Since 2007, Workday has offered software for two key business functions: HR and Finance. In HR, they’ve been a massive hit, with a customer base that includes over 50% of the Fortune 500.1 Meanwhile, they’ve struggled to gain the same kind of traction in Finance as they did in HR. Workday’s reputation as a narrow product specialist2 was negatively impacting their pipeline, as annual revenue value of marketing qualified leads had experienced sliding growth.3

Our brief was simple and ambitious: we had to reverse five years of slowing pipeline growth by untethering Workday from its limiting reputation as a niche HR specialist. We knew dramatic results would not be achieved by acting like every other B2B brand. So, we decided to shift from narrow, rational, product-focused marketing to a wider, more emotional, fame-driven approach.

Ironically, a bit more fame was what our audience was craving as well. Leaders of HR, Finance, and IT have traditionally been seen as unsexy, back-office, behind-the-scenes executives. But over the last several years, digital transformation has fundamentally changed the nature of their jobs and the challenges they’re looking to solve.4,5,6 Increasingly they’re not just role players, they’re helping drive their businesses.

As their responsibilities changed, so did their attitude. These once staid, under-the-radar executives have become bold visionaries. The only problem was that the world didn’t see them that way. The big opportunity was fulfilling an emotional void that had been ignored.7

Our solution was to launch a new campaign that elevated unsung Finance and HR decision-makers by repositioning them as the real stars of modern business.

We started by letting our audience know that they rock – with share-worthy vintage-style band posters, made for LinkedIn. We used rock iconography in print and OOH, celebrating our audience for making big moves in business. Our content was social media catnip,

which we used to populate Workday’s owned channels.

But our unmissable smash hit was inviting five actual rock stars to be part of the conversation, which turned up the volume in a completely unexpected way. These legends of music were impressed with our audience – but they weren’t too pleased to share the title of rock star with them.

With all of America watching at the Super Bowl, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Gary Clark Jr., and Paul Stanley told corporate America that they aren’t rock stars. And suddenly, our audience – and the whole nation -- was talking about, and loving, this enterprise software brand with a sense of humor. We surrounded our Super Bowl buy with short-form videos and posts perfect for sharing across the social channels our audience uses – LinkedIn and Instagram.

We also equipped Workday’s 17,000 employees -- including sales teams -- with stickers, emoji, wallpaper backgrounds and merch – which they proudly amplified across their social media channels. As an encore performance, we even had our rock stars send some personal videos to Workday’s highest value prospects, helping convert cultural resonance into revenue.