From obstacle to opportunity: Unveiling a virtual headquarters

Challenge

Designing a digital destination

Dell Technologies typically participates in more than two dozen industry events and exhibitions annually to connect with current and potential customers. But 2020 was anything but typical, as the pandemic propelled event cancellations across the globe.

To move forward and still meet key goals, Dell Technologies needed a strong Plan B. The team aspired to develop a digital destination to connect with, engage, and learn about customers in an environment that was both interactive and highly trackable.

The challenge was to create a human-centric, unique experience on a self-directed digital platform that encouraged customers and prospects to engage with Dell Technologies experts and learn about its services and solutions. The team aimed to build a custom virtual experience and transform how the brand continually connects with its B2B customers.

This immersive virtual headquarters (vHQ) experience set out to achieve the following goals:

• Engage: Live webinars and lunch & learn programs aligned to their account-based marketing (ABM) plan, sales plays, and educational tracks to address customer challenges and solutions.
• Meet: Personalized 1:1 follow-up virtual meetings with executive leadership to address specific customer needs.
• Learn: Realistic sales funnel forecast prioritized based on customer and prospect feedback.

Solution

Transforming customer connections

Intended to replace all events originally scheduled in 2020 and 2021, this initiative was planned to have legs — the same sentiment applied to sales goals. Instead of driving short-term sales figures, the long-range planned environment would engage and help customers reach their digital transformation goals now and in the future.

To create a tailored activation, our digital interactive team worked closely with the Dell Technologies team from ideation to execution. For every objective, we applied design and storytelling expertise to build the fully custom vHQ experience. Each element was built with purpose and intention, from the arrangement of content hubs to the overall user experience. Upon entering the site, which was modeled after Dell Technologies campuses, users are greeted by virtual hosts who provide guidance and a “fly-thru” to virtually tour the “facility” and different engagement spaces.

After completing a brief form on interest areas and future needs, users are matched to one of five customized experiences, then guided through their designated paths. Each path has different content and engagement opportunities, so the experience feels tailored to the specific user.

The vHQ features the user lead form, guest auditorium, various interactive content hubs (including videos that can be filtered by content and track), and a 360-degree view of a Dell Technologies warehouse. The brand had already created an abundance of curated content, so this activation allowed Dell Technologies to showcase and house that information in one interactive, trackable platform.

Result

Virtual reality, valuable results

The Dell Technologies Services Collaboration vHQ provides rich data to see engagement across all content and user-specific metrics, and it more than met its goals.

Designed as an evergreen solution, the virtual environment allowed Dell Technologies to continuously gather opportunities. Details from the attendee questionnaire and content engagement data helped provide quality leads for sales teams and show high ROI for sponsors, all while giving users an engaging, easy-to-navigate experience.

The customized, eye-catching site created exactly the immersive experience the brand envisioned to achieve key objectives. The branded environment encouraged and inspired customers to engage, meet, and learn:

• Engage: Customer traffic has grown over 500% since launch worldwide, sales-ready leads grew 295%, and 70% of the Dell Technologies Services Sales teams use the platform as a conversation starter with their customers.
• Learn: 68% of the customers visiting the platform took one of the two tours offered.
• Meet: Roundtable attendance has grown 44%, and 62% of the customers peruse the platform after their session is finished.

The platform not only achieved short-term goals, but also inspired new ideas and long-term initiatives to engage customers and drive revenue. Taking an entirely new approach helped the Dell Technologies team reach their digital transformation goals and turn an unforeseen obstacle into an incredible opportunity.