2024 Gold B2B

Agency: House 337 and December19

Client: Xero

Entry Title: Xero: Healthy Business

Executive Summary

Not content with being SMB accounting software’s ‘best of the rest’ and knowing it couldn’t outspend competitors, Xero set out to close the gap by outthinking them.

Strategy

B2B brands often try to persuade prospects with rational benefits, but overlook the fundamentals of how the brain works. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking to SMB owners about software or a consumer buying a chocolate bar; the brain responds to creative and emotive advertising in the same way.

Instead of acting like the rest of the stale B2B category, the team focussed on building an emotional connection through entertaining brand advertising. Running across AV, audio and OOH, the ‘Healthy Business’ campaign used humour to capture the audience’s attention, proving that although Xero took business seriously, its communications never had to be dull.

Creativity

The challenge was that bookkeeping consistently ranks as a job SMB owners least want to do. To make accounting software emotionally appealing, the campaign reframed it from a chore to a driver of business success. This allowed Xero software to be positioned as a fundamental tool for achieving a ‘Healthy Business’.

The work deployed creative best practice often disregarded in B2B advertising. Drawing from the B2C playbook, it was packed with right-brain cues to elicit strong emotional responses. An engaging world was created, where Kiwi icon Rhys Darby used humorous, health-themed metaphors to capture the experience of running a business, contrasted and resolved by Xero’s ease of use and resulting control leading to business health.

As a proud New Zealand brand, incorporating Kiwi-ness was essential. Rhys’ comedic delivery and recognisable voice brought the idea to life, delivering the message with wit and distinction. This was strengthened with distinctive brand assets: Xero logo, colour blue, a memorable CTA ‘search Xero with an X’, and the brand character.

To reach existing and potential business owners, bookkeepers and accountants mass media was harnessed. TV ensured reach and emotional connection, supported by BVOD, YouTube and social media. Radio and digital audio reinforced the creative messaging, while OOH expanded the campaign touchpoints with visuals from the TV campaign, all underpinned by performance marketing and paid search.

Results

The campaign significantly increased unaided awareness to a high of 40%, a 194% increase since the launch of the Healthy Business campaign. There was a 51% increase in consideration. Brand equity showed a 100% increase, supplemented with a 50% increase in trust.

Xero closed the gap on its competitors to just two percentage points and saw impressive growth in its market share: claimed usage increased by 85%, helping the brand to catch Sage. This equated to increased sales and revenue for Xero, hitting its ambitious one million subscriber goal seven months ahead of schedule.

The Team

Xero - Tracy Smithers, GM Growth Marketing - Emilie Watts, Brand and Campaign Marketing Manager - Sam Daniels, Head of Brand and Campaign Marketing - John Coldicutt - EGM Partner Marketing - Amelia Murray, Brand and Activation Executive

House337 - Isaac Blackbourne, Senior Strategist - Georgina Murray-Burton, Head of Strategy - Steve Hawthorne, Creative Director - Jack Tibbs, Creative - Michael Arthey, Creative - Richard Williams, Business Director - James Bailey, Senior Account Director - Siena Singh, Account Manager

December19 - David Lucy, Managing Director - Majella Lavelle Managing Partner - Planning

Datacove - Jeremy Horne, Founder & Director