DSM operates in the nutritional products space, an industry with dozens of competitors all selling identical products. Lost in a crowded marketplace that feels like a sea of sameness, they needed help differentiating themselves and their offerings from a host of global companies vying for business. The objective was simple: Drive brand awareness, perception, and ultimately sales by telling a bigger story that made DSM seem like a one-of-a-kind partner who could offer their customers more than the average nutritional products company.
We knew immediately that DSM would have a hard time differentiating themselves based on product. However, vision and values matter in this space. Thousands of DSM’s customers are genuinely trying to do good for the world through nutritious products.
We created a campaign that sought to highlight exactly that: Differentiate DSM based on what it believes, not just what it creates or provides. And DSM believes that when they add their insights and expertise at every stage of a product’s development, they can have a major impact on the world at large.
The “Products with Purpose” campaign paid off that vision and values story. We created a campaign that inherently differentiated DSM by going beyond the products they sell and focusing on the impact those products have on the world and its people. Rather than the “what,” we focused on the “why.”
We created visuals that were uplifting and unmistakably DSM, while allowing for specificity across the multitude of business units in the portfolio. The execution—100% custom CGI—already elevated DSM to a category on its own, far above the typical stock library used by the competition.
The campaign shows how DSM sees the individual impact of every product in a distinct and engaging way. On one side, there’s a common nutrition product that the competition sees. On the opposite side, we reveal the true purpose of that product and the impact it has on the end user. By drawing attention to the purpose, it demonstrates DSM’s unique understanding of the humanity of the end consumer and the real-life benefits nutritional products can have on the health and well-being of people worldwide.
Over the course of the year, we unveiled the campaign both for customers and DSM’s employees, driving engagement and energy within the company as well as outside it. Employee interactions with the company’s social media shot up, and did so around the globe. Externally, there was massive uptake of the campaign globally. In multiple markets, from the United States to China to Brazil, earned media metrics skyrocketed, with over 121 placements, 114 press release mentions, multiple interviews in trade publications, and just under 6 million earned impressions.
Ultimately, DSM—from the boardroom to the factory floor—was delighted. As time progresses, the campaign continues to build and grow, and for thousands of employees, “purpose” is now firmly in the lexicon.
