Marvel at how you can create a monster hit, at the flick of a switch...
without the need for involving any Hollywood heavyweights.
Server hardware, such as computer network switch systems, are not generally considered to be objects of beauty. And their specifications don't exactly read like a script for the next box-office smash. So how do you turn these little monsters into an attractive proposition without boring your audience to death?
That was our concern when UK agents for Cisco Systems and EMC were suddenly offered space in the European trade press, and asked JSMarcoms to produce an ad to promote their latest bit of technical wizardry — needing it turned around at supersonic speed.
Seeing as how our knowledge of such marvels is probably on a par with what we know about gamma ray technology, we focused on the tangible benefits of the product. What could it do; what makes it different?
It turns out this little guy was no push-over when it comes to power. It could also grow and expand, becoming even more powerful when stuff got thrown at it (in the work sense). What's more, it turned out to be 'green' — in the environmentally friendly, ecological sense.
Wait a minute — powerful, expandable, green — yet, unlike another popular chap receiving a lot of publicity at the time, also controllable. I think we'd stumbled on something that would get the 'geeks' excited.
The timing was perfect. A few well-chosen words to hint at a connection, some implied common similarities, and a suitably angry expression, coloured to resemble a cult, comic character. Incredible. Some people's minds make these quantum leaps, where 2 plus 2 equals EMC².
Where previous advertising for their switches had featured product shots and a listed specification, we presented Cisco with a concept which demonstrated not only what their product did, but also why it was better than the competition. What a looker. Envy can be a powerful thing!
Concept, copy, image, retouching, translations and materials for whole page, colour, bleed, produced for European trade press in English, German and Italian languages, from brief to supplying materials in 5 working days... some may call that the work of a Superhero!
