Modern IT environments are complex and difficult to manage – with glitchy legacy systems, cloud complexity and slow app deployment that can grow out of control. For IT executives, it can feel like a “monster” that takes on a life of its own, disrupting business and slowing innovation.

In May 2018, we launched the Tame I.T. campaign for HPE that stood out for its wit and empathy by featuring a giant, red hairy IT Monster who personified IT complexity and customer pain points – before the software-defined power of HPE Hybrid Cloud solutions dematerialize the IT Monster to a wisp of green smoke.

Tech conferences are the best way to reach our audience, especially June’s 10,000 attendee Discover conference. With a cacophony of trade show booths predominantly featuring product demos, we wanted to create an interactive experience to grab attention and generate sales opportunities.

The interactive element of this campaign could only be achieved using a newly launched proprietary system titled MASCOT.

Mascot is a system that combines real-time, game engine technology with motion sensors, so characters can be digitally performed through gestural controls, giving creatives the ability ‘perform’ CG character animation live.

Using a traditional pipeline, the animated content featured at the HPE Conference would have taken months to animate. It would have all been pre-rendered, finite and non-interactive. However, by using MASCOT, the team by-passed the lengthy timelines involved with traditional CGI content, reducing animation and rendering time down to 42 milliseconds per frame, so playback is instant and the creative flexible.

Using MASCOT, HPE’s Monster character was able to perform live on stage and interact with members of the crowd at the HPE conference.

Campaign focused on HPE’s software-defined and cloud portfolio to demonstrate how the combination of these offerings makes Hybrid IT simple–across both on-premises and multi-cloud environments –and thus prove and position HPE the leader in Software-Defined & Cloud. IT can grow out of control, becoming a monster that disrupts business. With HPE software-defined solutions, you can take control of, and tame, an actual IT monster in this live interactive demo.

Global Pain Point

Complexity creates friction, slowing IT down and the innovation business can deliver.

ITDMs live in a world that is complex and full of friction – both on-premises and across clouds – preventing IT from being fast and agile.

Target Audience: IT Executives: Those who have the decision-making authority and control the purse strings.

At the Mimic Wall, the IT Monster baited attendees by gesturing at them and waving them over to engage and take pictures. It responded in real-time to whatever interaction ensued, creating a highly personalized experience.

The Take Control Wall allowed attendees to grab control of the IT Monster through easy ‘sock puppet’ hand gestures, captured by motion sensors, creating a game-like experience. Each attendee had 30 seconds to “tame” the IT Monster before it exploded.

The third component consisted of a live scripted and interactive performance during Ric Lewis' keynote speech. The I.T. Monster interacted with him in real-time, causing trouble and teasing him during his speech.

Results:

357 booth scans (excluding HPE employees)

Ranked #5 for most scanned badges at Discover of 25 vignettes and all demos

432 scanned attendees in the audience for Ric’s session

Top tweet for .nxt at Discover