Title	BOSCH IXOISM
Brand	ROBERT BOSCH POWER TOOLS
Product/Service	BOSCH IXO
Category	A01. Glass
Entrant	PHILIPP UND KEUNTJE Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation	PHILIPP UND KEUNTJE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production	EXPERIENCE ONE Stuttgart, GERMANY
Production 2	BRIDGINGIT Mannheim, GERMANY
Production 3	DATENWERK Munich, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
André Bourguignon	Philipp und Keuntje	Executive Creative Director
Franziska Flau	Philipp und Keuntje	Creative Director
Caterina Florencio	Philipp und Keuntje	Art Director Digital
Maxie Perlberg	Philipp und Keuntje	Junior Art Director
Klas Batschkus	Philipp und Keuntje	Art Director
Klaus Huber	Philipp und Keuntje	Senior Copywriter
Jens Hoffmann	Philipp und Keuntje	Director Brand Consulting
Christina Klein	Philipp und Keuntje	Senior Project Manager Digital
Anna Wiegel	Philipp und Keuntje	Junior Project Manager Digital
Charlotta Dittmann	Philipp und Keuntje	Senior Project Manager
Insa von Zeppelin	Philipp und Keuntje	Social Media Manager
Johanna Blevins	Philipp und Keuntje	Agency Producer
Karen Schwarzer	Philipp und Keuntje	Head of Art Buying
Jenny Weser	Philipp und Keuntje	Editor
Bianca Colussi	Philipp und Keuntje	Head of Production
Ansgar Struck	Philipp und Keuntje	Head of Postproduction
Sven Fröhlich	Philipp und Keuntje	Senior Retouch Artist
Ponke Herrmann	Philipp und Keuntje	Senior Final Artworker
Juliette Mainx	EYECANDY	Photographer & Set Designer
Fanny Böhme	EYECANDY	Photographer & Set Designer
Stefanie Grau	-	Freelance Interior Architect, Set/Furniture Designer

Background

In the power tool industry, DIY projects and craft trades have always been seen as men's business. Every other gender was strongly under-represented or completely disregarded. The products have always been marketed as potent power tools for "real men". That worked for a long time. But times have changed. The best-selling power tool in the world got bigger and bigger sales problems. 15 years after its first introduction, the compact cordless screwdriver IXO had lost its uniqueness. It gradually declined between the many power tools made by Bosch. Also, it was strongly attacked by the competition, which flooded the market with quite similar (mostly cheaper) products. How can we make the IXO and the Bosch brand something special and unique again? How do we create an extraordinary product and brand experience? And how do we reach new target groups without frightening the old ones?

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

Power tool manufacturers are still primarily oriented towards men’s needs. The cliché of the strong man in the house who takes care of everything that has to be drilled, screwed or repaired is still there. Even the tools are designed to underline the masculinity of the owner: angular, robust, masculine. But this is no longer contemporary. Women are handy, men no longer identify with role clichés and the gender equality debate is no longer just about men and women, but about all forms of sexual identity. We have taken an important step with our colourful and sometimes irritating assets. We have said goodbye to old clichés and opened the BOSCH brand to a new way of thinking. Our campaign stands for the fact that everyone has the right to creative self-realization.

Describe the creative idea

Our idea: IXOism - Screw prejudice! So far, power tools have been advertised as if they are only meant for strong, masculine men. We transform the IXO from a functional tool into a lifestyle object for everyone! A power tool for aesthetes, design and decoration lovers of every gender and sexual orientation. We make sure that not only the tool is trendy and "instagrammable", but also each of our assets. For this, we have invented a loud, colourful, and always slightly crazy world (with its own language), the IXOism. We go one step further with the IXO Style Contest and allow the target group to participate in new creative thinking: anyone can design the cordless screwdriver according to their own ideas - as colourful, unusual, and varied as our modern, trendy target group itself.

Describe the strategy

Out of the handyman's corner! We put the IXO cordless screwdriver into a new context - extraordinary, unexpected, and with maximum effect. To address our traditional target group and the new target group, we don't limit IXOism to the usual DIY setting. We create desire and elevate the IXO to a design icon wherever we find a trendy audience. We break with expectations and emerge where you wouldn't expect a power tool: with unusual videos and motifs, in collaboration with artists on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, in lifestyle magazines and shopping districts in city centres. We activate the community with the IXO Style Contest and let it spread itself by collecting likes.

Describe the execution

With a multi-stage, Europe-wide campaign, IXOism was able to spread. During the teaser phase, the IXO Style Contest attracted attention. In the bridge phase, we kept the tension high until the IXO went on sale. And in the launch phase, we went on the offensive to get a wider audience excited and motivated to buy. We used traditional channels as well as digital and interactive media: - Print ads - Posters and Citylight Posters - IXO Style Contest (online) - Social Media - Moving image (teaser and campaign video) - Artist cooperation (influencers and female artist group Eyecandy) - Media cooperation with lifestyle magazines (staging the IXO as a lifestyle must-have) - Installation: interactive game (on a digital Citylight, one could virtually screw eggs to the wall with the IXO)

Describe the results / impact

We threw the old mindset overboard and dared to do something completely new. Enthusiastic reactions and comments show we nailed it - both with the new and the established Bosch target group. By repositioning the IXO cordless screwdriver, we revamped the Bosch brand, gained new target groups, boosted sales - and assumed a leading role in gender equality. And this in an industry that usually clings to conservative values. Some facts: 12 million impressions on social media. 32 million potential customers media reach. IXO Style Contest: 15,000 IXO styles, 260,000 votes. 400,000 page visits. 3:13 minutes average visit time. We were particularly pleased to see that we were able to activate ALL, regardless of age and gender.