See the magazine at:
internationalistmagazine.com
Current Internationalist Magazine Cover

SILVER WINNER: Oracle for Mid-sized Companies (Singapore)

Client: Oracle

Entrant Company: Starcom Singapore

Entry Category:A Local Execution of a Multinational Campaign

Names to be credited with submission:
• Suyesh Shankar — Digital Strategy Director
• Felix Chung — Associate Manager
• Helen Lee — Associate Director
• Jackie Lau — Manager
• Bessy Chua — Senior Executive

Time Period of Campaign: 2008

Case Study Summary:

Marketing Situation: Renowned for its flagship database product and enterprise software solutions, Oracle recognized a new opportunity to offer end to end Enterprise technology solutions in its portfolio. To show potential customers its commitment to the service, Oracle acquired and united a group of software giants such as JD Edwards, Hyperion, Siebel and other companies under its umbrella in order to build a catalog of tools and services.

The challenge Oracle faced in unveiling these tools in the ASEAN region was that they were known primarily as a database software provider and not for its end to end Enterprise solutions. Research further revealed that the target in most need of these solutions, Mid-Size businesses, perceived Oracle’s services as unaffordable and were suitable only for large organizations.

The campaign’s goal was to reach out to IT decision makers in small and mid-sized businesses in the ASEAN region with the message that Oracle provides cost effective, end to end software solutions. Senior executives in mid-sized organizations often hold multiple roles and cannot afford to spend a substantial amount of time on one decision. Campaign effectiveness was to be measured based on the number of responses that it generated.

Key Insights: Information & Technology in mid-sized organizations is usually not a core job function and IT purchase decisions are typically made by finance/business managers. Mid-sized organizations are often challenged to make informed decisions on deploying the right kind of software solutions to integrate various functions within the organizations and scale with its growth.

Proprietary studies determined that the Internet was the target’s main reference point when researching technology offerings. A digital-only strategy made sense for this campaign. Tactics included the creation of engaging custom content and partnering with a technology content network to disseminate it.

Media Strategy: Reinventing Oracle’s existing content into a relevant and reader-friendly format was the key factor to engaging the target audience. It had to showcase Oracle’s strength in understanding the needs of the mid-size segment and demonstrate the benefits that Oracle products and services offer.

As the leading regional technology content network in the region, CNET was chosen as the delivery channel for the content. The reinvented content was delivered in the form of videos and whitepapers rather than relying on the standard banners and other media placements to drive traffic to the Oracle landing pads. EDM’s and banners supplemented by a telemarketing activity were used to drive traffic and create awareness for the available content.

Custom Content included Whiteboard Videos, E-Books, and Virtual Tour where in the
Oracle suite of solutions was presented in a typical small to mid-size business office.
Customers could participate in this virtual tour and access resources such as tips and whitepapers provided by Oracle. In order to download the e-book or whitepapers, customers had to register. These leads were captured by the vendor, and passed to the client.

How Could this be a Template for Other Campaigns or for World Class Standards? For Oracle, this campaign provided a template for reinventing its existing content for a specific audience. Going forward, Oracle’s advertising message meshes completely with its’ top-line product and service information and can remove a series of steps that arise when creating new advertising content.

Results: The campaign met with a resounding success by over-delivering on the target number of registrations by 204% within just the first 2 months of the initiative. The number of downloads and views for e-books, virtual tours and whiteboard videos exceeded expectations and helped in creating a new sales funnel earlier than expected.