Hewlett-Packard
Company: Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA
Entry Submitted By: Edelman
Company Description: HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Marketing - Consumer Products
Nomination Title: From Geek to Chic: Turning HP into a Fashion Brand
Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2010 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
In 2009, HP’s Personal Systems Group (PSG) shifted its marketing strategy to
appeal to women- a segment that makes up over 60 percent of the tech-buying
decisions in U.S. households. The main challenge: HP faced the misperception as
being a stodgy, old technology company and needed to prove that it had moved
away from grey, uninspired PCs to delivering stylish, design-focused PCs that
appeal to women in an authentic way. HP assigned this challenge to the Edelman
PR team.
Women’s Wear Daily provided a valuable insight that companies should find a way
to be part of conversations “native to {the fashion} community rather than try
to form your own community.” Taking this cue, PR enlisted a variety of trend-
setting, best-of-class partners to demonstrate HP’s new product designs.
HP selected partnerships with brands that connect with women at their passion
points - entertainment, pop culture and fashion:
- Integration with “Project Runway” the No.1 fashion show on television,
shown in 100+ countries, 100+ million audience
- Partnership with “Sex and the City 2” and worldwide press event to
celebrate the film release
PR leveraged these partnerships to build relationships with influential
lifestyle publications, integrating technology into major fashion publications
for the first time by positioning HP’s stylish products as the latest must-have
fashion accessories.
To build on these relationships, PR created the ultimate fashion-meets-
technology event for 161 influencers around the globe to celebrate the premiere
of Sex and The City 2. This global event included a design panel on fusing
fashion and technology, highly interactive and stylized technology experience
areas to celebrate HP’s “Spring Collection” of products, advance film screening
at the Paris Theater with red-carpet arrival and celebrity attendees and a VIP
after party at Bergdorf Goodman.
An extensive social media and blogger engagement program was critical to this
campaign as research showed that 77 percent of women turn to blogs to determine
purchasing decisions.
- Influential fashion bloggers enlisted to be brand ambassadors and seeded
with HP PCs for live blogging from events and product contests to generate local
and national excitement
- Leveraging HP’s social media channels, PR shared interesting fashion and
tech industry updates and exclusive “Sex and the City 2” content
HP not only transformed its perception, but also engaged and earned coverage
with a new category of women’s influencers in a meaningful and ongoing way.
- HP earned coverage in nearly all top women’s fashion magazines—11 of the
12 covered HP for the first time
- Coverage appeared in 70 percent of the most popular
entertainment/celebrity publications read by women
- 300 percent increase in Facebook fans and nearly 200 percent growth in
Twitter followers
- Nearly 800 pieces of print and online coverage and more than 500 million
impressions
- HP met in person with 100+ fashion editors and bloggers for the first
time
- The Project Runway “HP challenge” episode was the most viewed of the
season, causing a fury of online buzz, with 83 percent of the chatter focused on
HP above other sponsors
List hyperlinks to any online work samples, news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://edelmansv.com/edelman/Project_Runway.pdf
http://edelmansv.com/edelman/Sex_and_The_City_2.pdf
http://edelmansv.com/edelman/Editorial_Coverage.pdf
http://edelmansv.com/edelman/Blog_Coverage.pdf
http://edelmansv.com/edelman/Research.pdf
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:
Natalia Sandin is a senior vice president at A&R Edelman, heading up
Hewlett Packard’s PSG consumer team. Sandin started out her career with a focus in
public affairs and marketing, and then rounded out her communications expertise
with a focus on brand management working on a number of clients such as
Cadillac, SonicBlue, nVidia, Spalding, Nike, and Starbucks.
In the last eight years with A&R, Sandin has provided public relations
direction to a number of technology companies by successfully executing
innovative and cost-effective communications programs, and developing strategic,
key business relationships for cross-promotion opportunities and partnerships to
enhance clients’ brand images.