Where most of our work for Salesforce is prescriptive brand execution, we are sometimes asked to adapt the brand – especially when a unique partner or media placement is involved.

The Challenge

In this case, we were charged with a placement in the Harvard Lampoon that spoke to the notion that Harvard didn’t produce people who simply wanted to start businesses, but people who wanted to change the world.

What We Did

Considering the publication’s rich tradition of humor and wit, there was obviously an opportunity to score points with the audience by flexing the brand into that territory. So we set out to offer a range of creative – anchored with straight-up brand executions and enriched by edgier, more unexpected possibilities.

The Starting Point

The straight-up execution may not look like the Salesforce brand y’all know and love today, but this project was produced in the early days of that burgeoning look and feel.

Branching Out

A two page spread was a possibility, so we explored switching it to a two page front and back placement, in which we could play with an old “Mad Magazine” favorite. By folding tab A over to tab B, readers could see the transformative impact Salesforce could have on business innovation.

Exploring Whimsy

With this concept, we got weird. We tackled the notion of change makers pioneering new territory, with a literal take on pioneering new territory. Rattlesnakes, check. Killer squids, check. Cannibalism, check.

Down with Yale

Here, we spoke to the “low bar” thinking of starting a business versus striving to change the world, by framing it in terms of the age-old rivalry between Harvard and the vastly inferior Yale. We also reminded readers that Salesforce was the key to working smarter not harder.

Making it Minimal

Finally, we presented a super simple long format treatment tying the message to tried and true Harvard favorites – from Yale bashing to Conan O’Brien.