“With only 4 weeks to go before the product announcement, the Enterprise Search Team needed help translating their creative vision into persuasive marketing materials that highlighted the tangible value of the products.“

Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express Product Announcement Creative Scenario

Situation: The Microsoft Enterprise Search Team needed to produce compelling and interactive promotional tools to support its upcoming Search Server 2008 and Search Server 2008 Express product announcements. They required a datasheet with detailed product information that would be distributed to thousands of participants, as well as analysts and the press, at announcement events throughout the United States and Europe. They also wanted an animated demo incorporated into Microsoft’s customer-facing Web site, giving participants the ability to experience the capabilities of these new products with dynamic screen by screen visuals. With only 4 weeks to go before the product announcement, the Enterprise Search Team needed help translating their creative vision into persuasive marketing materials that highlighted the tangible value of the products.

Solution: Projectline project managers were already hard at work driving the marketing deliverables that would make the Enterprise Search product announcement a success. So when the requirement arose for a datasheet and animated demo, Projectline immediately called in its Creative Services team. Projectline worked closely with Microsoft stakeholders to quickly discern what they wanted to communicate through the animated demo. They created a storyboard and brought in an animation developer who worked 7 days a week to complete the demo in time for the product announcement. Due to the tight turnaround time, Projectline’s Creative Director worked on the datasheet herself, and coordinated the printing, production, and delivery to event locations.

Benefits: Thanks to Projectline’s coordinated efforts, the marketing announcement for the new Enterprise Search products was a great success. The animated demo was approved and incorporated into Microsoft’s customer-facing Web sites in time for the product announcement, and the datasheet was available to participants at announcement events across the United States and Europe.

Results:

• Dynamic animated demo incorporated into Microsoft Web sites to support new product announcements
• Detailed datasheet distributed to 3000 event participants