- by Cindy Ranchon
- May 4, 2022
Apac, we have a problem!
When the new Director for Digital, e-commerce & CRM in APAC got appointed at Clarins, she received an impossible challenge as a welcome gift. She had to connect with a team of 135 collaborators spread across 15 countries to unpack the global digital strategy, and customize it collaboratively for the users of the region. All this in the middle of general travel bans, with people overdosed from back-to-back video calls and overwhelmed with work. And a budget that could hardly cover a fancy picnic in the park next door.
So she called us to help her and her direct reports re-imagine the historical fun getaway seminar in this new context, in a way that would be memorable and playful, engage the collaborators with the leadership team creatively and get them to contribute to localizing the digital strategy.
“Connect Beautifully”: the making of a user-centric expedition
A common mistake when revamping an existing project, product or service after a change of context is to dive head first into the execution. You are certain to end up misaligned with the needs of your users while missing out on the opportunities brought by the change of scenery.
Start with the user. We took a step back to identify the needs and frustrations of our users – digital executives of the region on one side, and global leaders of the company on the other – so we could define what success should look like.
Reframe the problem. What if instead of creating a series of problems, this new context was the opportunity to create a new experience altogether? That’s what our reframing exercise with the regional team was all about, breaking internal silos of the minds to create a vision for an outstanding outcome.
Ideate and converge. Once we had a vision, tucking it into an inspiring concept, unpacked through an engaging narrative, and then crafting creative value-driven activities was the easy part. We took the team through a series of mind-twisting techniques enabling the driest of brains to sweat ideas like a caucasian just landed in Singapore. Then, we quickly eliminated the unfit to focus on the few concepts that would turn this digital expedition into a true honey-moon.
Iterate & improve. We tested our agenda through rehearsals, refined the ideas and the content of the seminar, readjusted our expectations when facing roadblock, to finally get to the final product.
not just another zoom meeting. a multi-sensorial experience
The outcome looked very much like a show from the perspective of the participants, oblivious to the messy creative and collaborative process their host had been through.
From eye-openers to inspiring stories, a fake e-commerce livestream featuring the regional CEO, a video mashup of the global leadership, surprise thought-leaders visiting theme-based sessions, creative backgrounds changing every day, co-creation workshops and even speed-collaborator-dating breakouts, it was dense in colors, sounds, interactions and content.
The organizing team delivered it with mastery and confidence, engaging their regional collaborators into a valuable, playful, immersive and interactive online experience, offering a welcome package of insights, inspiration, connections, learnings and… fun! While, amazed, we watched from backstage, behind the curtain, cheering for our creators.
