CONTEXT
In December of 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other leading industry experts connected with attendees at the Azure Shape Your Future digital event to make the case for exploring and prioritizing the role of data and analytics in an ever-evolving business landscape. The intention behind this buzzworthy event was to share insights, answer questions, and take a deep dive into new Azure services and product capabilities. Registration numbers were unprecedented, surpassing the original goal of 20,000 and reaching 67,000 registered attendees in less than three weeks, and Touch was proud to partner with Microsoft for a second time to provide creative and production services related to envisioning, designing, and producing this exciting Azure event. 

OUR APPROACH
From distance learning to telemedicine, organizations in every industry are relying like never before on technology and data to empower, engage, optimize, and transform people, operations, and products. So, with only four weeks to prepare, and applying a laser-like focus, our team concentrated on crucial deliverables like production strategy and development, fine-tuning schedules, hosting agenda review sessions, building out the run of show, creating best practice guidelines, coaching speakers, and preparing remote recording kits. Among the talent leveraged for the show were heavy hitters like Microsoft’s CEO, CFO, and CVP of Azure, Satya Nadella, Amy Hood, and Julia White. There were also segments featuring executives from other industries sharing their own success stories with the new Azure products Purview and Synapse. Among them, influencers like Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Emma Walmsley, and Grab Co-founder Tan Hooi Ling.  

Once production development was sorted, we jumped into the creative process. Taking existing brand elements and visual language from the Azure team, we developed the storyboard, the beautiful show open, and a motion graphics package with animated bugs, bumpers, split screens, and lower thirds that would run throughout the entire length of the 75-minute-long, prerecorded program. Ultimately, content was delivered in the Pacific time zone from Microsoft Studios, complete with live captioning and a Q&A session that was so engaging, it generated almost 600 audience questions.  

Since the clients' key objective was to increase awareness of the general availability of these game-changing products, the event was an astounding success, with our partners going so far as to say we were “setting the bar” for digital events going forward!