HGA Creative Communications

Understand

We’re proud to say that we have a great relationship with Shop Direct, having worked with them in the past to deliver their internal communications. It’s because of this relationship that they entrusted us to deliver their annual Christmas conference production once again, helping them engage with their 800 strong workforce and recruiting their support to deliver a new digital approach. 

As a consumer facing business and the UK’s largest online retailer, Shop Direct Group have begun to immerse themselves into the digital environment in order to better service and reach their customers. As such their conference production, ‘Our Future in a Digital World’ needed to illustrate to their employees the increasing importance of this and encourage them as individuals to embrace the digital future of the company.

Engage

To do this, we felt that the conference had to be different, it had to be digital. So, we created a new and innovative way to communicate the client’s messages in the most engaging and interactive way possible; we used our ‘Event Pulse.’

In a nutshell, we define the Event Pulse as a process, usually but not exclusively, digital, that enables greater engagement with conference delegates over a longer period of time. It innovates, collects data, delivers messages and encourages greater participation before, during and long after the event. Keep an eye on the site to find out more about the event pulse or get in touch to find out how it can work for you.

Deliver

So what did the use of this mean for Shop Direct? During the run up to the event itself we developed a series of campaigns pushing users to a site which allowed employees to register their attendance, influence the content of the event, find out key information and take part in competitions to win prizes. This was used as a drip feed to communicate important information about the event and generate excitement in the run up to the big day.

We also created over 30 videos filmed across various locations using a number of techniques which were shown throughout the event’s presentations – which were, again designed by our team along with the branding for the event itself.

The Delegate App provided a personal agenda for delegates, allowing them to track their progress throughout the day from registration to being scanned by exhibitors, as well as post to the Future Feed (internal Twitter wall) and take part in live polls and votes throughout the day. They could even apply to take part in the live Rockaoke during the evening event - all through a bespoke wi-fi system which we installed in the venue prior to the event.

The event itself was held at the BT Convention Centre in Liverpool and comprised a number of key note presentations, guest speeches from the likes of Olympic medallist Chris Boardman, interactive breakout rooms, celebrity guests such as Myleene Klass and Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, a live fashion show and Rockaoke.

The result? Over 1,000 registrations, 1,500 posts to the Future Feed, 2,400 votes, nearly 10,000 interactive scans, some very happy delegates and one ecstatic client.