ADCETERA | HPE Discover Munich

Projecting the future

In mid-2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced they would transform their business by offering their entire portfolio of hardware, software, and consulting as-a-service by 2022. They’d pioneered this model through the HPE GreenLake IT-as-a-service offering. And by late 2019, they were ready to announce the launch of HPE GreenLake Central: a management console for customers to manage as-a-service hybrid IT infrastructures.

The challenge

HPE generally announces major initiatives and advances at branded experiences like the annual HPE Discover flagship event and the worldwide HPE Discover More regional events. HPE CEO and President Antonio Neri decided to announce HPE GreenLake Central in his keynote address at HPE Discover More Munich in December 2019. He asked that the presentation be as transformative as the new product itself.

Objective

Adcetera has been an event partner to HPE since their founding. For this announcement, they needed something that went far beyond the ordinary—and they knew we could deliver.

Sketch of projection mapping areas and a still frame of branded graphic animation

Execution

Neri’s keynote had to be more than just a speech. For the HPE GreenLake Central announcement, we would need to make a transformative new product understandable to an audience of business leaders, analysts, and journalists—and anchor that new understanding in an unforgettable experience.

HPE CEO & President Antonio Neri stands on the presentation stage

I didn’t need an agency; I needed a strategic partner. The strong relationships and trust we’ve built over the past few years proved to be the necessary ingredients for success. You know our strategy. You know our culture. You know our voice. And most importantly, you know our incredibly high standards.

Jack Richard, DIRECTOR OF EXPERIENCE DESIGN, HPE GLOBAL BRAND

The metaphor

An as-a-service model like HPE GreenLake frees enterprises from the heaviest lifting of IT management. When IT returns to its proper place—a means to an end—the business can instead turn its energy and focus to delivering outcomes. For this announcement, we anchored on the metaphor of a Formula One team: an enterprise with major IT needs that’s entirely focused on a singular non-IT outcome: victory on the track.

3D animated graphics of a Formula 1 race car

The experience

For the transition to the HPE GreenLake Central announcement portion of the keynote, we lowered the lights and took over the room. The audience was transfixed as three-dimensional audio filled the space and digital projection-mapped video of Formula One racecars were projected onto the walls and ceiling of the auditorium. As the lights came up, Neri used the F1 metaphor to establish the power of a true focus on outcomes.

As the announcement continued, additional projection-mapped video segments ran on the walls and ceiling. And when Neri’s presentation turned to specific features of the new software tool, we used simulated holographic projection of animated interface screens to put him inside the experience without ever leaving the stage.