B2B technology can be dry and technical — but B2B marketing doesn’t have to be. At Walker Sands, we’re committed to building unique, innovative programs that challenge the status quo and help our clients break out of the mold.
We believe B2B marketing can be bigger, better and smarter, which is why we’re proud to announce that Walker Sands has won two 2022 Hermes Creative Awards for our creative work with Adlucent and commercetools.
The Hermes Creative Awards is one of the oldest and largest creative competitions in the world, and honors the messengers and creators of the information revolution — a well-deserved achievement for our teams’ work on the below award-winning projects.
New Website Shines a Light on Adlucent’s Experimental Roots – Platinum Award
Our integrated web strategy for Adlucent received a Platinum Award in the “Web Writing/Content” category. When Adlucent needed its web presence to showcase its growth, the digital performance marketing agency asked Walker Sands to redefine its positioning and articulate its brand narrative to its audiences of B2B and B2C retailers and brands.
The Walker Sands team kicked off the program by conducting a website content audit, competitor research and SEO analysis to identify gaps and uncover which pages were driving SEO value. With the audits complete, Walker Sands determined that Adlucent needed a new branding framework and website revamp that clearly communicated its “why,” led with results and set the stage for more qualified leads.
To lay the groundwork for content creation, Walker Sands developed a creative, confidently smart and warm brand voice for Adlucent — like your favorite college professor. The new brand voice highlights Adlucent’s deep expertise, collaborative nature and trailblazing spirit without sounding egotistical or pretentious.
Next, Walker Sands worked with the Adlucent team to develop optimized content. Maintaining focus on Adlucent’s diverse range of technology and services, the team also introduced a new information architecture and simplified navigation. Walker Sands prioritized an intuitive user experience and SEO best practices to highlight Adlucent’s services and technology, and better position the organization as an integrated agency.
Ultimately, this strategy helped Adlucent’s new site rise in Google search rankings — and achieve a 15% increase in YoY organic search. Read the full case study here.
commercetools Out of Home + Digital Campaign – Gold Award
Our cross-channel brand awareness campaign for commercetools received a Gold Award in the “Advertising Campaign” category. commercetools is a cloud-based, headless commerce platform that allows B2C, B2B and D2C retailers to shed the limits of legacy technology and build flexible, scalable and personalized commerce experiences across channels. Ahead of the 2022 Shoptalk conference, commercetools needed to build brand awareness among non-technical business decision-makers in the U.S. as a better alternative to legacy platforms like Salesforce and Oracle.
To boost awareness of commercetools and associate the company with limitless possibility, Walker Sands created a video campaign featuring Will Arnett as the character of the “Naysayer” — a metaphorical embodiment of legacy commerce platforms (and the opposite of commercetools). Like legacy platforms, the Naysayer shuts down big ideas and exciting plans for better commerce experiences.
Because the Shoptalk conference took place before the video campaign was released, Walker Sands teased the videos with provocative ads across Las Vegas media that highlighted iterations of the Naysayer’s favorite word (“no”) and “naysayings” that detailed his pessimistic perspective on the future of retail.
The team used a playful tone in copy and a typographic approach — bold in simplicity, treatment and repetition — to pique audience curiosity and encourage them to consider how their legacy commerce platform might be holding them back.
The Shoptalk campaign generated positive word-of-mouth among conference attendees and prepped audiences for the launch of the larger video campaign, which went live on May 17.
Congratulations to Adlucent, commercetools and our talented team members on the success of these creative projects! Get in touch to find out how Walker Sands can deliver results through creative work that’s as unique as your brand.