What these new solutions could do is allow upkeep of systems to happen from one central point, i.e. right from the comfort of the IT person’s desk. No more running from desk to desk meant IT people wouldn’t interact with their colleagues any more - making them a lonely bunch.

So we sent them a companion as a gift – a ‘real’ fish.

A logistical challenge, we tied up with aquariums across four countries. To reach out to them effectively, we hired and trained men who would deliver and set up the fish bowl, the food and the fish over 10 days on a daily basis.

With it, they placed a tent-card with daily maintenance tasks for the fish – to keep the IT department occupied for the time they would otherwise spend on upkeep. They also handed over a letter introducing the solutions to IT Managers.

Ground-breaking results – people couldn’t believe Microsoft had actually delivered a ‘live’ gift. Many wrote back to express their surprise and say thank you! The Microsoft sales department was flooded with calls. Out of 800 deliveries in the Gulf, we received sales enquiries from 137 –response rate - over 17%!