ServiceNow Emphasizes the ROI of AI and "Putting AI to Work"

In this assessment I review AI-focused messages used by ServiceNow.

Date Assessed: 1.13.2024

Asset types: Website, Display Ads, Thought Leadership

Context

ServiceNow recently launched a significant brand campaign highlighting the value of their AI solutions. You may have seen their commercials which star Idris Elba.

Across the website and digital ads, which I’ll highlight below, there are compelling use cases, a clear narrative of business value, and impactful messaging of AI benefits. There is also a little room for improvement in how to position the underlying Now platform.

The three most prominent pages I highlight include:

The Messaging Foundation is Compelling and Simple

The most prominent message: Put AI to Work

I particularly like that this language empowers employees instead of threatening their jobs.

Home page example

The home page video supporting this tagline showcases realistic, common examples of how to put AI to work for HR, IT, Customer Service….or more generally, “People.”

The Call-to-Action content block at the bottom of the home page carries through the same value proposition.

Here is an example of digital advertising which I was retargeted with after visiting the site, which uses the same messaging and promotes the ServiceNow annual event Knowledge 25 in May.

Secondary message: The AI platform for business transformation

This message builds off the first one – to put AI to work (for people), businesses need the AI platform for business transformation (ServiceNow’s Now platform).

Home page interactive web feature which builds to illustrate the single platform concept

Another digital ad which I was retargeted with supporting the same message which linked to a blog post.

High Quality Content to Go Deeper

To pay off the message that AI platforms drive transformation, ServiceNow has several high-quality content pieces, including high quality videos and a maturity index report.

Main landing page for maturity index

The ad below links to the maturity index report download page.

Maturity index report download page

Maturity index report snapshot

A Compelling Enterprise Messaging Hierarchy

ServiceNow does a nice job distinguishing between their entire product portfolio, their core AI-driven products, and their underlying platform (called Now).

Within the Featured Products dropdown on the website, you can see a mix of some AI-driven products and some that are not heavy on AI messaging or features. They also have the callout on the far right of the Now Platform (underlying each product).

There is a separate navigation dropdown and section of the site which dives deeply into their products which make up their core AI offering – Now Assist and AI Agents.

Navigation dropdown

Web page with tabs for each core AI product

Another example of grouping the AI-specific products within the AI site section

What Could Be Better?

Everything I have highlighted so far is positive about how ServiceNow is positioning their AI offerings. The one area that can be improved is the messaging and visuals around the Now Platform, which as I highlighted before has its own prominent section on the website.

On that page, the first two calls to action are “Read Ebook” and “Get Data Sheet,” which to me are overly deep first CTAs at the top of a page.

I’d recommend:

A video at the top of the page that showcases what it is and how it differentiates ServiceNow solutions in 90 seconds or less should replace “Get Data Sheet”
Be clearer on how Now enables AI. Throughout the page, there is very little depth on exactly how Now enables AI-driven business transformation across all offerings. Are Agents the only use case where Now is “using AI”?
Swap the order of key messages on the current page to lead with the video, then then content that makes it clearer who the audience is for Now

Across the website and digital ads viewed, ServiceNow is clearly positioning themselves as a leader in AI driven business transformation. As the AI offerings evolve, it will be interesting to see how they expand the narrative to include more of their solutions into one integrated story.