Surprise! Ad Campaign
In early 2023, Planful began preparations for an awareness-level brand campaign. We needed something that cut to the core of our customer base’s pain, while still being eye-catching and engaging. I suggested we bring it in house, and worked with the team to create a branded, playful campaign without significant overhead costs.
CONTRIBUTIONS: Copywriting, brand design/visual direction, research & focus testing
Animated HTML5 Ad campaign for Planful
The Ads
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Aimed at: Accounting teams
The hook: A dictionary-inspired visual that makes you laugh–and then makes you nervous. Thankfully, Planful has a solution.
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Aimed at: Accounting teams
The hook: The photography is the star here; the images are from a shoot I art directed back in ‘22; we got the shot of the model tossing papers on that day because I knew it would come in handy. I’m thrilled we got to use it in this piece.
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Aimed at: Finance teams
The hook: The CFO character can be a lot of things: hero, villain, self-insert. In this case, he’s the guy you don’t want to piss off with budget mistakes. Finance audiences rarely get this playful with visuals; we thought it was time to shake things up.
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Aimed at: Finance teams
The hook: The text format is the hook here–it’s eye catching. Nothing is more nerve wracking than seeing messages from your boss pop up during budgeting season! This concept was a hard sell to the team, but it’s done well in the market, probably because it’s so eye-catching.
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Aimed at: Marketing teams
The hook: If you’re in marketing, you’ve either been this guy, or you’re afraid of being this guy. Especially in 2023 when this campaign kicked off, shrinking marketing budgets are a relatable pain point for this audience.
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Aimed at: Marketing teams
The hook: A little less on the nose than “budget cuts,” this ad still targets marketing where they hurt the most–their bottom line. Geez, we want them to say, Can I prove it? With Planful, they can.
Process Notes
“The Hook”
We originally brought on an agency for this project, but quickly realized the copywriting needed an in-house touch–something playful and punchy that could only be created by someone who understands Planful’s audience intimately. After focus-testing early concepts, I stepped in and rewrote our ad copy based on initial efforts from our DemandGen and Marketing teams.
Along with the rest of the Planful creative team, we pushed this campaign across the finish line entirely in-house, from end to end. Animation, art direction, and distribution–no agency needed. To me, that’s a win.