the okyo garde-ian

From June 2022 to August 2022, I worked as a Creative Copywriter Intern at RAPP in San Francisco, CA. As a digital marketing agency, one of RAPP’s main goals is to be “fiercely individual” and personalize advertisements in the client’s vision.

As a copywriting intern, I was partnered with an incredibly talented art design intern to put together a concept campaign for Palo Alto Networks and their product, Okyo Garde (depicted below).

This is the initial project brief that we received in order to begin our brainstorming process:

Because my partner and I were both inexperienced in the field of cybersecurity, we had to do a lot of initial research so that we could understand what the purpose of this device was and why it was so important to advertise it. 

The objective of this project was ultimately to get the target individuals to learn about and consider Okyo Garde as their at-home cybersecurity solution by showcasing the need for stronger home cybersecurity. There were three components of the project that had to be created in order for it to be successful, including an umbrella concept, awareness media, and an experience component.

To begin our research, we referred to the already existing landing page that Palo Alto Networks had created for the device.

We pulled the key components out of the page and began asking questions about the market it was in as well, such as potential issues we may run into when coming up with our idea and competitors with similar devices.

Once we were more certain of the device’s purpose, we began to brainstorm creative ideas that would later become our umbrella concept. We noted visions and possible headline ideas that captured the essence of the device and provided visuals on what potential advertisement scenes could look like.

You can see in the frame below, which is a screenshot from our original Miro board, where my partner made a yellow sticky note in the upper-left corner that prompted me to come up with the idea of the "Okyo Garde-ian”.

Once we were solidified on the idea of the Okyo Garde-ian, my partner developed a moodboard that compiled the potential inspirations for our project’s animated display. Some inspirations she noted were the M&M’s, who all have distinct voices and personalities and could be useful to developing the characters of the Garde-ian as a “companion” within the home-work space.

To assist my partner in focusing in on our main concept, I began writing project manifestos that would preface the project and its message. I wanted to draw on the reality of the hybrid work environment, the rising risk of cyberthreats, and the importance of Okyo Garde as a versatile device that would fit the work lifestyle of any profession and protect the home security network.

Below are two early variations of manifestos that I wrote for this project, along with the comments that helped me develop the final draft.

Together, the original visualizations of the project looked like the pictures below. My partner designed two sets of ad-lobs to capture our concepts and give us a starting point for where we wanted to develop the idea of the Garde-ian.

After reviewing our work with our mentors, I wrote copy for the different frames that the display would have to give my partner more direction on the visuals we wanted. I wanted to focus on the idea that cyberthreats were not just an in-office risk, but one that could potentially follow employees home as hybrid work environments become more common.

The biggest challenge was to condense all the main ideas of the concept within three frames with limited space, especially since the average person wouldn’t read longer than a sentence per frame. I made three variations of the copy to give my partner and I more options to choose from when compiling the visuals for the display.

My partner began compiling different variations of the display for review by the Creative Board, which are depicted below.

The goal was to portray Okyo Garde in different home environments to depict its versatility, but also how it can fit into the routine of any profession.

After another round of review, we still felt that we weren’t getting the idea of the Garde-ian through in our work and that the personalization aspect wasn’t strong enough. My partner revisited the visuals for the display and began incorporating the characters into the frames, and I began to revise the copy so it matched her ideas as well.

The following images are the final creative products for our project, including the project manifesto, animated display, interactive quiz, and initial landing page of the product.

The final project manifesto is depicted below. It is a compilation of all the best components of each draft I’d written for the project, emphasizing the main objective of the project and concepts that we wanted to get across.

This is the final animated display that my partner and I worked on. The final copy reflects the imagery in the background by portraying Okyo Garde within home spaces and incorporating the characters into the advertisement.

The following quiz questions help the client because they’re meant to gather data about the audience for PAN, but it also serves as a way for users to interact with the product in a more personalized approach. The first two questions gather data, and the last one determines the personalized quiz result that the user receives at the end.

Each answer to the third question generates a result that includes a Garde-ian. If the user answered that they are “curious” for the third question, they would get the Curious Dog. The copy in the description ties into the character of the dog and informs the user of the features of Okyo Garde while prompting them to learn more about the device.

In total, there are five possible character results (depicted below). I wrote the copy for each possible result, also depicted below.

The CTA (Call to Action) button that follows the quiz results would lead back to the currently existing landing page for the product, which would allow the user to learn more about the device and potentially convert their home network.

To further expand on our project, my partner and I came up with two additional ideas to extend the customer journey and the client’s influence.

I thought that potential partnerships with animal charities and endangered animal organizations would be an interesting partnership and frontier for this project to expand into. For example, with the result of the Curious Dog, if the user decided to purchase the device, they could receive dog-themed merchandise. However, along with that, they could receive informational brochures about shelters that are currently in need of funding and new homes for animals. This would allow users to also feel that they’re making a bigger world impact while expanding PAN’s partnerships.