The data center market is absolutely massive with over 10,978 data centers worldwide and growing steadily. The industry is dominated by three major players (Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform) who together hold a commanding 66% share of the global cloud infrastructure market.

Digitization is a key enabler of societal and economic progress, but the stark reality in Poland was that only 1 in 10 businesses were satisfied with their digital maturity. So, in response to growing demand for high-performance computing and fast and reliable access to cloud services, Microsoft Azure was looking to open a state-of-the-art Polish cloud region. But in a fiercely competitive market where differentiation between major players is limited, it faced a significant challenge: how to increase awareness in-market for the opening of its first datacenter region in Poland.

Culture shapes everything we create, from culinary delights and artistic undertakings to chart-topping hits and the latest fashion trends. It’s what gives the things we create a distinct identity, flavor, uniqueness. So how come no one has ever looked at its influence on technology and innovation?

We wanted to explore this, so we created a docu-travel video series to do it. And because we couldn’t find the right term to describe the complex relationship between technology and tradition, we invented — Cloud Cultures.

Cloud cultures went beyond code and computing to tell a larger, more emotional, global story highlighting people and businesses from some of the fastest growing cloud markets around the world. From enterprise to grassroots, we cast a spotlight on real-world stories of ingenuity and transformation. Along the way learning about their approach to innovation, how culture influences it, and the ways they’re using Azure to solve challenges.

Microsoft Azure delivers cloud services to diverse global markets. Rather than crafting a one-size-fits-all message for the series, we focused on elevating local voices so our messaging could address the needs and interests of regional business decision-makers. To do this, we engaged local subsidiaries to ensure the stories we told would resonant with local audiences. Over several months, we immersed ourselves in local news and stories to identify key themes and trends driving innovation in each target market. We combined this with additional interviews and research to uncover cultural insights and potential partner stories. Our local subsidiaries played a crucial role in vetting episodes to ensure they were authentic to the cultural fabric of each region. By showcasing the human potential inherent to each market, we inspired our audiences with real possibility for impact, all while positioning Microsoft Azure as an essential catalyst for innovation in the region.

Expanding beyond the initial scope of launching the data center in Poland, the first six episodes of Cloud Cultures ended up taking us across Europe, to Southeast Asia, and Mexico with a message to inspire our audience with the real potential and possibilities for impact with Microsoft Azure.

The first four episodes made up Season 1 of the series and were released weekly on YouTube and shared on Twitter and LinkedIn across a collection of relevant Microsoft social handles to ensure maximum visibility and engagement with our audiences globally. Each episode release was accompanied by a companion blog piece that gave in-depth discussions, behind-the-scenes insights, and outtakes from the episodes. To further amplify our reach and impact, a targeted email program was developed to reach contacts in our Azure Conversation program.

Cloud Cultures surpassed our benchmarks and expectations, delivering exceptional outcomes across KPIs. With over 1M views and counting, the series achieved remarkable reach, surpassing other content on the Microsoft YouTube channel by +533%.

Engagement metrics outperformed our expectations , with a remarkable view-through rate +123% above benchmarks and a 69.27% view-through-rate — indicating high relevance and interest in the content to our BDM and ITDM audiences. Emails containing Cloud Cultures content exhibited high content relevance and interest as well, with a 37% open rate, surpassing benchmarks by 11.6%

One of our primary objectives for the campaign was to connect with audiences in-market. Paid media investment was limited to US only, so all local exposure and engagement gained was completely organic. The overwhelmingly positive brand perception reflected in the comments from local audiences further reinforces the series' effectiveness and indicates strong resonance and relevance with audiences in targeted regions.