It only took 460,000 data points to create this conference.
- Branding
- Experiential
- Naming
- Technology
- Video
A Tall Order
Brief: Launch a new conference. Make sure it is relevant for people in EV batteries, AI, bioengineering, robotics, and clean tech. Ensure that people remember it. Create a meaningful experience for attendees to get it renewed. Our clients, NGen, a funder and accelerator for tech and advanced manufacturing, wanted it to be Canadian. But not “too Canadian.” It had to be something that could garner attention from people in government in industry. Above all, it had to be relevant and talk-worthy.
After a thorough naming process, we arrived at “N3: What’s new, now, and next in advanced manufacturing.” N3 is ownable and a unifier of all things scientific and techy. Which this definitely was. That short name also afforded a flexibility with a design system.
Launch film
“The Future is History”, a video we produced, ties the leading edge of Canadian ingenuity with a long line of influential Canadian innovations. The video set the tone of momentum for the show.
Branding
The key to the entire N3 brand system is a dynamic symbol: a 3D ‘N’. This ‘N’ grows and contracts depending on the medium and application. This elastic symbol also serves as a strong, unifying brand element that frames photos, highlights text, flexes hard in a visual hierarchy, or stands back as a subtle element. The symbol grounded the brand on hundreds of unique touchpoints including stage elements and physical signs; a microsite and social media posts; merchandise, lanyards, and name tags; digital screens with animated packs of statistics; trade show booth design and entry gates; tent cards, posters, and much more.
“AndSo transformed our vision for an elevated industry summit into reality. From branding and production to the guest experience, AndSo was a truly collaborative partner. With nothing but positive feedback from guests and exhibitors, we’re looking forward to growing N3 in 2025.”
Robbie MacLeod, Director, Strategic Communications, NGen
Experiential AI installation
Finally, we had to create an experience that made the very smart attendees—engineers and scientists—stop in their tracks with wonder. Working with laser and AI artists, we created “Catalyst”. It’s a one-of-a-kind installation that’s merges art and science with generative AI, laser controllers, projection mapping, spatial audio with original ambient music, 460,000 data points, and enough smoke machine usage to trigger the fire alarm (but only once).
Results
We had one metric to hit: Help our clients make this a valuable experience so it could happen again. The NGen board of directors were in attendance. The conference was renewed before the day was over.
