Founded in Germany, web hosting and cloud provider IONOS decided to gain traction amongst British entrepreneurs, drawing their attention to the importance of having a great online presence. “For small businesses, being visible and operating online is vital and essential. But this is on top of their day job and often out of their comfort zone. What result-oriented business owners want is to focus on growing their business, not on fixing their website,” says Claudia Frese, Chief Brand Officer at IONOS.

Reaching for the help of branding agency NOMAD, creative production studio Armoury London, and advertising agency 2050 London and as part of a pitch process for the brand’s first UK initiative, IONOS implements the “I Own This” initiative, putting the audience face-to-face with a very confident lady and her excellent skills to revolutionize web services for small businesses.

The idea of a brand character sprouted in the team’s minds as they sat down and discussed “the good old times of British advertising, and the role iconic brand characters have played in our connections to the very biggest brands.” Inspired by this, they were wondering what if they could outline a new character that would emphasize German efficiency? Would it be possible for this newly born actor to make the company’s role clear?

Introducing Aunt Helga, a “model of Teutonic efficiency” who, besides being recognized by having a memorable hairstyle and jet-propelled heels, puts her wisdom at use to help small businesses when they most need it. Her ability to type at the speed of light and her no-nonsense attitude come as a blessing for entrepreneurs, who are simply astonished by what this tech expect can do to help them thrive online.

A short TV commercial directed by Marc Sidelsky via Armoury London presents the heroine in a quest to help improve the “less-than-impressive website” a young couple has for their knitwear shop. “Good at knitting, bad at building websites,” she says as she makes room in front of a laptop from where she starts working on making the owners’ website look better. “Relax…” she adds, “I own this!”

The spot reaffirms both the hero and the brand’s position as cleverly helping customers overcome web-related problems and design issues that can threaten the well-being of their businesses or start-ups. The campaign is built on the idea that IONOS encourages owners to take control over their website, thus “owning” the running of their business. By simply allowing Aunt Helga to bring her German know-how to their business, they are one step ahead of their competitors.

In addition to the 40-second-long video, the team created two other 15-second-long films, portraying the campaign hero bringing her expertise to a plumber and a fitness trainer. The TV ads are supported by a digital and social media push, with media planning and buying handled by A1 Marketing.

“We loved working as a team to bring the character of no-nonsense, trusty Aunt Helga to life, and ensure her personality extended seamlessly across channels, from TV to Digital, Social to Display, and beyond. From the very first moment, we knew we wanted to turn the typical web-geek image on its head and create a brand character that was humorous, powerful, and memorable — making sure IONOS captured the hearts and minds of the British public,” adds Terry Stephens, Partner and Executive Creative Director at NOMAD.

“The concept developed by Nomad, Armoury, and 2050 landed our brand’s essence: Aunt Helga with her iconic neon portal, communicating tech excellence, efficiency, and strong service orientation. We are really thrilled with the result of the collaboration,” adds Frese.

“Creating a brand character who epitomized the efficiency of IONOS excited us from the start. The fact characters have fallen out of favor of late for many brands was all the more reason for us to create one. Hopefully, we’ll be having lots more fun with Aunt Helga in the future,” concludes Adam Chiappe, Executive Creative Director, 2050 London.

Check out how Aunt Helga keeps fixing website issues in the videos below!

Credits:

Client: IONOS

Team: Claudia Frese, André Schloemer, Lucie Poisson, Alisa Litterst, Julian Saal, Rafael Oliveira Göpfert, Christian Heßdörfer, Frank Blanke

Production Company: Armoury

Director: Marc Sidelsky

MD & Executive Producer: Matt Hichens

Agency Producer: Lauraine Bhuglah

Producer: James McLaughlin

Production Manager: Robyn Warwick

Production Manager: Will Parnall

Production Assistant: Indy Calland

Production Assistant: Eleri Shone

Runner/ Intern: James Hichens

Branding Agency: NOMAD

ECD: Terry Stephens

Advertising Agency: 2050 London

ECD: Matt Saunby

ECD: Adam Chiappe

Head of Strategy: Ben Tan

DOP: Sam Goldie

Art Director: Clare Clarkson

Costume Stylist: Charlotte Walter

Costume Assistant: Alice Walter

Stills photography: Nick Eagle

Still image retouching: Gary Roylance

Editor: Mark Eddinoff

Post Production: Platige

FX Supervisor: Arkadiusz Arciszewski

Colourist: Piotr Sasim

Producer: Aga Górna

Music composition: Out Standard

Sound: Munzie Thind