SAP Concur

Redefining an Industry Leader

Vision and Category Design

SAP Concur faced a pivotal challenge. While their products excelled in delivering value, they struggled to articulate their vision for the future.

In an industry saturated with point solution competitors, they needed a transformative strategy to define the future of expense management and reinforce their leadership.

First Person partnered with SAP Concur to craft a compelling vision—a North Star that would inspire customers, employees, and leadership, positioning the company as the definitive force shaping the industry’s future.

By placing Story at the Center, First Person created a vision for the future that customers desperately want.

With that vision at the heart of the story, 1P could then illustrate why and how SAP Concur will be the one to make it a reality.

Hear from Jason Meager, Global Creative Director of Marketing for SAP Concur on how we helped them find their North Star.

Steps we took together

Immersion in the Product Roadmap.

Create a Technology Map of the next five years.

1:1 interviews with CTO and product engineers.

Inspire engineers to dream about the future.

Create Technology Arc for next five years.

Craft North Star vision with executive leadership.

Activate across channels.

Story at the Center is at the core of everything do.

THE challenge

Crafting a Vision Worth Chasing

Create a world where travel and expenses practically manage themselves.

Vision

Getting their mojo back

SAP Concur needed a structured approach to connect its current offerings with future innovations. We worked closely with the CTO and engineering team to develop a Technology Map, providing a strategic roadmap for growth. Coupled with the Technology Arc, this framework established a clear timeline to align R&D with market opportunities, ensuring every decision moved toward a cohesive vision.

This foundation now guides product, sales, and marketing strategy, driving innovation and market leadership. It continues to fuel high-impact campaigns and content, turning forward-looking insights into measurable business outcomes.

mapping the technology arc

Five Year Forecast

vision video

Making it Tangible

Focused narratives were developed for SAP Concur’s core product areas—Travel, Expense, and Invoice—making the vision tangible and relevant to distinct business contexts.

Results

The North Star messaging framework and vision video went from a video initiative to a refined vision for SAP Concur on whole.

ThE RESULTS

Greater reach,
greater mindshare.

41%

increase

in the share of voice

28%

increase

in web destination traffic

Campaign

Building on SAP Concur’s Vision

Our partnership with SAP Concur continues, creating stories that position them as the people creating a world where travel, invoice, and expenses practically manage themselves.

In the follow-up campaign, In the Background, we applied Story at the Center™ to create a series of memorable scenarios that realize Concur’s vision—from ditching paper trails to AI-powered expense management.

Compliance

Helping financial decision makers transition from budget gatekeepers to business consultants.

Financial Decision Maker

Giving financial decision makers the space to focus on the future instead of the past.

Travel & Expense

Enabling employees to make split-second travel decisions in step and in policy.

Radio spots

Extending SAP Concur’s Vision

Using the existing video campaign as a guide, we created a series of radio spots that extend the creative concept into new territory.

Lunch

When SAP Concur handles most of the day-to-day tasks, financial decision makers have time to focus on the future. So much so, they may learn to predict it.

Expense Report

SAP Concur enables financial decision makers to focus so much on the future of the company, they may even see future expenses challenge current policies.

Client testimonial image of Jason Meagher

I was delighted by First Person's ability to synthesize all of those viewpoints, to clearly steer that process and to facilitate brainstorming across a big organization.

Jason Meagher

creative director, SAp concur

additional deliveries

Beyond the brand strategy—we also delivered assets to activate it.

Vision and Mission North Star

1P carefully crafted a truthful and inspiring vision statement to establish SAP Concur’s continued dominance in the category.

Technology Map and Arc

R&D roadmap with emerging technologies overlayed with future products to provide a clear path to achieving their vision.

Vision Video

Three narratives that bring the vision to life within the unique business environment each product area faced.

Commercial Campaigns

Stories that demonstrate a world where travel, invoice, and expenses practically manage themselves.