Technology has always been at the heart of everything Siemens does, but in the U.S. they were better known for physical products like trains and healthcare equipment. We were challenged to reposition Siemens as a digital technology company. The new brand platform, Humanly Possible, would celebrate how Siemens digital technology was enabling people to do things that had never been done before.

To launch this new platform, we needed an emotional, human story that would breakthrough in a crowded technology space. It had to be an authentic story about something that had never been done before and it needed to introduce Siemens technology to a broader audience.

Although Siemens employs an above-average percentage of women for the engineering field, there’s still an imbalance that can only be corrected by inspiring more young women to pursue engineering careers. We needed to find a genuine way to connect with this audience.

We provided Solid Edge software to high schools around the U.S., so that 14-18 year old kids would learn how to use the same engineering software that's normally used to design Formula 1 cars, SpaceX rockets and the NASA Mars rover. At the exact time when they’re thinking about their future career plans, we gave girls the power to make anything they could think of.

Ashley Kimbel, a 17 year-old girl in Alabama, realized she could use the software to design a new prosthetic foot for an amputee. We were so impressed that we supported her efforts and documented her project to show the world that when high school girls have access to the right tools, anything is possible.

Our message is: with Siemens technology, anything is humanly possible. The most inspiring way to make this point was to put our technology in the hands of young people who still believe anything is possible.

As a brand, Siemens targets a more general audience in order to amplify the story for politicians and key decision-makers. For this product, we were also targeting engineers and educators.

The main asset was a web film about Ashley and Kendall. We filmed it as true documentary, authentically capturing key moments in her project as they happened. We also created a video package for media outlets and snackable social content tailored for specific audiences. To reach educators and engineers, we also created content featuring Ashley’s teacher and more details about the design and making of the prosthetic foot.

At one high school in Alabama, students were using Siemens Solid Edge Software to design rockets, race cars and all sorts of things. Over the course of a year, we followed Ashley Kimbel as she worked on an ambitious project: using the software to design, test and build a new prosthetic foot for Kendall, a wounded soldier. We filmed them along the way and made a documentary that put heart and humanity at the center of a “girls in STEM” story.

The film proved that with the right engineering tools, anything is possible. Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton hosted the launch event with Ashley and Kendall at a local university on national “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” premiered the documentary to an audience of 350 11-14 year-old students. The launch was supported by organic social posts and paid pre-roll driving to the film on the Siemens website.

Ashley and Kendall were interviewed on The Today Show in a segment that aired in 175 U.S. TV markets and got 81MM views online. Her project was covered by 45 news outlets including Newsweek, Business Insider, Woman’s World and Inverse, generating 74MM+ earned media impressions with headlines like “Engineering Girl Power Unleashed” and “Meet 5 Role Models Inspiring Young Women to Get into Engineering.”

We got the attention of elected officials with the power to increase STEM education funding. The Huntsville mayor declared February 21 “Ashley Kimbel Day." Alabama's Senate recognized Ashley with an official resolution. Her U.S. Senator and Congressman tweeted the story.

Most importantly, officials contacted us, asking how to start engineering programs in their school districts. In the first 2 months, 35,692+ students downloaded SolidEdge and traffic to our Jobs and Skills landing page increased by 135%.