Bridge Technologies July Blog Post

Why being silly matters

Find your probes in our music

At Bridge, we're quite a fan of being transparent. You'll often find in our blogs that we dive deeply into what we're up to; not just in order to show off, but often to dig down into the bones of things - exploring not just the what, but the how, and perhaps more importantly, the why. In previous posts we've talked about market positioning, we've given an inside view of our daily operations and the stir-crazy nature of being in the office alone, talked about our recruitment strategies, and philosophized on our wider role in the industry and the responsibilities we all hold towards one another. In this month's blog, we thought we'd explore the idea of marketing a little bit more.

Musical Marketing

Talking about marketing is kind of taboo - it's a little bit like the magician pulling a bunny out of the hat and then telling you exactly how she did it. In theory, if you're conscious that you're being marketed to, the game is already lost.

But our approach to marketing is not exactly conventional. And as a case in point, the best example has to be our most recent endeavor: our musical extravaganza of the month, in which our very own Tim Langridge entreats you to spread probes every-freakin-where' . Now, creating music videos that rival that of Eurovision Song Contest entries circa the mid-90s (but with 2021 production values, of course) is not exactly a conventional marketing strategy: and yet, here we are.

The thing is, we're not really sure this masterpiece actually constitutes marketing' per se (and if it does, we want it signed up to win awards, post haste). Sure, it's another piece in the puzzle of making sure that our name is present and forward in the minds of many. But the reality is that unlike Pizza Hut, where an earworm of a jingle will probably result in you ordering pizza by the end of the week, our catchy little number is not necessarily going to inspire you to populate your network with probes (no matter how compellingly Tim might implore you to do so).

The fact is, B2B marketing works very differently. Awareness in the industry needs to stem from something that's akin to word-of-mouth (even if it isn't necessarily communicated mouth-to-mouth in these socially-distanced times). We like to think our reputation precedes us (and we're pleased to see it does), and it's this that does much of the heavy lifting in terms of ensuring that the market knows our name. The odd bit of razzle dazzle just helps it along.

And then when it comes to sales - well, like we said above, if only it could be easy as showing you a glistening slice of pizza and letting your appetite do the rest. A technology purchase as sophisticated and integral as our monitoring systems doesn't get to jump the customer gate straight from seeing to spending; a long process is (generally) involved in building a relationship; one of trust and mutual understanding, focused on the needs of each individual client rather than generic in nature.

So why bother?

If the technology B2B market - and thereby us as a company - doesn't draw any immediate or apparent benefit from weird and wacky marketing strategies, then why in the world did we devote all that time to making such a fantastically involved mega music production?

Would you believe us if we said: for fun?

Really, truly, that's the main reason. Core to our company culture', or ethos', or whatever buzz word you want to use for it is the idea that the work we do should enrich us; it should allow each member of our team to feel that they are doing something fulfilling, something of value, and something where they have the ability to make use of their skills and creativity.

That's not to say we live in a company where our work defines us. Your required levels of passion for all things 2110 may vary! We're lucky to be based in Norway, where home/life balance is understood on a level that's almost unrivalled anywhere else in the world. It's just our hope that rather than thinking of work and life as oppositional, the things we do in the Bridge office can form a part of both.

Getting involved

And the result of this is things like our most recent musical production. It's this idea of fun and a holistic approach to the workplace that we wanted to communicate, which is why the hit song is - at least loosely - based around the idea of recruitment. Having everybody involved - from the planning stages through to implementation - creates a buzz in the offices that cannot be rivalled. Those that you see on screen are only half the story (the slightly more extroverted members of the offices ), but even behind the scenes everybody gets carried up in the energy. We loved hamming up the cheese factor, whilst also actually delivering something kinda slick - our usual levels of tongue-in-cheek, technology-driven style.

Of course, as well as our office regulars, you'll also recognise a couple of special guest-stars; Gudny Aspaas, lead singer of prog rock band Ruphus', and our go-to crazy man, Aksel Kolstad. It's this kind of creative talent that we love to fuse with the technological talent that lurks deep in the underbelly of our Akerselva offices.

But really, why!?

So yes, if you ask us: why do we keep continue to invest in the Bridge Show, in blogging, in creating music videos and advent calendars and goodness knows what else, all we can tell you is: just because. Because honestly, just because' is kind of the best answer. Just because' is why we landed man on the moon, why athletes push feats of human endurance every day, why scientists study esoteric and unheard of species of moths for all their lives. Just because' represents what is truly human; passion, collaboration, cur

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