Consistently ranked as the second-most-valuable brand in the world, the Redmond, Washington-based technology juggernaut is a powerful brand with a renewed spirit of innovation. Not only has Microsoft impressed industry analysts with new products like the HoloLens, but last year it also revamped its event strategy, taking inspiration from a very personal source—its Surface tablet. The company’s new, ambitious goal of executing a unified look, feel, and messaging across all events mimics the thoughtfulness that went into the making of the device’s seamless design.
“From [featuring] real-world examples to what color palette we use, we’re now paying attention to every detail [of event production] like how the Surface was created,” says Susie Kandzor, the brand’s senior events marketing manager. This initiative involved bringing together all of Microsoft’s internal groups, and eliminating the traditional corporate silos, to form a more cohesive marketing effort among its various product lines. Scott Schenker, general manager of worldwide events and Microsoft’s production studio, explains that the company’s teams operated more autonomously in the past, but are now implementing a more comprehensive approach.
For example, the recent Microsoft Ignite conference for information technology professionals, which was held in Chicago from May 4 to 8, combined many usually separate events for products, such as Office 365, Yammer, SharePoint, Exchange, and Skype for Business, into one larger event, with online, real-time, and on-demand components, Schenker says. The intent was to build upon the Convergence conference, which took place in March in Atlanta, and further the corporate message.
This new marketing mindset also involves making the customers—and their product use—front and center. Kandzor’s team identifies and curates their stories, seeking out partners and clients who are using Microsoft products to make their businesses better. For instance, Formula 1 racing uses the company’s devices in its vehicle production, while Nascar drivers use Surface tablets to track issues; that data then helps the pit crew modify the car. These tales of practical application—usually presented at industry events and trade shows—bring the devices to life for attendees and potential buyers. Although exact sales metrics aren’t yet available, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, Kandzor says.
Originally, the customer story concept was presented as a passive experience through an app that attendees could browse, but, Kandzor admits, it was lackluster. Microsoft quickly tweaked the idea, Âdesigning more interactive booths, which included representatives from the partner companies to help draw in people. During Advertising Week in New York last fall, ambassadors from California-based company the Ave demonstrated how they use Surface tablets during the print design Âprocess and created custom Converse sneakers for the industry conference attendees at Microsoft’s activation area.
The use of innovative storytelling to demystify technology carried over into Microsoft’s consumer-facing events as well. In April 2014, the company introduced one of its latest products, Power BI for Office 365, which analyzes complex data sets and visualizes them for the user. To give the general public a more tangible sense of the product’s power, Microsoft worked with Pacific Northwest-based creative and digital agency Roundhouse to create an Âexperience in San Francisco’s Âfinancial district called the Infinity Room. The activation included a voice Ânarrative, which explained how data from the life of an ordinary quarter coin could provide important insight into its bigger, real-world impact, from health to global Âeconomies.
And thanks to its smarter, Âdata-rich approach, Microsoft might soon be able to tell a new story of its own. “We’re able to ask questions that [we couldn’t] in the past,” Schenker says.
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