Q1: Can you share the vision and inspiration behind your event?
The most innovative aspect of the “Higher Cloud Level” project for Microsoft was its strategy. We reversed our thinking about the B2B activities. Instead of focusing on the brand, we devoted 100% of the campaign’s media space to its clients and their inspiring stories. As a result, we gained authenticity and market trust. Also, we prompted great engagement among the client, as shown by the very high native reach. The event was the heart and centre of the campaign, produced with the same strategy and assumptions, and contributed to the general brand’s goals. It is worth noting that we incorporated the event into a more general vision of the B2B campaign, which was the most important one for Microsoft within 30 years of its presence in the Polish market. There was no thinking about the event itself, only as a part of a bigger picture. Such thinking is our agency’s deep belief.
Q2: How does it feel to win the Conventa Best Event title?
We are extremely happy that the “Higher Cloud Level” story earned such great understanding and appreciation from the jury members. We know that we competed with massive events that fostered a great impact and “wow” effect. Higher Cloud Level was not such an event, as our client did not expect such an emphasis on the visual part. It was important to give the C-level participants adequate space for their business talks, but the scenography was just a background for what was most important there – doing business.
Q3: What were the features that made your event stand out?
I believe it was our thinking and working on the client’s strategy and goals first. Everything else resulted from that. With this project, we showed that event marketing plays a pivotal role in a brand’s marketing strategy and can genuinely contribute to building its business.
Q4: Did you incorporate any new technologies or innovative ideas that contributed to the event’s success?
As a whole, the project was built on telling stories. Together with the event, we used a series of podcasts that best suited this aim. Podcasts are growing rapidly among Microsoft customers. From this perspective, it seemed a very useful tool. After the campaign, we can say this mix was very successful.
Q5: Who was involved in making the event a reality, and how did you foster collaboration within your team?
Our agency has been working together with Microsoft for over a decade. We understand the brand quite well and very often serve as the company’s external marketing team. Therefore, this project stems from deep cooperation, joint workshops and talks between the Microsoft marketing team and our agency team. As for our side, we have most of the competencies in-house, so apart from inviting a well-known Polish multimedia art director to create the campaign key visual and hero animation, all of the other elements were delivered by our team. It is worth mentioning that our key account team leader for Microsoft – Marceli Wójcik – is the longest-working person in our organisation. He has been involved in the cooperation with Microsoft since the onset and knows the brand like few people in our country.
Q6: What kind of feedback did you receive from attendees? How did you incorporate that feedback before or during the event?
The event attendees were the company’s clients. Many of them were involved in the campaign on different levels – in podcasts, on three event stages, and on social media, so they were highly engaged. And for many of them, opening the cloud region in Poland means new business opportunities. So, they celebrated the cloud region launch during the B2B hero event together with Microsoft. We had a high attendance rate till the end of the event. As it was a hybrid event, we also noticed high interest from the online viewers. We had over 2,500 thousand viewers online, which increased the number of on-site attendees by 5x.
Q7: How did you measure the success of your event, and did it meet or exceed your expectations?
Though this project had a mission to build a dialogue about cloud services and amplify the knowledge on it on the market, Microsoft had clear selling goals. It turned out that thanks to good strategy, without one call-to-action word on Microsoft sales, they exceeded the esteemed numbers. This applies to the market share of the cloud services and the market engagement of the clients. As a result, “tough” market goals were not only reached but exceeded.
“After the CBEA success, we also became awarded the highest title in the Polish event industry – Event Agency of the Year by Media Marketing Polska. This situation may indeed result in some new, exciting projects.”
Q8: What events do you consider the benchmark in the meetings industry?
In fact, this idea was not a copy of any other project or any adaptation of a global format. It was prepared locally by our joint team, which is of great value as we believe that due to a deep knowledge of the local market and its needs, we invented a concept that really addressed them.
Q9: Do you have any plans for future events, or are there any new ideas you’re excited to explore after this win?
As for our client, Microsoft, its mission is to empower every person and every organisation to achieve more. In this perspective, the “Higher Cloud Level” campaign was totally in line with this mission, and it was not the first time that the brand was telling its clients’ stories. Although “Higher Cloud Level” was totally under one umbrella, we can assume that such activities will continue in the future.
As for us as the agency – after the CBEA success, we also became awarded the highest title in the Polish event industry – Event Agency of the Year by Media Marketing Polska. This situation may indeed result in some new, exciting projects.
Q10: Is Europe still the leading events destination in the world?
We do not have an answer to this question. Having produced in some European countries, we have an idea about Europe. We simply have not worked on other continents yet. But as the association we joined – BEIC – is growing fast, who knows?
Personal questions for Dorota
Q11: Do you enjoy podcasts? Which is your favourite?
I had the pleasure of working with some of the Polish podcasters during the “Higher Cloud Level” campaign, so I am a great fan. I also had the pleasure to analyse the marketing results of this cooperation, which were really impressive for the brand.
Q12: If you had an unlimited budget, what kind of event would you organise?
I would definitely go for a sustainable event in a way that has not been created yet. To make it fully sustainable in every aspect, with zero waste and self-powered. Maybe with an unlimited budget, we would buy/invent technologies that make it available.
To explore LiveAge’s past projects, click here.
