KARL, THE BOSCH ENGINEER

Bosch wanted to demonstrate that they were experts in their field producing innovative time, energy and money saving appliances, but needed a compelling way to cut through the noise to connect, engage, educate and inspire loyalty with their audience.

It was clear to us during the Winning Line campaign research that a friendly, personable, expert could help us elevate the brand. This concept, codenamed ‘Professor Bosch”, was initially rejected but a year later we were asked to explore and develop it for social media use by their Digital Marketing Manager. And explore it we did.

Whilst presenting a range of persona ideas the Group Marketing Manager mentioned that one of the personas sounded like one of his colleagues Karl, a Bosch Engineer at BSH UK HQ. After a quick screen test ‘Karl, the Bosch Engineer’ was born. Karl epitomised the brand attributes of dedication, knowledge and perfection, and did so with honesty, warmth and humour.

There was one challenge still to overcome: How to introduce Karl when Bosch’s brand guidelines precluded showing people in press advertising. This obstacle was initially overcome by introducing Karl through an identity card, allowing us to show Karl‘s face, name and job title.

‘Karl, the Bosch Engineer’ captured the imagination of the wider marketing team and his role was quickly evolved to allow a full size Karl in the first major social activation – a series of playful product videos entitled ‘Let Karl Explain’, where Karl explained features and benefits in his own enigmatic way.

This was just the beginning of what turned out to be an amazing journey for Bosch, Karl and Bonfire. The positive reaction to Karl, the Bosch Engineer propelled him to become the friendly face of the Bosch home appliance brand in the UK for the following 3 years and he was integrated across all channels including TV, point of sale, press, shop signage and social media. Fantastiche!