When it comes to introducing humour in advertising, sarcasm and irony are two tools often deployed to make an ad memorable. WeWork has also chosen the same format for its latest ads.
And it has got it right. WeWork’s latest campaign, ‘Your Office, Your Way’ mirrors the quirks and realities of office life.
The brand has crafted four 40-second videos that strike a chord with anyone who’s ever had a desk job. These commercials bring to light employees’ unaddressed and often overlooked grievances, revealing the not-so-great aspects of office culture. The hush-hush conversations are brought to life, giving the audience the uncanny feeling that someone has spilled their secrets.
While WeWork highlights these office issues, it doesn’t present a solution—the brand never really had one to begin with. Many of the problems depicted in the videos appear to have little to no direct connection with WeWork’s core services.
Instead of using these issues to showcase how its offerings could provide solutions, the WeWork ad campaign merely leverages them as hooks to attract viewership. It prioritises engagement over relevance.
The brand grabs your attention with relatable humour and then, just as you’re engrossed, introduces itself as a customisable working space. WeWork is a startup that provides workplaces on rent, including co-working and shared office spaces. It entered the Indian market in June 2017 with its first space in Bengaluru, WeWork Galaxy.
“The inspiration for this campaign was the common misconceptions and limited awareness about WeWork India and its workspace solutions. While many perceive WeWork as a hub for startups and SMBs, the reality is much broader. ‘Your Office, Your Way’, showcases WeWork India as the space where businesses big or small can make their office their own,” Debosmita Majumder, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at WeWork India told ThePrint.
Building a relatable campaign
Communicating the benefits of WeWork’s office spaces would have been a boring task. But Fundamental, a creative agency led by Pallavi Chakravarti, managed to build a relatable campaign.
While highlighting the known drama that unfolds in a workplace, the campaign mentions “things people don’t know about offices,” which are essentially the features WeWork offers—co-working spaces, a private floor, a whole building, pantry, recreational spaces, amenities, zero operational hassle, security, housekeeping, IT, and more.
One video starts with a voiceover saying, “Here’s something you know about the office.” It then shows a boss encouraging her employees, telling them that the office belongs to them and urging them to give it their all and strive for excellence. However, when the time comes for salary increments, she reverses her stance: “This is not our office, dear. I don’t decide increments, right?”
Following this, the voiceover says, “Now here’s something you didn’t know: WeWork designs workplaces you can truly own.” It goes on to talk about how WeWork prioritises its clients’ brand identity and accounts for their aesthetic and layout preferences to maximise productivity.
The video has amassed thousands of views on both YouTube and Instagram, a testament to the audience’s engagement.
The star of the WeWork ad campaign is the copywriters. While the idea was ingenious, its effectiveness is a result of how it was communicated. With its quirkiness, brevity, and simplicity, the script uses sarcasm to enhance its core message. And the brand’s intent comes through loud and clear.
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Communication is key
Brand communication in commercials is crucial as it ensures consistency in messaging, builds brand identity, and strengthens customer loyalty. WeWork’s earlier commercials were struggling to nail this combination, barely getting any traction as a result.
Three months ago, the brand rolled out a 50-second video to announce its debut in Chennai, blending graphic design with video editing in a visually striking manner. Despite its creative flair, the video has garnered just about 725 views on YouTube since its release.
Another attempt, a commercial from four months ago, aimed at showcasing the brand’s customisable workplace features, similarly fell flat, attracting little more than 920 views.
“In the past year, we have diversified our focus by strengthening our digital channels, with a greater emphasis on video-based content. This has been more effective in capturing the attention of our customers and solidifying our positioning. This approach has enabled us to understand their needs and preferences better, allowing us to tailor our offerings accordingly,” Majumder said.
It’s safe to say that the startup has finally cracked the code. WeWork’s ‘Your Office, Your Way’ is not just a campaign; it’s a tutorial in capturing attention.
Brand: WeWork
Agency: Fundamental
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)