THE CHALLENGE

Covid caused a rapid shift to remote work that upended existing work practices.  

A year later, in the Netherlands, as soon restrictions lifted and offices re-opened, huge traffic jams and ‘rush hours’ returned, with people going back to the old 9am-5pm routines.  

Many employees and businesses struggled to embrace a hybrid working future and instead quickly fell back into old routines, which didn’t maintain the positive aspects of work-life flexibility. 1 

But with 40% of the global workforce considering leaving their employer in 2021, it was clear things weren’t working.  

As a pioneer in remote working solutions, Microsoft NL wanted to shift mindsets and lead the way to embracing a better future of work that empowers employees.

Objectives: 

• Offer a thoughtful approach to hybrid work that positions Microsoft as a thought leader that empowers businesses and employees to thrive in today’s world. 
• Help Microsoft to own the hybrid workspace in the Netherlands 

THE STRATEGY

To transform the future of work, we wanted to inspire organisations like Microsoft NL to embrace hybrid working that is flexible with the time and place to work but also adapted to the unique characteristics and qualities of the individuals.

We introduced a new position: a Chief Hybrid Officer (CHO) for Microsoft, who would be a key part of a long-term hybrid work transformational strategy, embedded across Microsoft NL’s own business and promoted out to other businesses, to lead the way in this important cultural shift. 

Our target audience included 900+ employees at Microsoft Netherlands, who needed first to be onboarded into the new Hybrid working vision. We also targeted Microsoft’s customers and partners to encourage and support them in adopting the approach.

The four pillars of hybrid working for the CHO role we identified were:

• Adopting flexible workstyles
• Prioritizing care and wellbeing
• Balancing working collaboratively vs. alone irrespective of time
• Transforming the office into a social hub

THE EXECUTION

To bring the inside out approach to life and showcase that Microsoft fosters a hybrid workplace environment, we selected 4 Microsoft employees, each with a unique lifestyle and way of working, to lead by example and be the ambassador of the campaign.  

We created a brand film that helps defines Microsoft’s point of view on hybrid working, showcasing the CHO and selected employees and their unique ways of adopting hybrid working around their lives. Each of the four pillars of the campaign was addressed in the brand film. 

We launched the campaign with the announcement of the hybrid week at Microsoft NL. The employees were introduced to the CHO and to the Microsoft’s approach towards hybrid work via the brand film, a round table discussion, workshops, inspiration talks and collaboration sessions during the week to bring the idea of hybrid working to life.  

We used social media channels such as Instagram (for Microsoft employees) and LinkedIn (for Microsoft’s suppliers and partners) to further amplify the campaign and used the authentic hybrid work stories of the employees to inspire change.  

Over the next few months, we have podcasts planned with Microsoft employees, touching upon the four pillars of the campaign, to engage with our audiences and the industry at large.  

THE OUTCOME

Despite the Ukraine crisis dominating the media, the campaign caught the attention of more than 31 national Dutch media and news outlets (ATL & Digital).

Client owned Social Channels (including LinkedIn & Instagram)

• 20,000+ online film views
• 185,000 organic social post engagements
• 70,000 impressions
• Engagements: 1225% of target
• Click Throughs: 202% of target
• Unique Reach: 133% of target

Future of Work Landing Page: 4,079,294 unique visitors

Employee Engagement: Over 70% of Microsoft Netherlands employees attended Inspiration sessions

Commercial Results: One-on-one inspiration sessions about hybrid working with more than 150 customer organizations leading to 40+ new leads in 6 weeks