Aruba Networks launches their new ESP network technology with a campaign capturing the possibilities of the intelligent Edge

To launch the industry’s first platform purpose-built for the Intelligent Edge, Aruba Networks wanted a campaign that captured the spirit of anticipation and dynamism. bbd responded with a new creative and structural approach entirely. We designed and delivered the Aruba Sixth Sense Promotion and ESP Launch campaign to lend a new direction to the way a large global networking provider can talk now about what comes next.

Aruba prides itself on being the ‘biggest small company’, with an unconventional and innovative approach to networking. To coincide with the launch of the Aruba ESP platform in June 2020, the Santa Clara-based organisation requested a campaign that would reflect the industry’s first cloud-native platform built for the Intelligent Edge.

Challenge

A new networking landscape driven by Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is generating huge amounts of unstructured data at The Edge. Generating actionable insights from this data requires a network that can go beyond human capability without manual intervention. To position the Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP) as the purpose-built platform for the Intelligent Ege, Aruba needed to capture the imagination in a way that matched the ambition and innovation of the platform. bbd identified that this was more than a network solutions launch based on product features. It required stimulating a human response by creating amusing and engaging content for the main target audience of partners and clients leading up to the Aruba Atmosphere 2020 event in Las Vegas.

Objective

The business challenge was to establish Aruba as the industry authority on the Intelligent Edge, a conversation that no single provider could claim to ‘own’. To achieve this, bbd envisaged the creation from scratch of a platform that captured the energy, dynamism and infinite possibilities of The Edge, where devices, technology, infrastructure and above all people came together.

Approach

bbd provided several creative routes with a fast turnaround that brought The Edge to life. The selected route was the Sixth Sense, reflecting the extent to which Aruba ESP allowed users to realise the true power of the disconnected and complex data points within the network.

Solution

We utilised the bbd promotion engine to run a Sixth Sense Aruba competition, offering weekly prizes and a Grand Prize draw to audiences. The promotion engine was used to deliver key campaign messaging but also incentivise engagement. The bbd promotion team developed the mechanics, user journeys, terms & conditions and fulfilment process. The distinguishing feature of the Sixth Sense competition was that entrants had to choose their answer before seeing the question. At the end, they would be given their ‘Sixth Sense’ rating. Overall, the engagement mechanic and content represented a significant departure from Aruba’s conventional style. The playful, unorthodox tone and deliberately non-technical iconography allowed us to present a complex IT concept in a fun, human-centric way, and to make the process of data capture more impersonal.

Evolution

The Sixth Sense promotion launched in June 2020, running until August. Entry numbers have grown steadily on a daily basis. The response to campaign creative was so positive that Aruba Networks have since extended it across all campaign deliverables across all regions, even using it as a bespoke Zoom background for company conferences.