sanders, Teresa Wong