Client Corner: Schneider Electric

How do you make electricity distribution, automation management and installation component production sound exciting? Just ask Schneider Electric, as they’ve clearly achieved this through recently teaming up with ad agency BETC. 

The European multinational corporation was founded way back in 1836 but has recently put a fresh spin on how it appeals to consumers, with a little help from its new agency. Through its Life is On campaign, the brand is now showing that, thanks to its products, people are able to live their lives to the fullest.

The company’s website has been completely revamped and BETC and BETC Digital have created a viral film called Raccoon Dance Party (below), putting hilarious furry creatures at the centre of the brand’s identity.

shots caught up with Schneider Electric’s strategic project leader Yee Thong Wong and business analyst (strategy and digital customer experience) Shirley Law, to find out more about how an electricity equipment company is using the digital age to engage with consumers in fun, innovative ways.

Why was BETC chosen as Schneider Electric’s new agency?

BETC was chosen for their capability in understanding our brief and expectations, making that creative leap and BETC has also shown its prowess in digital communication and technical solutions.

Tell us a bit about the Life is On campaign… 

The Life Is On by Schneider Electric campaign is our expression for SE@Home. Through this campaign, we would like to engage our audiences through relevant, engaging and enriching customer experiences. We believe that technology will only become an innovation when it changes people's lives – and Schneider Electric brings homes to life through technology that is adaptive, intuitive, sensorial and simple. Through this campaign, we would like to show homes can be more vibrant and filled with energy, where people live life to the fullest.

Tell us a bit about the viral film Life is On by Schneider Electric - Raccoon Dance Party! Why did you choose to use raccoons in the film? 

We want to create content that grabs people’s attention and makes them sit up and notice us. With the ultimate intention to create interest in what products and solutions that we have for the home. We want to ensure our video content is viral friendly. Leveraging and creating online conversations is key to a video's success so we have followed some very simple criteria: fun, surprising, not over-branded, with subtle product integration/interaction and fusing interesting characters into unexpected situations. We have chosen raccoon because, if you listen to the web, it seems funny raccoons are going to be a long-term trend (appearing in popular cartoons, video games, oncoming blockbusters, memes, social media conversations etc) and we want to ride on the fact that the raccoon is the new LOL cat. Putting the raccoons in an unexpected environment such as a home makes it interesting creates the sense of surprise as well as the notion of accessibility (through the ease of use of our products in the video).

What sort of reaction have you had to the film?

Pop culture is global and we believe raccoons are already an emerging trend (if not already one that is massively talked about online). Using an LOL animal also allows us to stay culturally neutral and language-neutral – we feel raccoons will resonate well with people from different countries and cultures. So far, we have had very promising reactions from the Australian audiences. Not only has it increased the brand and consumer interaction on social media, it has also driven a lot of traffic to the new website, resulting in many actions that are directly linked to informed choices and decisions.

Tell us a bit about the revamped website and why now is the time to refresh your online presence…

The world has changed a lot and so has people’s online behaviour and engagement, so we feel this revolutionary step in revamping our website is an important step to truly getting closer to our audiences. The five main principles of our new web experience are: a simplified landing page, customer journey based navigation, context based offer presentation, easy to use product selector and direct connection to the appropriate channel.