- Cisco Live! attendees were the super heroes of their own story and experience.
- Combined World of Solutions expo was designed as an urban landscape, complete with parks and bus stops.
- “Network to Light” activation harnessed attendee energy to be donated to power schools in Nepal.
- 872 million social media impressions.
- 84% of attendees likely to purchase Cisco products.
Cisco Live! is the renowned networking technology brand’s annual conference where customers, partners, prospects, technology innovators, and members of the C-Suite gather for education, networking, and inspiration. From technical sessions to future-focused thought leadership, meetings with Cisco experts to robust online education offerings, Cisco Live! carries the pedigree as the place to transform one’s outlook, career, and potential through direct learning from Cisco’s best and brightest. For 2017, Cisco wanted to empower each attendee as the hero of their own story – You’re IT. Five superhero archetypes were crafted to align to an attendee’s set of broader goals and challenges. Each archetype would guide them throughout their onsite experience.
Taking over the Mandalay Bay exhibit hall, GPJ was tasked to completely reimagine the exhibit hall, since the Cisco and partner Expos had been merged into one. The result was The World of Solutions, a beautiful, intuitive, educational, and fun space that mimicked an urban landscape. Filled with bus stops (activations), streets (aisles), neighborhoods (booths), parks, theaters and abundant wayfinding – every design element fed back into the superhero journey. Analog and digital maps helped navigate people to their next destination.
Some of the most high-value and high traffic destinations within the World of Solutions were the hands-on labs, clinics, and meet the expert sessions.
- The Technical Solutions Clinic: Using Cisco Sparkboard technology for whiteboarding, experts in the clinics helped troubleshoot for solutions, utilizing the interactive and remote capabilities to bring remote SMEs into the conversation.
- Walk-In, Self-Paced Labs: Allowed attendees to participate in a lab at their own pace. When they had a question, a proctor was there to help. Even the least expensive Explorer passes had access to 40 minutes of hands-on learning.
- Enterprise Networking Innovation Forum: Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), appointment-only area where attendees could learn the latest about Cisco.
Other Destinations on the show floor included:
- Hero Lounges: Un-utilized booth space was transformed into hero lounges, larger social lounges which represented each of the heroes respectively through color and graphics.
- The Network Intuitive (TNI) Product Launch Activations: The TNI Art Experience was a tactile and sensorial installation where attendees could interact with light, sound, and touch through their mobile device, and where they were encouraged to learn more about the new “Network Intuitive” platform.
- DevNet Zone: A specialized demo and class area for programmers and including an Escape Room. Attendees solved a series of coding challenges, competing against others in order to unlock the door and escape. The DevNet Zone was a popular spot, with 5,246 visitors, 1,214 Learning Labs and 2,727 new community members.
- NetVet Lounge: NetVets have been coming to the Cisco Live for at least 3 of the previous conference, and they were treated to an exclusive lounge with special snacks, games, and priority session scheduling.
- Live Mural Painting: Attendees were able to watch the French graffiti artist Bunka, who created the event’s superheroes, live paint a giant mural which came to life during the duration of the event.
- The Social Media Hub and Tweet Up Lounge: Social activity was shared on large screens, while being monitored and responded to in real time. Interactive photo opportunities included an AR photo opp where attendees donned masks and joined by their superheroes. Group shots recorded a GIF of attendees with their superhero group, and a Cisco Live! Snapchat geo filter added to the fun.
- CSR: Cisco’s commitment to corporate social responsibility highlighted their partnerships to solve global problems. At Cisco Live! we enacted “Network to Light,” an activation that triggered when attendees walked, skipped, and danced across a series of kinetic floor tiles. We exceeded our goal of 1 Million steps and finished with an amazing 2 Million steps. The energy generated would be donated to students in Nepal.
Capped off by the Customer Appreciation Event, the night was the culmination and recognition of Cisco’s customers and partners for all their hard work. Held at the T-Mobile Area, attendees were treated to a night of food and beverage, fun activations, games and lounges, and finished with a high energy performance by Bruno Mars, coordinated with GPJ sister agency G7 Entertainment Marketing.
The event was hailed by attendees and clients alike, with 96% of responders leaving with a positive review of the event, 84% likely to purchase products after attending, and 97% saying it was a valuable time commitment to attend. With 78K+ social media mentions and 872 million impressions, Cisco Live! was a rousing success for our teams and for Cisco. As one attendee lauded:
“You enter as strangers and leave as friends…no other event brings like-minded technologists together on such a large scale and makes it fun for everyone.”
