PRESENTING VERSION TEN AS A PERFECT SCORE

When Pitney Bowes Business Insight launched the new release of MapInfo Professional desktop mapping software, they asked Smith & Jones to develop a multimedia campaign to run in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The challenge was developing a creative concept that would travel – one that easily comprehended by diverse cultures, languages and perceptions.

Inspired by the software’s release version (10.0) and some early praise in focus groups for the new software, we developed the “Power of 10” campaign. The image features and international-looking panel of judges holding up score cards to reflect their scores for the new MapInfo Professional.

With precedents such as The Olympics and other international sporting events, we were confident that audiences across the globe would recognize and respond to the “perfect 10” judging reference. Our client, and their international counterparts – agreed wholeheartedly, and one of the company’s most successful product releases was bound for glory.

Was the campaign effective at engaging the target audience? At the conclusion of a product demonstration in New Zealand, the audience – unprompted – held up scoring cards. Perfect 10s across the board.

Will your creative executions cross borders? Or are you developing culturally myopic messages that fail to connect with your international customers?

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