Building a Way Forward: How The Croc Brought ABAX to the UK

In this short-form content world, patience for advertising waffle grows shorter by the day.

One brand unafraid to take the lead is Norwegian GPS tracking company, ABAX. Although industry-renowned, they have very little brand recognition in the UK, so they partnered with The Croc, one of the most creative agencies in B2B, to go about changing this.

To connect with ABAX’s no-nonsense audience of Mail and Sun reading builders, The Croc knew a solution that went far beyond the dry functional approach of competitors was essential. Hard to reach and damn near impossible to impress, they’d have no problem telling advertisers where to stick their eBooks and white papers. Instead, The Croc’s strategy was to give them more of the content they love, on the platforms they love the most. Above all, the research found that humour was key to cutting through.

The Croc needed to dramatise the tension of having potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of building equipment missing in action. With this as the challenge, The Croc created ‘When you don’t use ABAX’, a no-holds-barred demonstration of what the construction world looks like when it doesn’t track its equipment, tools, and vehicles.

For builders across Europe, pranks have a universal appeal, so we placed these candid-cam shenanigans at the very heart of the action. From a giant hidden camera prank to short-form TikTok videos featuring stunts from real building sites, The Croc built an integrated social campaign that doesn’t feel like an advertising campaign at all.

As its main activation piece, ‘When you don’t use ABAX’ dramatises every building company owner’s worst fear – that all their equipment has been stolen. But we brought this fear to life for real. Filmed covertly on smartphones, a builder has their entire inventory removed from a site overnight. Then, the next day, just at the apex of their ensuing meltdown, all the drama is resolved by ABAX, which instantly locates the equipment via GPS.

All the reaction shots are then collated for short-form content, reflecting the real builder’s face before and after the equipment was taken and found. With a supporting suite of further pranks and high jinks from real building sites, the campaign emphasises key product points deeper down the funnel, all without compromising on the campaign’s viral, tongue-in-cheek spirit.

The stunt is hosted by part-time influencer and full-time builder Ryan Belcher of @sq2_contractors. His follower count of 662.8K on TikTok, 111k on Instagram, and 4K on Facebook allowed us to post our content directly to a ready-made audience of our exact target market.

Ultimately, ‘When you don’t use ABAX’ hits all the key messaging points of a conventional hardworking B2B campaign without the typical dryness. With an authentically viral aesthetic and spirit reverberating throughout, ‘When you don’t use ABAX’ shines a light on how B2B brands can adapt to the rise and rise of short-form social content and the opportunities it presents. Indeed, generating 5.2 million views to date and over 86,000 click throughs, the campaign is already the brand’s best performing of all time.