Hewlett Packard Enterprise Wants to Help You Tame the IT Monster

The complexities of modern information technology (IT) can make it seem like something of a monster, which is precisely how Publicis New York personifies IT in a new campaign for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. A 30-second spot opens with a voiceover explaining, "IT can grow out of control: disrupting business, taking on a life of its own," as a friendly-looking but gigantic red monster seems to unintentionally wreck havoc. These problems, the voiceover continues, can create friction and slow innovation, as the company in the spot seems to struggle with some sizable IT issues. Of course, the spot concludes by presenting HPE as the solution to tame the monster (with its OneView and OneSphere products), which appears to disappear in a cloud of green smoke. It's kind of hard not to feel bad for the poor thing as its fur gets cleaned off the floor. The character's bumbling destruction is not a bad metaphor for the complexities of IT. In some ways the approach is reminiscent of BBDO New York's personification of a "scary idea" in its 2014 "Ideas Are Scary" spot for G.E., although it trades in that ugly duckling transformation ending for a "taming" of I.T. that appears a bit more explosive than we anticipated. "At HPE, we obsessively focus on identifying and resolving our customers' challenges. It's our reason for being. And, what better way to bring to life one of the industry’s monster problems than with a literal monster," HPE global head of brand experience Marissa Freeman said in a statement. " … We believe our customers will not only relate, but smile." "Tech problems are often massive, almost inexpressible and monstrous in scope. We took that simple idea and crafted it into a big smart, creative visual," Publicis New York CCO Andy Bird said in a statement. "The red monster simply conveys the scale of the issue and just how quickly HPE provides a solution." The global, digitally led campaign will run in the U.S., U.K. Germany, France and Japan. Ads will run on broadcast as well as online, and the campaign also includes digital display, OOH, social media, events and search elements. CREDITS Client: HPE Campaign Title: TAME I.T. Agency: Publicis North America Agency Location: New York Chief Creative Officer: Andy Bird Executive Creative Director/s: Matt McKay Creative Director/s: Carlos Perez, Justin Via Associate Creative Director: Jake Blumenau Associate Creative Director: Roe Laophermsook Art Director: Dudu Gomes Art Director: MK Kim Writer: Chris Wilson Designer: Halli Rosen Executive Producer, Broadcast: Lauren Schneidmuller Music Producer: Rachel Rauch Business Manager: Deanna Gattie Executive Producer, Integrated: Kathleen Bennett Global Client Officer: Scott Herring SVP Group Account Director: Bella Curtis SVP Strategy Director: Jeff Koss Account Director: Matt Bloem Account Supervisor: Mike Brokamp Account Executive: Sam Sykes Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker Director: Simon McQuoid Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza Producer: Anita Wetterstedt Editorial Company: MACKCUT Editor: Ian Mackenzie Assistant Editor: Gustavo Roman Executive Producer: Gina Pagano VFX: The Mill Production- Executive Producer: Melanie Wickham Producer: Bugs Russell Production Coordinator: Samuel Centore Creative- Shoot Supervisor: Tony Robins 2D Lead Artist: Jimmy Bullard 3D Lead Artist: Christian Nielsen 2D Artists: Heather Kennedy, Jamie Scott, Molly Intersimone, Ting Jung-Hsu, Andre Vidal, Eric Sibley, Ari Garber, Kieran Hanrahan, Yongjae Lee, Akshay Jain, Arijit Ghosh, Badrinath Chinimilli, Jyoti Tiwari, Nithin Babu 3D Artist: Seon Crawford, Shawn Lipowski, Billy Jang, Incheol Jeong, Constance Bensen, Chris Hill, Dave Barosin, Jackie Liao, Navdeep Singh, Bijo Joy, Fazal Khan, Gokul Navaneethan, Manoj Ravi, Spandana Battula, Tarun Kumar Matte Painting: Charles Lee Design: Adam Pearlman, Kyle Leicht VFX Colour: The Mill Colourist: Fergus McCall Executive Producer, Colour: Rochelle Brown Colour Producer: Evan Bauer Sound & Sound Design: Heard City Engineer: Evan Mangiamele Executive Producer: Sasha Awn