The Problem
GreyOrange had a conversion problem. Its prospects were scared to take the plunge and invest in its autonomous fulfilment robots. While the Chief Supply Chain Officers GreyOrange were talking to were aware of how AI-powered robots could help modernise operations, the complexity and longevity of implementing the solution was a deterrent.
This meant that GreyOrange was struggling to close deals, and sales targets were becoming harder to hit. Champion was tasked with creating a sense of urgency around GreyOrange’s solution to inspire action amongst its decision-makers.
Strategy
- De-risk and normalise AI-powered robots as a solution to retailers’ problems
- Increase urgency by communicating “Why now is the time” to motivate decision-makers to invest
- Build credibility for Grey Orange by positioning it as a leading authority on the future of retail supply chains
- Provide GreyOrange’s business development team with a bank of third-party endorsement content that could be used to inspire trust amongst decision makers
Method
After interviewing key stakeholders from within GreyOrange, its customers and the wider industry, there were four big themes that emerged:
- Labour shortages
The pandemic, new regulations, and competition from brands like Amazon has meant that supply chain leaders are faced with extreme shortages within their warehouse operations. - Speed
Consumer demand for immediacy has increased the need for speed and agility in warehouses. - Transformation
Changing consumer habits and behaviours, such as the demand for high-quality omnichannel customer experiences, and sustainable and ethical retail practices are accelerating the need for transformation across the whole supply chain. Adapting to meet these new challenges is tough for retailers. - Inventory
The rapid rise of eCommerce and global events such as climate change and the war in Ukraine have made inventory management a real headache for retailers. Retailers need to be able to visualise where their stock is in real-time and scale their warehouse operations to meet peaks in demand for certain products.
GreyOrange’s solution could help retailers overcome these issues, the challenge was getting this message out there.
Given the pace of the news agenda, limited budgets, and urgent need for results, we recommended an ongoing combination of newsjacking, thought leadership, executive profiling and sales enablement that reached across national, business, vertical, and industry media.
We started each day by analysing the news agenda to identify news hooks, and then got on the phone to journalists to ask if they would be interested in speaking to GreyOrange about the subject and how AI could make a difference.
One of our greatest successes came using this approach, when we were able to use the UK’s fruit and vegetable shortage to get GreyOrange’s CEO on Sky News discussing how autonomous fulfilment operations could help retailers adapt to such unpredictable peaks and troughs in demand.
Outcomes
- GreyOrange opened 7 new warehouses across the duration of the program
- 5 sales qualified prospect meetings booked as a result of coverage being shared
- 4 pieces of national coverage secured, including Sky News, City AM, The Times Raconteur and TechCrunch
- 106 pieces of coverage in the national and business, retail, supply chain and logistics and technology press
Testimonial
“One of our biggest challenges at GreyOrange has been to try and de-risk our AI-powered robots in the eyes of the EMEA’s Chief Supply Chain Officers. The coverage Champion has secured has definitely helped us to do this by generating trust and credibility in the solution. We’ve been thrilled with the results achieved and have even had our sales team comment on how the coverage has helped them to nurture prospects through the sales process.”
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