Outsmarting the hyperscalers

The cloud sector is going through rapid change. Escalated by AI, the influence of the already dominant hyperscalers is growing daily, reducing any opportunities for growth amongst other cloud suppliers. As a result, the mega-operators have become less responsive and more rigid in their services and pricing, just as ambitious teams are seeking more responsive support with cloud infrastructures that scale faster and adapt to their needs.

This gap between what the major cloud providers offer and what dynamic businesses are looking for is the ground from which the smaller, nimble OVHcloud can mount a counterattack. Standing as they do for a different, distinctive approach where control, transparency and trust are paramount and customers’ needs come first.

With the confidence of market-leading performance, price predictability, full flexibility, and scalability, OVHcloud had historically focused on bottom-funnel activities and product-specific campaigns. The result? A decline in acquisitions, compounded by the expansion of major cloud providers, sustaining growth was becoming increasingly difficult. Because of this, the OVHcloud brief was to accelerate revenue growth with a demand-focused campaign that positions OVHcloud as the trusted cloud partner for fast-scaling tech businesses.

Our strategy was to focus on the ‘hidden heroes’ – the platform engineering teams, technical directors, and the business drivers behind the scenes powering growth.

Demonstrating that OVHcloud empowers them to scale with confidence and will quite literally ‘big them up’, we positioned the brand not just as a challenger, but as a credible and compelling alternative.

Working with an underdog’s budget, rather than trying to outspend the hyperscalers, we chose to out-think them.

We developed a suite of relatable messaging that championed a different kind of cloud partner, one that put the builders first. A partner offering open, predictable pricing, trusted performance, sovereignty, and true flexibility. Then, using cutting-edge AI image-generation, we brought the campaign to life with the visual impact and polish of a big-budget production, depicting the very builders we were targeting, standing head and shoulders above the crowd.

Creating a bold, large-scale, holistic campaign designed to deliver the growth that OVHcloud were looking for, by clearly differentiating them from their competitors.