Online work platform Miro is out with its first national campaign that plays off the notion that workplace problems can be a beast, literally. 

Built to foster remote collaboration, the startup is doubling down on its mission, even as more people return to the office. The campaign, called “Monster Problem,” features a team that uses the company’s collaboration software to find solutions to a Japanese Kaiju-style monster rampaging a city, superhero-movie style. The campaign is from Portland agency Opinionated, founded by ex-Wieden+Kennedy creative director Mark Fitzloff, who is now Opinionated’s executive creative director. It was directed by Andreas Nilsson, who is known for his comedy work.

The company struck an entertaining tone with the campaign to “engage people emotionally,” particularly because with the services Miro offers, “it’s easy to lose people in the details” of software and technology, said Paul D’Arcy, the brand’s chief marketing officer.

The campaign will run through mid-July and on social channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit and LinkedIn, as well as on broadcast, online video and out-of-home.

Miro, which was founded in 2011 and splits its headquarters between San Francisco and Amsterdam, was valued at $17.5 billion in January after raising $400 million in Series C funding and reaching 30 million users. It has opened five new offices in the past year, including Berlin, Munich, London, Sydney, and Tokyo, upping its total locations to 11. 

The collaborative whiteboard software market has grown during the pandemic, as more people were forced to work from home. It reached a value of $1.69 million in 2021 with a projected worth of $4.42 million by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 18.36%, according to Mordor Intelligence. 

After 42% of the U.S.’s workforce began working from home when the pandemic hit in 2020, according to a study conducted by Stanford, methods of collaborating remotely began to materialize. That has ranged from video calls on platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to online whiteboard services such as those offered by Miro. Nearly 80% of digital workers used collaboration technology in 2021, according to research company Gartner. 

Even though 50% of companies say that they will be requiring their employees to return to full-time in-person work this year, according to research published in January from Microsoft, Miro does not see digital collaboration going away. 

Instead, the company is positioning its product as indispensable as more hybrid work models take hold, said D’Arcy. Its features include a clear interactive whiteboard for meetings where half the people are on zoom and half are in-person: "There's nothing worse" than being on a video call and unable to see what is being written on a physical whiteboard, he said.

Miro’s national marketing push comes as competition is growing. The work collaboration sector is led by giants such as Microsoft and Google, which have offered a range of features as bundles. Smaller competitors such as Miro are gaining popularity with niche offerings and competitive pricing, according to Mordor Intelligence. Mural, a competitor to Miro, has also drawn significant investments, achieving a $2 billion valuation in 2021. 

Despite Miro’s global presence, the campaign is sticking to the U.S. due to the high number of digital workers in the country. It hopes to expand the campaign globally in the future.