“The Cloud Detectives”

SoftwareOne is a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions. The brand needed a campaign to educate audiences and drive leads for their cloud financial management offering (FinOps). To add humor and fun to an otherwise dry, technical topic — and to make the most of their passionate experts — my team created the “Cloud Detectives,” a video-led campaign that reimagined SoftwareOne’s own IT pros as noir-style gumshoes on the case for missing cloud spend.

We produced a series of videos educating IT pros about the basics of FinOps, featuring two thought leaders in character as the cloud detectives. We also gave the pair animated alter egos and produced brief cartoons featuring common FinOps “cases” to solve.

We boosted the impact of the campaign with digital ad creative, executive articles for LinkedIn, a tip sheet for would-be cloud detectives, and even conference swag (that was the most desirable merch at the FinOps conference, according to word on the street).

As creative director, I led our writers and designers through creative concepting, supported script and ad creation, crafted video outlines that prepared our thought leaders (and assuaged their nerves), and oversaw creative production. The campaign was so successful that we extended it in three phases — and the “Cloud Detectives” live on as the faces of FinOps at SoftwareOne.