Aiming to increase foot traffic and engagement at its 2013 Advertising Week activation located inside the lobby of the Times Center, Microsoft chose to move the brand itself out of the spotlight, instead inviting clients to touch, hear, and experience the company’s wide range of computing products and services from a consumer standpoint.
“Microsoft represents a lot of products, and we wanted to find a way to bring everything to life from the perspective of the consumer, not an ad buyer,” said Amanda Morgan McAllister, head of U.S. marketing for Microsoft Advertising. “Last year’s Experience Center was great, but flat. This year, we really wanted to engage and interact with attendees. It’s not about the shiny new object, but about interconnectivity.”
To that end, Morgan McAllister tapped Rachel Shechtman, the owner of Story, a retail and event space in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood that reinvents itself every four to eight weeks, from the merchandise and store design to the floor plan and thematic content. “I had worked with Rachel years ago when she was a brand consultant, and I know she likes a challenge,” said Morgan McAllister. Playing off the living advertorial concept of her store, Shechtman introduced a new theme—gaming, sports, entertainment, and creation—to the Microsoft Experience Center each day for four days during Advertising Week, held September 23 through 27.
While the overall look of the hub didn’t dramatically change from day to day, the content and tangible experiences pushed forward by the Microsoft devices and platforms on display did—the idea being that a consumer’s experience with technology is constantly changing. “You don’t switch to a new phone everyday, but you do use it to look at new stuff on a daily basis,” explained Shechtman.
In a week that features more than 200 events and draws more than 90,000 attendees, Microsoft’s new concept paid off, with an estimated 20,000 attendees passing through the Experience Center, and a higher-than-expected rate of repeat visitors. “People were staying longer and returning more,” said Morgan McAllister. “It surpassed all our expectations.”
