PwC and Microsoft: Banking Horizons event 2023
PwC and Microsoft: Banking Horizons event 2023
PwC and Microsoft: Banking Horizons event 2023
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft
Overview
In spring 2023, PwC and Microsoft presented Banking Horizons, a showcase for the latest thinking on digital transformation in the banking industry. This joint event, a first for both firms, delivered an innovative experience a world away from a traditional event for the industry, helping establish a distinctive profile for our two firms in a crowded market.
Marketing Objectives
Facing the time constraints of our busy C-suite audience, Banking Horizons took on the marketing challenge of creating an event they couldn't afford to miss. Through strategic collaboration, we designed a dynamic experience focused on the issues keeping our clients up at night. Featuring diverse speakers like Professor Brian Cox, our sessions covered a wide range of themes, incorporating interactive elements for maximum delegate engagement. Our breakout spaces provided a sensory-rich, immersive experience, while a technology theatre showcased cutting-edge exhibits, including a music-converted tech vest and the Infinite Financial Solutions app developed by PwC on Microsoft technology. This marketing endeavour aimed to captivate our audience, making Banking Horizons an unmissable and unforgettable event on their calendars.
Design Challenge
The event branding and design challenge for Banking Horizons was a meticulously executed strategic effort aimed at capturing the attention of our time-strapped C-suite audience. Focused on creating an unmissable experience, our marketing approach involved meticulous design within the established PwC financial services branding. This collaborative effort included working with three different external creative agencies, alongside high-level stakeholders from both PwC and Microsoft. Through this multifaceted collaboration, we curated a dynamic experience covering diverse themes with interactive elements to ensure maximum delegate engagement. The breakout spaces were designed to offer a sensory-rich and immersive experience, while the technology theatre showcased cutting-edge exhibits. This branding challenge was not just an event; it was a strategic marketing endeavor, making Banking Horizons an unforgettable fixture on the calendars of our esteemed audience.
Results
Banking Horizons attracted 360 registrations and received extraordinarily positive feedback, including praise for its evident commitment to diversity and inclusion. Collaborating on this joint venture helped strengthen the bonds between PwC and Microsoft. Ultimately though, this was about showing that together we offer unbeatable capabilities to drive digital transformation. Banking Horizons has successfully transformed perceptions of PwC and Microsoft. It pushed boundaries with its combinationof imaginative content, commitment to diversity and inclusion, and success in creating a unique physical and intellectual space where industry leaders could connect. This lays the foundations for the innovation and collaboration that will be so vital to meeting the challenges of our digital future.
Conference & Incentive Travel (C&IT) Awards
Categories: Finance and professional services event of the year (2023)
Our success in this event branding and design challenge was further underscored by our notable achievement in the industry awards circuit. Competing against strong contenders like HSBC's Internationalists Day Event, produced by MCM Creative Group, and Santander's Navigator Launch event, executed by Live Nation, our event emerged victorious in its category. This accomplishment is particularly noteworthy considering the caliber of our competition.
Additionally, our event garnered recognition by being shortlisted in the Conference of the Year category, an accolade ultimately claimed by Google's Marketing Live event, produced by Wonder. This recognition not only speaks to the excellence of our event but also positions it among the elite in the industry.
September 2023
Conference & Incentive Travel (C&IT) Awards
Categories:
Best Brand Activation 2023
The Access All Areas Conference & Awards has its roots in the imperative need to address and elevate crucial issues and standards within the live events landscape.
The project stands out as a testament to its commitment to fostering positive change in an industry that demands excellence. Positioned within one of the most challenging categories, it competes alongside well-established brands like Bentley and Lego. Undoubtedly, this places the project in a highly competitive arena, reflecting its determination to not only meet but exceed industry standards. The recognition of its merit in such esteemed company underscores the event's significance and impact within the live events sector.
September 2023
Campaign branding
The PwC/Microsoft Banking Horizons Summit strategically incorporates PwC's Financial Services brand identity, seamlessly woven into the extensive tapestry of the PwC Industry in Focus brand identity family. In the formulation of the event identity, a significant challenge emerged — the delicate balance between adhering to the established branding guidelines and infusing a novel and distinct character.
The primary objective was to introduce a unique spin by creatively reimagining existing elements without overtly diverging from the established brand persona. The emphasis on nuanced adjustments aimed to introduce freshness and innovation while ensuring a seamless integration that avoids any perceptible deviations in the overall brand narrative.
Hero colours
Identifier device
The interlocking arrows symbolise market disruption, showcasing the complexity and dynamic changes.
Copy & photo approach
Financial services core messaging:
We’re behind business
Photography direction
Co-creation is key
In spring 2023, PwC and Microsoft collaborated to deliver Banking Horizons, a showcase for the latest thinking on digital transformation in the banking industry. This joint event, a first for both firms, delivered an innovative experience a world away from a traditional event for the industry, helping establish a distinctive profile for these two major brands to stand out in a crowded market.
Our primary objective was to show that, together, PwC and Microsoft have the tech and business capabilities to address banks’ toughest challenges, and to bring a C-suite financial services audience together that connects, networks and builds relationship at the highest level.
Event organisation
PwC’s Creative Experiences team worked with our marketeers, design team and business leads to create a day built around 12 sessions, spanning themes as wide-ranging as politics, artificial intelligence (AI), Gen Z and cosmology. Delegates could choose themselves which ones to attend.
All sessions incorporated interactive elements to engage delegates while breakout spaces offered a unique immersive experience, captivating the senses with colour, scent and sound, and specially designed avatar hosts.
During networking breaks, delegates could also explore our technology theatre. Highlights included:
DJ Troi Lee
Who was born severely deaf, uses a tech vest to convert the bass in music into vibrations you can feel. Delegates had the chance to try the vest on and experience how technology played its part in inclusion.
Infinite Financial Solutions
Delegates discovered how this digital solution developed by PwC and platformed on Microsoft technology creates a more connected and simplified experience for banking customers.
AI-generated art studio
Delegates created personalized art based on AI-generated questions, and we collaborated with eight agencies, including The Glasshouse, a social enterprise. Trainees installed a 30m-long plant stage display, blending nature with tech at the event, later redistributed post-event.
Main Plenary Stage
The design of the main stage for the event was a meticulous process, blending innovative abstract approaches while remaining firmly within the parameters of the Financial Services (FS) branding. The careful curation of the stage involved the integration of avant-garde design elements that pushed the boundaries of conventional aesthetics, yet maintained a seamless alignment with the established FS branding guidelines.
This delicate balance ensured that the stage not only stood out for its innovative and contemporary design but also retained a cohesive visual identity that resonated with the overarching branding of the Financial Services sector. The result was a main stage that seamlessly combined creativity and adherence to branding principles, creating a visually striking and on-brand focal point for the event.
Information Wall
The information wall was meticulously designed from the ground up, integrating Financial Services (FS) design elements with bespoke features. This comprehensive approach combined familiar FS design components with distinctive elements like the central screen, fluorescent lights, and wooden slats. Serving as the inaugural branded focal point upon entering the venue, the information wall made a lasting impression and stood out as one of the event’s highlights.
Its strategic placement and carefully curated elements made it a prominent and impactful feature, setting the tone for the entire event and effectively capturing the attention of attendees from the outset. The thoughtful combination of FS design familiarity and unique bespoke elements rendered the information wall a standout and memorable aspect of the overall event experience.
Breakout rooms
On the event day, three primary breakout rooms were strategically arranged to cater to distinct thematic discussions. The “Innovation Room” served as a platform for conversations revolving around technology and artificial intelligence (AI). The “Future Room” delved into topics concerning the future of financial services and anticipated challenges. The “Transform Room” highlighted green topics, emphasizing sustainability and business transformation. To enhance the thematic experience in each room, a bespoke color scheme was meticulously curated.
These unique color schemes were not only visually appealing but also symbolized the essence of the discussions, capturing the specific vibe and topics addressed in each room. This thoughtful integration of thematic content with distinct color palettes aimed to create an immersive and cohesive environment tailored to the diverse and engaging conversations taking place in each breakout room.
Breakout rooms
We strategically seized the opportunity to enhance brand visibility by incorporating branding on key touchpoints throughout the venue. This encompassed the branding of nourish walls, doors, reception desks, the DJ desk, tables, name badges, and more. This comprehensive approach not only reinforced the Financial Services (FS) brand identity but also acted as the adhesive that unified diverse spaces and branded areas.
By extending the brand presence to various elements, from entryways to event essentials like name badges, we ensured a consistent and immersive experience for attendees. This meticulous integration of branding across touchpoints played a pivotal role in creating a cohesive and memorable atmosphere that resonated with the overarching theme of the event.
Digital touchpoints
We successfully curated a standout feature for the event by assembling a collection of Microsoft and PwC video showreels displayed on a bespoke information wall screen. This integration of compelling content from both brands posed a main challenge — seamlessly merging them under the event branding.
The outcome, however, demonstrated our adept handling of this challenge, resulting in a harmonious fusion that contributed significantly to the overall success of the event.
Each breakout room featured a unique avatar host, carefully crafted to personify and guide participants through the session's content. This creative touch added a distinctive and engaging element to enhance the overall participant experience.
Throughout the event venue, digital plasma screens were strategically placed to disseminate crucial information to all guests. Beyond their functional role, these screens served as vital branded touchpoints, reinforcing the event's identity and providing a dynamic and visually engaging backdrop for attendees. The seamless integration of these digital displays not only ensured that essential updates reached every participant but also contributed to the overall immersive and cohesive experience of the event.
Post-event
In addition to the pre-event promotion, key senior leadership speakers, including Microsoft's CSO Musidora Jorgensen, Microsoft VP, LSEG Strategic Partnerships Pilar Lopez, and PwC UK CEO Kevin Ellis, actively contributed by publishing posts about the event. This concerted effort significantly elevated engagement levels and generated substantial anticipation for the upcoming event. The collective impact of these influential leaders leveraging their platforms substantially heightened the overall excitement and buzz surrounding the event.
Pre-event
To boost campaign awareness, we strategically launched a social media blitz. Multiple posts in diverse formats were strategically posted across major platforms, with a focus on LinkedIn and Twitter—our audience's preferred channels. This approach ensured a dynamic and impactful online presence, effectively amplifying the campaign's visibility
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