/Keep your options open
The biggest project I’ve led, created, pitched, [insert any creative verb here] ever with the greatest reward: something I’m truly proud of.
My second stint at Red Hat started with a bang. More specifically, it started with leading creative territory testing. My first step? Googling “creative territory testing.”
I began working with our art creative director, a highly talented illustrator I observed from a distance, and ya girl was anxious. But wow was this fun, insightful, and a vital part of any creative process—especially if you’re looking for the thing no one else can claim but you.
Together, from scratch, we created and pitched 4 creative territories—meant to lead us to the landscape that only Red Hat can claim. And with the help of an external research agency, we conducted quantitative testing to determine what resonated the most with our audience.
Once we knew, our creative leadership team set out to create the brief, team, and process.
the brief
THE CHALLENGE
We’re often thought of the Linux people, but we’re so much more than that—especially in the cloud.
THE GOAL
Inform a creative idea (and resulting brand campaign) that will evolve the perception our audience has of Red Hat, and increase brand salience within our potential audience.
THE AUDIENCE
IT professionals and partners who are seeking to reduce the complexity of working in and with hybrid/multi-cloud environments.
THE STRATEGY
Customers live in complexity. Our competitors perpetuate it. Some even create it. But it’s uniquely where we thrive—and can uncover the path to simplicity, no matter how challenging or complex.
/Keep your options open
idiom, phrase
an ideology that, despite impossible tech complexity, one’s future should include the freedom to choose.
the ultimate customer outcome from Red Hat’s open source technologies, strategic partnerships, and differentiated way of working.
“Your options” refers to one’s future path. In order to keep that path “open,” one needs these 3 core Red Hat principles:
Open source way
Open way of working
Open hybrid cloud
Keep your options open is:
a long-term, singular brand story
conversational and direct
objective & vendor agnostic
human-first
freedom of choice
a double entendre on “open”
ready for the next thing (i.e., change)
a bridge between differences
Keep your options open isn’t:
noncommittal
without tech context
only referring to open source
options for the sake of it
decision paralysis
selling a cloud product
My involvement in this creative platform was from the very beginning—and every single day since. Alongside my art creative director, we co-led the creative platform development process—including a cross-discipline team of copywriters, art directors, filmmakers, and animators.
We pitched 4 creative platforms, with c-suite leadership unanimously (and very quickly) choosing “/Keep your options open” quicker than I’ve ever seen a creative decision made. I wrote and formatted mostly all pitches, championing the final one chosen.
Once chosen, I crafted the story, voice, tone, and remaining copy & story guidelines—as well as leading the transcreation of the tagline in 8 core languages alongside my multi-lingual copywriter and global brand managers.
voice
We’re experienced, but not perfectionist
We speak confidently because we know what we’re doing—but even with our long-established expertise, we recognize we’ll never know everything. So while we know our stuff, we’re not a know-it-all.
Plus, technical information is complicated—that’s why we purposefully avoid not only tech jargon, but tech marketing jargon, too. This helps us speak confidently in a way that also creates psychologically safe spaces for our audience to ask questions and make suggestions.
We’re compassionate, but not acquiescent
We make our audience feel seen because we’ve been them—we are them. That’s how we know wholeheartedly that their day-to-day is stifled with complexity, and why they can always expect empathy, humility, and transparency from us.
We also show up. The hard stuff is kind of our thing—and so is asking questions, challenging norms, and problem solving alongside our customers and partners so they never face the risk of going it alone.
We’re radical, but not audacious
We lead by example, through the nonsense, and with bravery. Because while our industry prefers to focus on a mostly unachievable state of simplicity, we built our company upon a commitment to doing whatever it takes today to make tomorrow a little easier.
We believe in a purpose greater than ourselves—so we challenge the status quo not because we want to be right, but because we want to be better.
tone
We know how to read the room—because we’ve been in the same room. too.
The Red Hat tone is conversational, clear, and intuitive. We’re plainspoken and natural when communicating information, and know when to add (or avoid) wit or earnestness.
We determine this by considering:
the message we’re conveying and
our audience, including their state of mind and how we’d like them to feel after reading our words.
Then, we adjust our tone accordingly. And, it goes without saying, but to be clear: We always make sure we’re respectful and tactful in what we say.
localization
ENGLISH, GERMAN, KOREAN MARKETS
/Keep your options open
CHINESE
拥抱开放 选择无限
SPANISH
/Explora diferentes opciones
FRENCH
/Gardez toutes vos cartes en main
ITALIAN
/Liberi di scegliere
PORTUGUESE
/Tenha liberdade de escolha
JAPANESE
/オープンな選択を
concept
With a creative platform designed to live on for at least five years, we needed to next determine the singular expression of /Keep your options open—so we’re showing up across the globe in a unified, consistent way.
In partnership with my art creative director, we crafted a brief, team, and process. This phase resulted in one chosen concept that was used to define our art direction and story angle: “There is no single right way in tech. The only right way is the one that helps you make forward progress—no matter how challenging or complex.”
We then created a global suite of paid social and display assets (in 9 languages), site takeovers on websites like New York Times and the Washington Post, video spots, organic social, internal assets, and a ton more.
More creative examples can be provided upon request.