Short-form success

When the brand campaign was finally approved, Balck said ZoomInfo and Colossus created three “very left-brained spots in a right-brained wrapper.” They distill ZoomInfo’s message down to one word: Success. As Schuck intended when founding the company, the spots tout ZoomInfo’s intent to give salespeople more successful careers and, by extension, better lives.

Media agency Norbella has placed those videos—as well as audio, digital, custom content and social assets—across streaming television (including YouTube, Hulu and ESPN), audio networks, podcasts and specialized placements in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, LinkedIn and elsewhere. Balck said he sees potential for even broader usage in the future.

“You could put them on primetime TV, and they would be successful,” Balck said. “Even if you don’t have any idea what a salesperson does all day or know what data or information is, they’re that compelling—you can put them really anywhere.”

At the end of the process, ZoomInfo emerged with both a campaign and an identity. It had a sound, a color, a voice and a look and feel all its own. With Colossus’ help, ZoomInfo revised its story to focus less on the product it provides and more on the people it helps.

“The way that they tried to paint the picture for us is ‘you need to go from being really logical to potentially sort of emotional and emotive to, ideally, helping inspire people toward what’s possible,’” Law said. “To make those steps, you have to take incremental departures from a very specific understanding of what your company is and what it does.”