CHALLENGE
Ricoh needed a big, visionary idea that prospects in the new, digital document management environment expect while also clearly moving Ricoh out of the “stand-alone” space.  It also had to provide a clear and differentiating position that elevated the Ricoh brand.

SOLUTION
GVP’s Challenger Brand Process revealed that purchase decisions involved surprisingly strong emotional influences.  With this insight, GVP created a new positioning for Ricoh designed to “own the emotional connection” with the customer by focusing on a big idea that promises a real end benefit for their company:

Ricoh Moves Your Ideas Forward.

The advertising campaign featured the Jazz standard, “I Get Ideas” by the great Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, as background for scenes of workers in typical office tasks using Ricoh products to move their ideas forward.  The commercials acknowledge the role of office equipment in the very human tasks of everyday people trying to move their ideas ahead.  This human connection, combined with the unique joy and emotional power of the Armstrong music, elevated Ricoh and separated it from the other companies in the office imaging sector.

RESULTS
In just 6 months overall awareness of Ricoh increased by 30% among prospects.  And prospects who regarded Ricoh as “The right brand for my company” performance increased a stunning 250%.