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Getting SMEs to reduce e-waste & boost their businesses with Google's ChromeOS Flex

Challenge

To get IT decision-makers in UK-based SMEs to adopt ChromeOS Flex – a cloud-first, fast and secure Operating System that extends the lifespan of Macs and PCs.

SMEs are under pressure to act sustainably. However, they struggle to do this with business hardware – aging devices are associated with poor productivity and security risks.

Many SMEs stick to the traditional practice of purchasing new devices every 3-5 years, leading to increased costs and contributing to UK's growing E-waste problem (which has surpassed plastic waste as the fastest growing polluter).

Approach

Our target audience – UK-based SME IT decision-makers (including founders, C-suites, IT Directors across all sectors) - are facing mounting pressure to lead the charge to net-zero. We knew that leading with a product-centric message wouldn’t create urgency or appeal to our target audience.

In our first phase of comms, we grabbed attention by landing UK’s E-waste problem via Facebook and LinkedIn ads, using the lock-up ‘Don’t bin it, just flex it’.

In our second phase, we showed key benefits via retargeted ads on Facebook and LinkedIn.

In our final phase, we ran a further round of retargeted ads that put a spotlight on Nordic Choice Hotels, a hero success story.

We also were centrestage at Evening Standard’s London-based SME XPO, engaging with 4,000+ receptive decision-makers passionate about sustainability, technology and future trends. Not only were we the event’s headline sponsor, with bold ChromeOS branding visible across all touchpoints and collaterals, we created an interactive event booth with an eye-catching E-waste installation to draw people in, along with floor decals, posters and a branded VIP Lounge.

We concluded the campaign with a physical direct mailer that reached 1,500 business leaders, to make the benefits of ChromeOS Flex more tangible. Designed to create intrigue in recipients, the DM alluded to a Chromebook inside the package. This was contrasted inside, revealing a cardboard laptop holding a ChromeOS Flex USB - offering you everything you need to enhance your business tech needs with a simple installation.

Results

The campaign led to a significant increase in ChromeOS Flex adoption, with a remarkable 150% uplift on our initial target.

Our social campaign saw impressive results, including:

  • A high 0.5% CTR generated from LinkedIn (primary online channel)
  • 53% higher traffic driven to website vs benchmark
  • 83% lower CPM recorded vs benchmark (Facebook & LinkedIn)

At SME-XPO, we ushered in interest across a variety of touch points including:

  • 1,400+ leads, 130+ stand visitors, 150+ session attendees across 4 speaking slots including a keynote, panel session and 2 workshops.
  • Our organic social campaign received 6.6k impressions & average engagement rate of 9.28%.
  • 57% of surveyed attendees stated they were considering deploying ChromeOS Flex.

"The 'Don't bin it, just flex it' campaign, beautifully designed and masterfully executed by Team Toaster, was a very creative and innovative approach to addressing the issue of e-waste in the UK by encouraging SMEs to adopt ChromeOS Flex. The campaign focused on a clear problem: SMEs are under pressure to act more sustainably, and used a multi-channel approach, including paid media, DMs, events, and email outreach, to reach a wide audience, reaching over 1.2 million SMEs. My team at Google was absolutely delighted to work with Toaster to make it happen."

  • Wojciech Bendorf-Bundorf, Head of Growth Marketing EMEA, P&E Enterprise, Google