Realizing that they had neither the time nor the expertise to effectively get their message into the marketplace, Software Optimisation Services made a decision to hire professional storytellers who could help them rise above the noise and be heard.
About the Client
One of the biggest hurdles for technology companies is how to explain what they do and the problems they can solve for their customers. Their subject matter is highly technical, often complex, and capturing the imagination of their audience is a challenge few can meet.
For Australia-based Software Optimisation Services (SOS), their efforts to produce compelling digital content on their own took their focus away from their core business –helping clients make the right decisions about the software they invest in– and led to frustration, wasted time and misspent money.
That’s when CEO Filipa Preston decided that a marketing agency would not only benefit them from a cost-savings point of view, it would be able to develop effective messaging through blogs, ad campaigns, case studies, award submissions and more.
Unfortunately, their first experience was an exercise in frustration. It was Microsoft Award season, and SOS had 6 weeks to work on a submission that would attract the attention of the judges. Preston and four of her team members spent a combined 200 hours working with the marketing firm to nail the messaging.
“The agency just wasn’t understanding our story or our value proposition. After all the time we had put in, I had to accept they were never going to get it,” says Preston. “The award submission deadline was upon us and we had nothing.”
Preston turned the project over to Mercer-MacKay Digital Storytelling. She had met Gail Mercer-MacKay at Microsoft Inspire in Houston and took a chance that her staff writers could craft a winning submission for SOS – in just three days!
Our Solution
The team at Mercer-MacKay pulled together an award submission that hit the mark right out of the gate.
“My hands were literally shaking when I opened the first draft. We had no time to waste and I simply could not face more fruitless rounds of revisions. But the content and messaging were exactly on point. It was a sheer delight for me.” Filipa Preston, CEO, SOS
At the same time, Preston also needed a marketing take-away for a conference she was attending overseas. The problem was that she would be travelling and couldn’t be part of the process.
But it was not a problem for Mercer-MacKay. By the time Preston checked in to her hotel, there was a stack of perfectly executed post cards with SOS’s message and call-to-action waiting for her at the desk.
Since then, Mercer-MacKay has handled Microsoft reports, case studies, blogs and editing work for SOS, saving Preston time and money with each project.
And bigger things are coming.
“Gail is terrific at turning ideas into bigger ones,” says Preston. “Her vision is taking us to places we could not have imagined on our own.”
Benefits
Decades of experience working with technology companies allows the team at Mercer-MacKay to understand the unique needs of their clients much faster than marketing companies that serve a broad range of companies.
But it’s the concept of storytelling that truly sets them apart – taking highly technical subjects and finding a way to bring out their heart. The final results are readable, relatable and always have a satisfying ending.
Putting their content into the hands of experienced professionals hasn’t only resulted in time and cost savings for SOS. It means they can now deliver compelling, accessible material that articulates their message and connects with their audience in a way they never could before.
“Mercer-MacKay Digital Storytelling know how to navigate Microsoft and their partner community. And they understand the “pitch-language” to ensure our message lands with Microsoft and partners.”
-Filipa Preston, CEO, SOS
About Software Optimisation Services
Software Optimisation Services (SOS) was established in 2011 as an independent advisory practice. Dubbed the “Switzerland” of software licence compliance and IT asset management (ITAM), SOS offers an independent, clear lens on an enterprise’s information systems – establishing clarity and laying down the foundations to allow a business to optimise IT operations and reduce enterprise risk.
In 2016 SOS won Microsoft’s global SAM Partner of the Year award, the first company in Australia APAC to ever win in that category.