As WeWork’s IPO struggles keep focus on the growing flexible workspace market, provider Knotel is drawing attention to its own global workspaces by calling out chief executives from major companies. Knotel, which recently raised $400m in financing, is hoping to gain ground on WeWork with its first major campaign, called ‘Tailor Made’, by playfully addressing the executives of companies such as Spotify, Verizon and Colgate-Palmolive with a personalized invitation to check out a virtual workspace Knotel has designed for them. For three weeks, Knotel will drive a personalized billboard by the New York offices of eight companies. Each board will include a link to a customized landing page with a dynamic, 3D model of a metaphorical office tailored to that company’s products and values. The campaign – which brings to life the idea that Knotel is serious about tailoring flexible workspaces for global enterprises – is the first for Knotel by integrated agency Duncan Channon. The billboards state personalized statements like “Noel Quinn, you deserve a workspace as tailored as this billboard,” for HSBC’s chief executive, and others with similar messages to Verizon’s Hans Vestberg and Fox’s Lachlan Murdoch. “This campaign underscores what makes Knotel different from the one-size-fits-all office solutions,” said John Kovacevich, executive creative director, Duncan Channon. “They tailor spaces for businesses, from just-getting-started to been-around-the-block. To highlight that, we found an interactive way to do the same with this campaign, using a combo of billboards and a custom online experience that features a 3D workspace models you can explore. “A mobile billboard driving by a company’s headquarters with a CEO-specific message is probably the modern equivalent of standing on the sidewalk in a sandwich board. So, we gave this idea a tech-assisted twist to drive deeper engagement. The billboards capture attention, but the interactive, tailored 3D workspace models are the heart of the campaign. An offering like Knotel’s deserves a campaign as tailored as one of their workspaces.” Added Valentina Rizzatti, director of marketing, Knotel: “The workspace needs of the world’s biggest businesses are evolving and Knotel is here to make the entire process easy. Clients count on us to not only deliver tailored workspaces that reflect their values and culture but also operational flexibility and capital expenditure savings as their needs or economic conditions change. We’re excited to work with Duncan Channon to launch our first marketing campaign that reinforces our commitment to creating tailored workplace solutions for global enterprise companies.” Flexible workspace is forecasted to expand to 13% of all US office space by 2030, according to a CBRE report. Unlike traditional players, which provide shared spaces for freelancers and company satellite locations, Knotel claims to deliver private, tailored flexible workspaces for large enterprise clients. The company currently operates over 4m square feet of flexible workspace across more than 200 locations in 15 cities worldwide. See some of the work by clicking on the Creative Works box below.
WeWork rival Knotel is set to launch a three-week virtual workspace campaign, targeting the CEOs of eight firms including Verizon, Spotify and Verizon. Tailor Made, the first from integrated agency Duncan Channon, will see a personalised billboard driven past the companies' New York offices, offering a link to a customised, 3D flexible-office model.