Team Earth
Salesforce | Olympic & Super Bowl Brand Campaign | 2022
VP, Group Creative Director, Brand Center of Excellence
Houston, We Still Have a Problem: Positioning Salesforce as the Tech Company Committed to Earth
THE CHALLENGE
In 2022, we had a huge opportunity. We were new Olympic sponsors. We had a prime global stage. We had a fresh, new in-house creative team ready to make their mark. And we had a new Brand Ambassador, Matthew McConaughey, who was drawn to Salesforce because of our values.
Our job? Create a breakthrough brand campaign didn’t focus on what other tech companies made, but what they cared about. (A second brand campaign — Wow, But How? — would handle the product side of the story.)
THE SOLUTION
The insight came from a copywriter who asked: "Why are so many tech billionaires obsessed with colonizing Mars when we have so much work to do here on Earth?"
That became Team Earth, a campaign featuring McConaughey floating over the planet in a hot air balloon (we’re Salesforce, so gotta have whimsy), challenging CEOs to focus on the only planet we've got.
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As leader of the Brand Center of Excellence, I steered the creative development and mentored our in-house team through their transition from agency life. Knowing that many of our cross-functional partners hadn't operated at this campaign altitude, I formed a leadership group we called The Integrationists, a cross-functional crew built to align teams and leverage big-campaign experience.
The campaign launched during the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies. The impact was immediate. Public response was so strong, our CEO asked for Super Bowl airtime later that month, where it kept the momentum going.
Results:
Generated massive buzz across social media and business press
Helped push Salesforce to #35 on Interbrand's global rankings — our highest position ever
Elevated brand storytelling from digital videos and niche placements to major global campaigns on major stages
Cemented high-profile brand advertising as a permanent part of Salesforce's marketing mix
