Think Like a Publisher, Not a Marketer

Printer security isn’t a sexy topic. But HP knows it’s an important part of any company’s cybersecurity plan. So they decided to take their latest marketing campaign up a notch. Instead of just publishing some use case examples of how printer security is a serious thing, they decided to create a series of short films starring Hollywood celebrities.

Enter The Wolf

In season 1, we see Christian Slater as “the Wolf”. Playing off his role in the TV series , Slater demonstrates what happens when he infects a business printer with malware. It’s a pretty convincing story, with ominous music, great cinematography, and my favourite part, Christian Slater (one of my teen crushes back in the day).

Season 2 sees Slater’s Wolf changing up his hacking tactics and attacking the healthcare industry. From hacking into a medical practitioner’s legacy system to using an unprotected printer at the hospital, Slater’s Wolf is able to access confidential patient information, medical records, and more.

In season 3, Slater’s Wolf uses an idea from Betty Adewole’s cyber security specialist (and her Fixer, Jonathan Banks) to disrupt shipping plans for a powerful international trading company. “Doesn’t matter how protected you think you are. Inevitably, you’ll stumble and forget to turn the lock,” Slater says near the middle of the True Alpha 20-minute video.

These campaigns might seem over the top for a “regular” B2B tech company, but the idea is a sound one. HP is thinking more like a media organization than a marketing one. They know that content has a singular job: build a loyal audience of subscribers, whatever that looks like. This engaged B2B tech audience consumes and shares content like “regular” people.

Today’s savvy B2B tech content marketers are jumping on board of the media bandwagon and are injecting their marketing with more storytelling than ever before. But if you’re a…