Case Study: Coupa Turns Awareness Into Action with UGC-Inspired Storytelling

MarketScale
Aug 12
2 min read

Client Overview

Company: Coupa

Industry: AI-Powered Spend Management and Supply Chain Optimization

Coupa is a global leader in total spend management, serving thousands of enterprises with AI-driven procurement, finance, and supply chain solutions. Positioned as the “margin multiplier company,” Coupa enables organizations to optimize spending and drive profitability at scale.

The Challenge

Coupa’s “From Admiration to Action” initiative aimed to evolve brand perception—from passive appreciation to active market engagement. Despite global recognition, Coupa wanted to:

Break through the crowded B2B technology narrative.
Make its AI-native vision tangible and relatable.
Build trust through voices and stories that feel authentic, not purely corporate.

The Strategic Opportunity

By integrating UGC principles into a high-prestige brand campaign, Coupa could:

Humanize advanced AI capabilities through peer-led storytelling.
Shift thought leadership from a broadcast model to a shared conversation.
Repurpose authentic event moments into multi-channel content assets.

Campaign Execution

1. Bold, Relatable Storytelling — “Mind Your Business” CampaignCoupa adopted a conversational, peer-to-peer tone in enterprise messaging—mirroring the approach that makes UGC impactful. Real people, direct language, and approachable delivery replaced overly polished scripts, making the message resonate on a human level.

2. Peer-Led Engagement at Inspire 2025At its flagship event, Coupa showcased executives, practitioners, and partners in unscripted conversations. This brought their AI-native network vision—powered by $8T+ in spend data—into relatable, real-world context.

3. Real-World Voices for Complex InnovationBy allowing subject matter experts to explain AI features like their agent Navi in their own words, Coupa made cutting-edge technology more approachable and easier to understand.

4. Multi-Use Content Across ChannelsKeynotes, panels, and interviews were repurposed into social media posts, event recaps, and web content—amplifying reach while minimizing additional production investment.

Competitive Advantage

Competitor Approach	Coupa Approach
Product-first, corporate messaging (SAP Ariba, Ivalua, GEP)	Human-first, peer-led storytelling
Formal thought leadership	Shared, conversational narratives
Limited cross-channel repurposing	Continuous, multi-format content reuse

Impact (Observed & Modeled)

Higher Engagement: Peer-led videos outperformed traditional campaign assets on social channels.
Accelerated Adoption: Relatable, first-person demos of AI tools like Navi drove faster uptake among enterprise users.
Brand Perception Shift: Position evolved from “software provider” to “visionary, trusted partner.”

Lessons Learned

UGC Works at Enterprise Scale: Authentic storytelling doesn’t diminish prestige—it strengthens credibility.
Event Content is a Year-Round Asset: Capturing authentic moments at events creates a pipeline of repurposable material.
Humanizing Technology Drives Action: People act faster when complex innovations are explained in human terms.

Conclusion

Coupa demonstrated that even the most recognized enterprise brands can use UGC principles to deepen trust, humanize advanced solutions, and convert awareness into measurable action. Their blend of high-tech credibility with authentic storytelling is a model for any B2B brand seeking to stand out in a competitive market.