Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
JLP (Estonia)
Work From Anywhere Day 2012
Microsoft Baltics
Summary
Work From Anywhere Day 2012 was an initiative driven by the Microsoft Baltics team. In the center of the campaign
was the date May 31st, when we asked people to work outside of their everyday workspaces. The goal was to raise
awareness and drive public discussion on the topic of flexible work styles. Nearly 20 partner organizations were
included as project partners and an estimated 4000 people participated in the first ever Baltic Work From Anywhere
Day. In media, the Work From Anywhere Day event received more than 100 pieces of coverage altogether in the
Baltics, including online, print, radio and television.
Situation
In the end of 2011, Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 became available in the Baltics. However, the knowledge of
people related to cloud technology and its advantages was not well known among the general population and within
many organizations. As cloud technologies enable a seamless work experience from all devices and locations, we
decided to showcase flexible workstyles and celebrate different approaches to work on the 31st of May 2012.
Objectives
Our objective was to increase awareness about a flexible workstyle and its benefits to both employers and employees
in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The main message which we wanted to drive was: “Technological solutions (laptops,
smartphones, cloud technologies) and fast internet allow work practically anywhere. This means that people can plan
their own work-time, which increases efficiency and employee happiness. On Work From Anywhere Day, you can try
out working from anywhere yourself.”
Strategy
Microsoft is responsible for the technological aspect of working from anywhere, but instead of focusing on creating
awareness about the technology, we decided to focus on introducing to the audience the mindset change which is
required in order to benefit from a more mobile workstyle. We decided to speak through our own experience
(Microsoft Estonia has an unwritten rule that 50% of work can be done outside of the office) and showed how this has
been beneficial to both employee happiness, efficiency and results. We also decided that we need to involve partner
organizations into the planning of the campaign, both from the technology side (telecom companies) and the
“mindset” side (for example, ministries who deal with work legislation and flexible workstyle NGOs).
Execution
We kicked the campaign off with press events in all three countries in March 2012, talking about the technology
market and announced Work From Anywhere Day.
We generated awareness about flexible workstyles through both traditional media channels and social media. On
Facebook, we held a competition, asking people to share pictures and videos of their work outside of the office
environment.
We partnered with numerous companies and organizations in all three countries, which included NGOs,
telecommunication companies, government ministries and even restaurants. On the actual day, we agreed with
catering institutions in all three countries to give discounts to people using a flexible workstyle related password.
Four days before Work From Anywhere Day, we organized an inspiration seminar for NGOs together with the Smart
Work Association in Estonia, which focused on creating new value through flexible workstyles.
The campaign was carried out in Latvia by MRS Grupa and in Lithuania by Integrity.
Documented Results
Combining participation in Facebook and participants from partner organizations, We estimate that around 4000
people participated in the Work From Anywhere Day initiative on the 31st of May. In media, Work From Anywhere
day received roughly 115 coverages altogether in the Baltics, including online, print, radio and television. Nearly 150
participants joined the inspiration seminar for NGOs in Estonia. In total, we had over 20 official partner organizations
in all three countries.
Baltic PR Awards 2012