Planning case study for Drink Time Sheet, a project by JWT and Casa.

2. How to make the time sheet
a subject to all employees?
Let’s be frank: filling the time sheet is one of the worst things of the
professional world. The so called “necessary evil”, something that the
employees see as an exclusive need of the finance department, and
even as a way of their bosses to demand that you show you are really
working. Everybody leaves it to the last minute, which leads to low
precision data, affecting all the checking system of a company.
This Project shows how to transform so unpleasant a subject as the
time sheet in a subject for all the company, making the filling index to
reach 90% using a technological approach to speak directly to the
target public in thinking about this communication as something that
improves the consumer’s life,
even if this means a glass of beer

3. During the year of 2011 the agency began a repositioning of the work
and image structure, seeking “speaking less and doing more”, to
explore different means and to embrace a truly global culture. But, as
in all repositioning, the clients take a long time to perceive and
embrace the change, and we needed to show that we really believe in
this vision. So we faced a curious situation of having ourselves as
clients and, therefore, we needed a real, internal challenge to attack.
The opportunity arrived with the implementation of a new system of
time sheet for all the companies of the group, developed internally,
which needed high adherence of the team in all the offices of the
network: the new time sheet is much easier to fill, but you’ll still
loose some minutes a day detailing your tasks.

4. The standard creative process is communicating the concept in the
most creative way possible, capturing and interrupting the attention of
the target public to convey an image. First, you buy the attention —
from a TV commercial to a space on a wall or an e-mail from the boss
— for then to convey the message.
But who is interested in knowing about the
new version of the time sheet program
and, even worse, that it must to be filled
every day?
4/11 Mon 04/12 Tue 04/13 Wed 04/14

5. The standard approach would be to communicate “Fill your
timesheet”! It’s good business” using billboards, a jingle, a funny
character — No Time Sheet Billy — or even a funny viral on YouTube.
None of these approaches would work to change the habit of an
employee, something that is not seen as an important part of his day.
Any message would soon become a joke among the employees,
reinforcing the concept we want to change, that to fill the time sheet is
not cool.
We needed to reverse the logic: conveying a message to the target
public that would be passed ahead by itself, earning the attention
of their friends. To achieve this result, our approach began with the
following insight:

6. The solution was to create something which was useful to the
target public before anything else, so then the objective in
question would be achieved as a result of this usefulness.
Something people could see first as useful to them, regardless of
brand, but still with the brand unequivocally linked. Gamification,
design thinking, social engagement, brand utility… deep down, all
these terms converge to the central point of our approach:
make things people want.

7. We had to attack the problem the same way done in the creation of a
product or a technology startup: solving consumer’s real problems
(even if superfluous) instead the creation of a message. A billboard, a
TV commercial or hotsite don’t make the consumer’s life any better
after the 3 seconds of laughter seeing the creative. With luck, the
advertised product will solve his life, not the campaign. Campaigns are
not useful, hotsites and Facebook apps are literally useless in their
vast majority, they are things that will not live in the consumer’s mind
for long. The secret of the so-called new communication partly is: using
it to solve people’s problems and, as a bonus, to solve the brand’s
problems, building things that live somewhere between product and
communication piece.
If I mention your brand to my friend, it is not because I
like your brand, it is because I like my friend.

8. Making something people want
To insert time sheets in the conversations we used as platform its real
opposite in the employees’ preference: Friday’s happy hour. If
everybody fills the time sheet the happy hour is on the bosses.
We connected the working hours database to a fridge at the company
bar, full of beer and a lock (connected to a 12-hour battery) that is
unlocked if, and only if, 90% of the employees fill the time sheet until
the time of the happy hour (we left 10% as margin for people on
vacation or outside the office).
A panel on the side of the fridge shows to everybody, in real time, how
the filling of the week is doing, making divulging the message “fill your
time sheet” to be everybody’s responsibility.

10. Happy Hour, Happy Client
For the employees
Immediately after the installation of the fridge in 3 of our offices the
primary objective was met: we generated a talk and removed the filling
of the HR and from the “boring thing list”. The fridge and the time
sheet entered the talk of the week. The team morale was high and
spontaneously the employees started to send e-mails to the
colleagues, asking them to fill the time sheet as a positive thing, even
for celebrations:
Guys, free beer, today, to celebrate the Lions in Cannes!!!!!
Pinheiro, Leandro
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 5:2 PM
For that, fill the time sheet, for God’s sake!!!!
We won 2 lions. And there is a shortlist still competing.
Greetings

12. For the agency’s image
The Project also was useful as a PR tool for the agency, first as an
image positioning within the global group as an innovative and relaxed
office.

18. For the client
(the finance department)
The important thing: the
time sheets are being filled
on time and until today the
fridge opens in celebration
on Fridays.