Bosch is a 140 year-old German company founded upon the principles of exacting design, premium craftsmanship and technological superiority. To put it mildly, they know tools very, very well. Social Media, however… is a tool they still needed to learn how to use properly in order to begin utilizing this channel as an effective marketing platform.
We are in the midst of a generational shift in which Gen Z workers are taking over from the Baby Boomers. In order to keep up, Bosch needed to adapt its advertising strategy to speak to current and future customers in the spaces and channels they favor. And while there are arguments to be made on both sides of the generational divide as to who does it better, an important trait they share between them is respect for their craft and the value of quality, even if it may come at a higher cost than the competition.
In order to tell the construction world that Bosch “still gots it”, we leveraged #ThrowbackThursday (TBT), a popular, social media trend that takes place every Thursday, in which individuals and brands reminisce about the past while celebrating how far they have come.
To make these posts memorable, and to create a sense of anticipation, we selected one Thursday a month, for eight, consecutive months to highlight vintage tools from Bosch’s history.
Once selected, we applied an immersive design treatment and animation twist matched to the style of the era in which the tool was first introduced, representing decades from the 1930’s all the way to the 2000’s. The resulting design and imagery transported viewers back to iconic design eras including Old Hollywood, Mid-Century Modernism, 80s Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism.
The nostalgia of the visual treatments powerfully reinforced the message that Bosch has been helping tradesmen build the future, and the future of their own careers, for generations. A story that began with the heavy, corded tools used on many of the most memorable buildings in the world continues to be written with the lightweight, cordless and ergonomic tools making their mark in the world of today.
The Bosch TBT series resulted in over 3 million user engagements and simultaneously celebrated its past while inviting a whole new generation to take an active role in the next chapter of this historic brand.
