Austria is about so much more than mountains, schnitzel and the famous energy drink. Although the energy drink is already a clue regarding the hidden champions located here. Austria - that means business opportunities with high quality standards, economic stability, highly qualified professionals and well-connected research and development. In fact, Austria is considered one of the top business locations in Europe. Responsible for spreading this message and connecting the key players has been the Austrian Business Agency for over 40 years.
To modernize the brand, especially its digital presence, ecosystem and communication, the ABA went through a brand refresh with us. What began in the area of social media strategy developed into a comprehensive examination of all relevant touchpoints.
This resulted in a digital branding playbook, numerous international social media campaigns, several content productions, a full-spectrum image film and the (re)launch of a total of seven websites.
To strengthen Austria's positioning as one of the world's best business locations, a holistic digital approach had to unite the services as well as long-standing expertise of the ABA for its complex target groups in all areas of communication.
Therefore, a consistent strategy was needed so that the heterogeneous target groups of the location agency – from investors and those interested in Austria as a business location to qualified professionals from abroad and internationally operating companies in Austria to major players in the film industry - with the right messages at the right touchpoints. And, moreover, to convince them to invest in Austria as a business location.
In the first step, we made the brand, which had been redefined by the ABA shortly before, digitally fit in order to subsequently optimize the communication for the three service areas of the ABA (Invest | Work | Film) as well as the target groups in order to optimally align new and existing touchpoints with each other and the new brand.
We created a consistent visual and content framework for ABA's three service pillars and their individual benefits, which tells a story in three unique ways. For this purpose, we developed a catch phrase that appears in different variations in international social media campaigns and positions Austria as an attractive location: Where innovation moves mountains.
The various websites also provide convincing arguments for each target group – from the step-by-step tutorial on the immigration process with the Immigration Guide Austria, to a comprehensive overview of the ABA on the Group Website and in-depth content such as success stories from testimonials or the entire portfolio of services on the websites for Invest, Work or Film in Austria, to dedicated websites for funding programs such as eQualitA or FISA Plus.
We also had the opportunity to produce an image film for use at events, trade fairs, social media and the company's own websites. In it, ABA is the enabler, its services the hero of three different success stories, effectively convincing viewers from a personal point of view. In aesthetic vignettes we dive into the stories and experiences of our protagonists. The associated content production offers a rich pool of photo and video content that goes beyond a one-off image clip.
This holistic approach results in a clear, consistent strategy and communication across all ABA service pillars, target groups and (digital) touchpoints.
From topics around research & development, such as autonomous driving or artificial intelligence, to purchasing power or quality of life – a contemporary narrative makes the ABA's services and benefits tangible and offers a lively insight into Austria as a business location.
The websites use a headless CMS that allows a variety of editors to manage customized web experiences based on a tool kit shared across the brand.
Unique, brand-specific content for all relevant touchpoints is provided: from nearly 10 hours of footage from over 20 different settings, a pool of social media snippets was created in addition to the image film, and over 30 photos were produced – all in just 4 production days.
“As part of the 40th anniversary celebration, our new brand was not only redesigned, but also digitally revamped and, most importantly, charged with movement from digitalwerk. The new ecosystem covers our needs for years to come. The team excelled particularly in big picture thinking and provided a unifying thread in the execution of multiple projects from design and development to video production. In conceptual design, digitalwerk showed particular commitment to moving image and storytelling that works in each channel. The result of our new appearance is impressive and was particularly well received by stakeholders at home and abroad.”
René Tritscher
Management, Austrian Business Agency