THINK INTERNATIONAL:
How Danisco’s sales force fell in love with Marketing

At Eye for Image’s second THINK INTERNATIONAL seminar, Danisco Food Enzymes Division's Communications Manager Birgitte Borch shared her experience with using an online rich-media ‘magazine’ to launch a global campaign on a tight budget.

In 2008, Danisco’s Food Enzymes Division wanted to launch a new communication platform called Imagine with Us. The creative team, led by Birgitte Haber Schou Borch, needed to get its message out to Danisco employees all over the world, but its budget was limited.

The team wasn’t prepared to compromise, so they started looking for a unique way to grab everyone’s attention – without breaking the bank. Says Birgitte, “We needed a cost-effective, high-impact way to launch what would normally be a big-budget initiative within such a large company.”

The wow-effect
Then the team came across an online pop culture magazine produced by NetPublications. Birgitte was intrigued: “The interactive publication was a young, consumer-targeted magazine that was about as far from the Danisco way as you can get. We all looked at this and said: Wow!”

With Flash animation, films, interactive features and sound, the magazine was engaging and dynamic. But this technology had never been used for internal corporate communications before, and Birgitte knew that could be an issue: “A large, established company like Danisco should maybe think twice about being cutting edge, but this magazine was so new and cool that everyone saw its value right away. People experienced the wow-effect – so it was an easy sell within the organization.”

The power of Flash
Hoping to take advantage of being the first-mover, the team got to work. They held workshops and brought in management early. They shot videos on location – but kept costs down by buying royalty-free music and film clips. With just three people on the project, it took less than two months to produce. And the results were impressive.

The team paid special attention to the design elements that would really pull in readers. “The first step in communicating is to grab attention”, says Birgitte. “Static spreads that don’t have any ‘bling’ don’t engage readers. But the front page of our communication piece actually moved! This was a real attention grabber.”

The publication’s platform has three layers: a PDF foundation, a video layer, and a Flash layer that ties everything together. It’s the Flash animation that grabs attention, and keeps it through visual effects, sub-menus, loop images and more. “This is where you have all the fun,” says Birgitte. “The amount of Flash you use is what makes all the difference.”

Going viral
The built-in live tracking system allowed Danisco to see how many different people opened the publication, and how much time they spent reading it. Initially, the publication was sent to 280 people, and within one week more than 500 people had viewed it – most more than twice. It was clear that people were taking the time to read it and that they were sharing it with others.

These results speak volumes about the project’s success. With a traditional brochure sent to 500 people, perhaps 250 recipients would look at it – and fewer than 20 might pass it on. The interactive publication, on the other hand, creates a viral effect – and can even be ‘leaked’ to customers.

Flash forward
Although this campaign was internal, Danisco has plans for its customers to enjoy similar interactive publications in future. According to Birgitte, the Imagine with Us campaign was truly motivating for everyone. “Our sales force really fell in love with the idea of Danisco’s food enzymes, and I received an enthusiastic response from across the company. We’ll definitely use this format again – perhaps for annual reports and external communications.”

Check out Danisco's Imagine with Us interactive publication, or read more about the THINK INTERNATIONAL seminar.

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