March 2019 Cloud Reporting launch
The brief
Shortcuts was the market leader in the salon software space, but they were losing market share to emerging software providers whose solutions were entirely cloud-based. As part of their move towards providing a SaaS solution, Shortcuts needed to launch their Cloud Reporting feature and challenge market perceptions that their technology was outdated.
The approach
This is by far the most creative campaign I’ve worked on to date – and it had to be, to gain traction with an audience of literal trendsetters in the hair and beauty industry.
I collaborated with a video producer to come up with the concept of “Shortcuts to a sweeter life” – centring around the idea that accessing the new reporting feature would help salon owners build a #sweeterlife, by giving them visibility over the facts and figures that drive business growth.
The imagery of 100s and 1000s was used throughout to create visual impact and to reference the idea of making 100s and 1000s in profits thanks to Cloud Reporting.
We began with a teaser on Valentine’s day, in the form of a social media quiz inviting people to find their “perfect match” – aka a sweet that most aligned with their personality type.
We followed up by sending 1000 of our most engaged clients a packet of cloud sweets, and our 10 most influential clients a box of cookies. Each gift had a cute poem inside the lid, inviting them to share a photograph on Instagram using the hashtag #sweeterlife for the chance to win a Sunday session with their team.
These activities were supported by email and social media to generate excitement around exactly what kind of sweet surprise was in store for our customers.
Ten days later we announced the Cloud Reporting feature via the attention-grabbing launch video, which was designed to create engagement on social media and to encourage salon owners to think differently about Shortcuts as a brand.
We wanted to come across as fun, lighthearted and engaging, and to shift the market perception that we were a boring, unrelatable software company.
We also wanted to drive action, via the landing page, encouraging as many conversions as possible.
Other campaign activities included social media ads, PR and advertising with trade publications.
The results
The campaign isn’t over yet, but we have already seen some big results!
- 77 quiz responses
- 247 customer enquiries via the landing page
- 4 new business leads via the landing page
- 190 white paper downloads.
We have also generated the following social media shares via our #sweeterlife competition, dramatically increasing reach.
- 26 Instagram posts
- 30 Instagram stories
- 3 Facebook posts.