What do you do when you’ve got what your prospective customer wants, but they don’t believe you have it? That was the dilemma faced by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.

LinkedIn needed to change the perception by one of the world’s top gaming brands that LinkedIn was all business. That meant establishing credibility for LinkedIn as a place for gamers, and proving to the target that the gamers on LinkedIn were reachable and ready to spend. Only then would the target gaming brand consider LinkedIn as part of its giant media buy.

LinkedIn first commissioned research from Nielsen to uncover the proof, and better understand the gaming audience on its platform. Then LinkedIn asked our team for a creative strategy and a targeted campaign to break through this gaming brand’s skepticism, and convince the small group of media decision makers to start spending on LinkedIn.

“Our members are your gamers.” The simple statement shattered the notion that LinkedIn is all business and that its members think only as professionals. Using the iconic LinkedIn profile pic as a visual device, the concept illustrated the overlap between professional and gamer, and celebrated a depth of personality that everyone can relate to. The concept also reinforced gamers’ presence and reachability on LinkedIn.

Since we knew who the target stakeholders were at the target account and their media agency, we took their public profile pics and worked with an avatar artist to turn them into pixel-illustrated gaming characters. We first emailed those character pics as a teaser to the target audience. Then, with 3D printing and direct mail, we turned each of these gaming marketers into a custom statuette. We mailed these as a surprise with branded materials and research data right before the big pitch meeting.

Door=opened