Example Project - Augmented Event Designer
We used the briefing for the Case study SOL Independence Day, which we use in EDC Level 1 programs to enable participants to work on an actual project. The real-life case study of the actual project is published in the event Design Handbook. Curious what the Augmented Event Designer is? Download the factsheet here
Sol Cerveza — Case Input
Role & Organisational Context
You are the Director of Events at Heineken, a global brewing company with operations in 70 countries and presence across 178 markets, each served by National/Local Marketing Managers.
Trigger: Message from the Global Marketing Director
“You know we have Sol Cerveza that has been available for 10 years and is only available in 5 markets so far.
The main competitor, Corona Cerveza, has global recognition and leads the category by far.
It seems Sol has lost its credibility in the local markets across the globe.
I even feel our very own local marketing managers don’t believe in this brand and prefer spending their time and budgets on other products.
In short it suffers from a bad reputation.”
What he observes internally
- Scepticism: Senior local and regional marketers are sceptical about Sol’s potential and claim the brand lacks distinctiveness in market.
- Not worth working for: Marketers argue making Sol a success would take too much time, take too long to show results, and they have no budget to support it.
- Brand meaning isn’t landing: Although brand values are defined in a brand key (Brand-in-the-Bottle Model), these words have no meaning or value for the people who must market or sell the brand—so few want to work for this “orphan brand.”
The Ask
- “I want to give this brand one very last chance.”
- “Do you think it’s possible to organise an event for this orphan brand that can dramatically improve the reputation and sales across our markets?”
What You Discover After Digging
- Belief conversion: Shift marketers from believing Sol is not distinctive enough and cannot be successful in their market.
- Rebel spirit revival: The event should revive Sol’s rebel spirit and connect this identity to the marketers.
- Scepticism → action: Convert scepticism into taking a chance, being rebellious, and giving Sol a dramatic, revolutionary makeover (in how it is activated and championed locally).
- Budget constraint: Find a way to finance activities within a maximum spend of €150,000 for the internal branding event.
- Entrepreneurial activation: Get Local Marketing Managers to take entrepreneurial risk and become self-driven to launch the brand.
- No dogmas: Since it is the last chance, traditional thinking is not a constraint. Anything can be disputed to achieve this opportunity (within safe and compliant boundaries).
Immediate Next Step
The Global Marketing Director needs to step out for 15 minutes and will return to answer three questions you may have about this case.
Augmented Event Designer at work - Event Owner - Mentor - System
2 Objective Framing SOL Independence Day
Stage 2 — Context & Objective Framing (Printable) Stage 2...
4 Stakeholder Alignment SOL Independence Day
Stage 4 — Stakeholder Alignment (Printable) Stage 4 — Stakeholder...
6 Empathy Event Canvas Event Delta SOL Independence Day
Stage 6 — Empathy Maps + Event Canvas + Delta...
8 System Prototypes SOL Independence Day
Stage 8 — System Prototypes (Printable) Stage 8 — System...
9 Prototype Critique SOL Independence Day
Stage 9 — Prototype Critique (Printable) Stage 9 — Prototype...
10 Mentor Touchpoint 4 SOL Independence Day
Stage 10 — Mentor Touchpoint #4 (Printable) Stage 10 —...
Case study Sol Independence Day - Designed by Humans (as comparison)
