Smash Marketing Helps SAP with "Searching for Salaì" Online Campaign with Content that Grounds Podcast Fantasy

Smash Marketing Adds Online Support to Innovative Marketing Campaign that Uses Dramatic Series on the Digital Renaissance to Promote the SAP Leonardo Platform.

Denver, USA -- It's challenging to gain the attention of busy business professionals, even when you have an intelligent enterprise technology that could revolutionize their business. That's why SAP (NYSE: SAP) recently launched a nine-part fantasy podcast series, co-produced by Column Five Media. Searching for Salaì (http://searchingforsalai.com) is as an entertaining approach to educate executive listeners and entice them to learn more about SAP Leonardo®, SAP's extensible, intelligent cloud computing environment. To tie the dramatic podcast back to real-world Leonardo applications, SAP engaged Smash Marketing to design and deploy the Searching for Salai website.

Searching for Salaì is a fictional tale about a time traveler who comes to the 21st century to learn about the digital renaissance. Claiming to be an apprentice of Leonardo da Vinci, the mysterious Salaì explores new ideas driving digital innovation, seeking the spiritual link between the science of Leonardo's era and the technology of today. Taking its format from old-fashioned radio mysteries, Searching for Salaì is pure entertainment that invites the listener to ponder possibilities and seek their own path to embrace the Digital Renaissance, and learn more about SAP Leonardo including use cases through the website.

"This is a brilliant, innovative marketing campaign designed to engage professionals in a different way and invite them to explore new ideas," said Leila Ahmed, co-founder of Smash Marketing. "The podcast captures the listener's attention, but you still need to tie the idea of the Digital Renaissance to real-world applications. We designed the Searching for Salaì website as the bridge between the story and real-world applications."

Although produced by SAP and Column Five, Searching for Salaì never mentions either company. It does, however, invite listeners to learn more about what they hear in the story at http://searchingforsalai.com. The website that supports the podcast includes reports in written and audio format developed by Futurum Research that profile SAP Leonardo use cases and customer successes in 15 separate industries. The website also includes blog entries and other content to complement the podcasts.

Subscribers have already shared positive reviews of the podcast series:

"Such a clever way to introduce people to digital transformation."
"I'm kinda hooked. It's probably because I'm a huge history geek; a fan of mystery stuff."
"Da Vinci must have been awesome to be around."
"I don't really take the time to subscribe to podcasts; this one, however...I so look forward to the next episode!"

"We were seeking a way to humanize the SAP brand and tell a story that would connect with customers on a visceral level," said Ginger Shimp, Senior Marketing Director at SAP. "We chose Smash Marketing to help us with the online strategy because we knew they could deliver a web experience that would support the emotional response while providing the connection to the SAP Leonardo platform."

"We wanted to engage on a different level to dramatize how technology can impact people's lives, without the buzzwords. Searching for Salaì is our way to stimulate new thinking about digital information and transformation with something new and unexpected that promotes real interest and conversation. We see this as a breakthrough in brand marketing," added Jeff Janiszewski, Marketing Director at SAP.

The podcast medium has been around since the first Apple iPod, and Americans continue to consume more audio. According to Edison Research, Americans spend four hours a day listening to audio. Forty-four percent of Americans listen to podcasts (http://www.convinceandconvert.com/podcast-research/the-13-critical-podcast-statistics-of-2018), and 64 percent use their smartphone or tablet to listen on the go. One in four of those surveyed say they have listened to a podcast in the last month, and weekly listeners consume an average of five podcasts per week.

Searching for Salaì is available to subscribers through the website, through Apple iTunes, or from any outlet where listeners access their podcasts.

For more information about Searching for Salaì including a podcast archive, visit http://searchingforsalai.com, or see the preview (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3ZRUb1AKkpQMLiJIKNexNRw038JnZeaS).

SAP Leonardo powers the Intelligent Enterprise, with intelligent technologies, services, and expertise to optimize processes and resources. SAP Leonardo harnesses a design thinking methodology and SAP expertise to ignite innovation and help you rapidly adopt new capabilities and business models.

To learn more about SAP, visit http://www.sap.com/products/intelligent-enterprise.html.

To learn more about Column Five, visit http://www.columnfivemedia.com.

About Smash Marketing
Smash Marketing is a full-service marketing agency, developing and executing end-to-end programs that encompass building awareness, strategy and planning, content development, demand generation, and marketing and sales support. Co-founded by Leila Ahmed and Cristy Gonzalez, both experienced marketers having worked for Fortune 500 companies, Smash Marketing is the "Goldilocks Agency," developing and delivering marketing solutions that are "just right" for their clients.

For more information, visit http://www.smashmarketing.com.

Contact:
Leila Ahmed
303-741-2020
leila@smashmarketing.com

Media Contact:
Tom Woolf
Woolf Media & Marketing
115 Amelia Way
Novato, CA 94949
(415) 842-7398
tomw@woolfmedia.com

This release was published on openPR.