XEROX PARC: BRAND CAMPAIGN
We helped PARC employees reclaim their places as the home of Original Thinking
Let's start with the problem
Xerox has an image problem. People know them as the ‘photocopier guys’ but Xerox has been the originator of many revolutionary technologies that we take for granted in our day to day lives.
In the late 1970’s, many of those technologies were stolen by the likes of Apple and turned into products like the Mac.
The Big Idea
The story of Steve Jobs stealing Xerox’s computer mouse prototype and the graphic user interface is well known. But in all that time… Xerox had never stood up and fought back. Never claimed what was rightfully theirs.
We stepped in to highlight Xerox’s Original Thinking – we crafted a retro-inspired brand campaign that went back in time to acknowledge those thefts and position Xerox as the true originator of those revolutionary ideas.
ORIGINAL THINKING
Xerox were stuck in a rut
In the wake of the IP and technology thefts, Xerox forged ahead, making the best copiers on the market. But their primary target audience was enterprise customers who could afford to purchase and upkeep the expensive machines. They struggled to scale and ultimately, they became typecast.
Competitors forged ahead
Meanwhile, Apple and Microsoft went on to build highly successful companies off the back of Xerox’s ideas. These ads were iconic - the witty headlines, the simplicity of the photography, the clean layouts - which made this design style perfect for our micro brand campaign…
Our 'hero' assets
We crafted a series of retro-inspired ads which called out the IP thefts and reclaimed the innovations for Xerox - the true home of applied imagination.
By effectively stealing the design style of those classic Apple and Microsoft ads, and placing them in modern formats, this small campaign became immediately striking and nostalgia-inducing.
An ad placement right out of apples playbook
We even proposed doing what Steve Jobs did back in the day - buying a full-page press ad in the Wall Street Journal to call out the competition.
So how did we do?
This campaign was remarkably well received - especially by some life-long Xerox Parc engineers who requested framed copies of the ads for their offices - a permanent reminder that they are the true home of Original Thinking.