VCCP launches first global campaign for Sage since rebranding

VCCP launched the first global marketing campaign for Sage, the accounting, finance, HR and payroll technology company.

The hero films at the heart of the campaign focus on real customers who work for small and medium-sized businesses: Laura Rose, managing director at Equestrian Rose and Joanne Halsall, finance manager at Crow Wood Leisure.

Rose’s “First order” ad features an animated, colorized woman jumping through a black-and-white beach town. Rose speaks in voiceover, telling viewers that the excitement of her first order never faded.

Rose said: “To me, putting us – their customers – at the center of a national campaign shows how much Sage believes in small businesses.”

The campaign itself is designed to reflect the changing needs of SMEs.

Halsall’s announcement, “Strength” (above), also features an animated, colorized woman rowing across a black-and-white lake. Halsall’s voiceover talks about the “strength” of asking for help when you don’t know something as a business owner.

Cath Keers, Director of Marketing at Sage, said: “We were looking for stories that would resonate with other business owners. The ups and downs of doing business is a theme we hear regularly from our clients, so as soon as we heard Laura and Joanne’s stories, we knew it encapsulated the sentiments of other small and medium sized businesses. . »

Keers added, “The world has changed and doing business has changed too. And that’s why we have changed. We have a new purpose, a new way of doing business and a new look.”

This is the first campaign VCCP has produced for Sage since winning the account in January 2022. The agency worked with its global content studio Girl&Bear and product and services innovation company Bernadette to create the countryside.

Mark Orbine, Executive Creative Director at VCCP London, said: “At VCCP, we always talk about indelibly marked worlds. Remove the O2 logo, for example, and you always know who’s talking to you.

“So by using real black and white backgrounds and sage green in our animations, we’ve created a unique new world that will hopefully end time will become brand properties synonymous with Sage.”

SomeOne, along with Susie Moore, Sage’s interim executive vice president of brand marketing, were working on brand and strategy development.

Media planning and buying was handled by Neo Media World. The TV ads will be supported by digital and social media, as well as an outdoor campaign. Sage’s trademarked ‘flow’ will also feature in a digital activation at Elizabeth Line underground stations.