Cisco @ the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo
services deployed
experience direction
system engineering
content design
spatial design + event flow
The Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo (ITxpo) is a premier event organized by Gartner, a leading research and advisory company. CIOs, senior IT executives, technology leaders, and more gather to learn and discuss the future of IT.
Cisco wanted to standout at the event and create an engaging live marketing activation to demonstration their cybersecurity capabilities. The goal was to gamify and educate attendees on Cisco’s commitment to “Securing the Enterprise”. They enlisted No Hot Ashes, and we created a one-of-its-kind Space Invader-like game for attendees.
The experience drew in thousands of attendees trying to secure a place on the leader board, while also learning about Cisco’s product offerings and engaging with onsite experts.
our task
Cisco wanted to standout at ITxpo and create an engaging live marketing activation to demonstration their cybersecurity capabilities. The goal was to gamify and educate attendees on Cisco’s commitment to “Securing the Enterprise”, and provide customer touch points for onsite experts to engage and highlight Cisco’s security tech suite.
solution
It can be tough to standout at a large conference, and even tougher to build an activation that creates a queue. We stepped back to understand the target audience (CIOs, IT executives, developers) — an audience with nostalgia for vintage video games. So, we designed and built a one-of-its-kind interactive Space Invader-like video game to bring customers in and achieve Cisco’s onsite goals.
This “Securing the Enterprise” storytelling mechanism allowed for us to gamify the educational messaging around Cisco’s security suite — reinforcing the key message that ‘If it’s connected, you’re protected’.
We designed an unassuming white wall with oblong, pivoting portals in front of them. Attendees would use those portals as controllers to view invisible threats attacking their enterprise spaceship, and use Cisco tools to fend off and destroy those threats.
This blend of storytelling, cutting edge screen technology, and gamification made the activation one of the most visited booths at ITxpo. Leaderboards allowed for onsite email capture, and onsite Cisco security experts could continue the conversation with attendees about Cisco’s product offerings.
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