Campaign and Employer Branding
IT service provider Bechtle came to Total Design with a triple request. First, the European market leader (!) is still relatively unknown in the Netherlands. Something definitely needs to be done about that. Second, the entire market is moving in a ‘sea of sameness’. The positioning and campaigns of all the competing IT service providers are largely interchangeable. We need to tell a relevant and ‘distinctive’ story there. Third, like its competitors, Bechtle also suffers from the ‘war on talent’. How do you become attractive to both junior and senior aspiring employees within this busy market? Our challenge was to come up with a strategy and campaign that kills three birds with one stone.
Not hip, but happening.
On paper, the solution was simple: Position Bechtle in a relevant, distinctive, and impactful way. With a campaign that communicates the mindset of Bechtle in such a way that it is appealing to both potential customers and potential employees. To do this, we first carefully examined the market and how it communicates. We then set up a pressure cooker session with the client to get to the core of what makes Bechtle “their own. What do they do differently, how do they do it differently, and from what mindset does this stem? This provided us with the direction and energy to come up with a mindset campaign that works for both brand and Employer Branding.
The Bechtle mentality is best described as down-to-earth and pragmatic. Professional and with expertise, of course, but above all with an eye on its customers’ needs. Bechtle does not just run after the latest hypes, but focuses on sustainable and effective IT solutions that work and help its clients get ahead. In other words: not hip, but happening. Hip’ is a fad, while ‘happening’ stands for relevant and impactful. And that is exactly what Bechtle strives for.
In the dynamic IT world, it is crucial to embrace the right innovations at the right time. Every technological advance brings opportunities, but not every development is an immediate improvement. Being too late can mean missing opportunities while acting too early can lead to inefficient implementations. In the new campaign, Bechtle is therefore engaging with the future, focusing on relevance and implementation. After all, customers need to rely on IT that works now.
This makes Bechtle the gatekeeper of everything the future can bring. Only when it is implementable and helps its customers move forward is it suitable, according to Bechtle. Therefore, the future first comes to Bechtle to present its ideas. This creative premise produced a flood of ideas.
In the radio commercials, Bechtle is continuously called by the future, because by now it knows where to go. Bechtle hears the trendy news and motivates the future to stay busy.
Listen to the radiocommercials
The campaign was also rolled out in media such as Digital Out-of-Home along highways, on Abri’s at train stations, and on social media. Always with the tagline: Bechtle, Not Hip, But Happening. The Bechtle mentality not only works for the brand towards potential customers, but also as Employer Branding towards potential employees. Hence, the Abri’s feature people who work at Bechtle, with a statement that well describes the mentality. No-nonsense, with a Brabantian congeniality.
You should never communicate externally without also communicating internally, as we believe at Total Design. It was clear that the mentality campaign was also well suited for Internal Branding. Bechtle thus integrated the new campaign into the decoration of the company building. With quotes matching locations in the building, and with a gallery of future ideas from the past. Or with an elevator that promises to take visitors to the 100th floor where the future resides, but quickly retracts that promise.
- Milo van der Meij
- Head of Team Campaigns
- +31 20 750 9483
- milo@totaldesign.com
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