Experience Centers: The new Executive Briefing Center
The role of a Briefing Center has evolved over the years, and with it the expectation of what they should look like and how they perform. In the past, Briefing Centers only needed to handle the technology and tools used at the time – typically PowerPoint presentations, and generic brand videos that tell a story about the company and what it does.
Today, the modern Executive Briefing Center has become a focal point for the customer experience. They have been reborn as Customer Experience Centers.
This shift is subtle, and may seem like more of a ‘name change’ than a substantial revision of the purpose and function of a Briefing Center.
However, as business becomes more data-led, it has started to change how it targets customers. In a modern era where data about customer preferences is easier to collect and use, companies are leveraging their insights to become more accurate in how they respond to the needs of the customer. With this heightened perception, businesses are finally able to become truly customer centric.
As a result, the subtle shift of Briefing Centers towards a customer-focused brand experience demonstrates a greater ground-shift in strategy. With a better ability to sense and respond to customer needs, the Briefing Center has changed from a venue for sales presentations into a space where collaboration and co-creation of solutions can become a reality. Companies that are harnessing this change are making stronger connections to their customers, and forming better partnerships as a result.
The Requirements of a Customer Experience Center
As the strategic goal of a modern Executive Briefing Center has changed, so must the technology and design. Becoming a Customer Experience Center isn’t just a matter of plugging-in some new equipment; it requires a culture shift too, so that the Sales and Marketing teams are able to use this tool effectively.
The key feature of a Customer Experience Center is adaptability. With the ability to change and customize the briefing experience for each customer, companies can fulfill the need for collaboration and interactivity. To do this, it needs capable software that can manage all the media types that might be used, and to show them with any screen at any time. Without this flexibility, any hope of interactive brand experiences is immediately hobbled. As digital storytelling is a core part of any business communication today, the best software for this role is professional digital storytelling software.
Additionally, the hardware needs to provide the opportunity for interaction and spontaneous choices. This means equipping the Customer Experience Center with as many interactive touchpoints as possible during each step of their journey. Good options for this include interactive digital signage and sensor-driven signage, as well as large video walls and touch-capable screens in immersive experiences. With good digital storytelling software on your side, handling a setup this complex (or more complex) shouldn’t pose a problem.
Types of Experience Center
Your company’s Briefing Center or Customer Experience Center should show all the best qualities of your brand. It should also be distinctive, so that your experience stands out from the rest.
The options for doing this are quite varied, but it can be useful to get some inspiration from the best Customer Experience Centers in the corporate world.
Virtual Showroom
A Virtual Showroom can help companies to display all the possibilities, without needing to invest in physical examples for each variation. This has particular application in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and fashion/sportswear sectors, as the variations can be subtle, numerous, and comparatively low value-per-unit. However, there is also a powerful argument for using a Virtual Showroom for larger purchases such as luxury goods and automobiles.
Virtual Showrooms are not tied to a specific piece of hardware or setup. Many of the best Virtual Showrooms are fully immersive experience rooms, but this isn’t necessarily the case. The interactive aspect of this can be converted into a website experience, or used in the Metaverse with 3D content too.
Immersive Briefing Center
Immersive experiences are taking the world by storm. They have found immense popularity in the entertainment sector, but are also making a big impression in business settings in diverse industries.
Immersive experiences can be used as part of a Virtual Showroom, but they also enable any kind of immersive experience to be used. The power of immersion is that it can help customers get a grip on the most intangible subjects. They leverage interaction and participation to keep the customer totally involved and engaged. Your brand story can have the most impact with this kind of setup.
Multi-asset Experience
The best Customer Experience Centers are multi-asset experiences that include many different touchpoints at each step along the customer’s journey through the experience. This gives the customer the most opportunities to interact with the brand and explore the many solutions on offer. It can also give the customer a chance to provide information that might not come up otherwise. By seeing which solutions and products the customer is most interested in and which subjects have the most relevance to them, the company can guide messaging more accurately.
Furthermore, multi-asset experiences help to maintain engagement by warming up the audience from the very start. Finally, the Customer Experience Center can give the customer a lasting memory with a ‘brand activation’ element that involves something that they can take home with them (this can be a digital asset too).
Customer Experience on the move
There are occasions when the visit happens at the customer’s office instead, or when you encounter potential clients at a trade fair or event. With a little planning, these can also be an occasion to bring your customer experience directly to the customer.
In this case, many of the same digital assets used for the ‘fixed’ experiences (above) can be redeployed in a mobile form. Everything that’s possible with a stationary customer experience can also be done on the move. This even includes immersive experience rooms, which can be made into fully portable versions that can be set up anywhere.
Why the Digital Storytelling Software is so Important
As Briefing Centers today need to provide an experience that is customized, it’s essential that it isn’t limited by a fundamental constraint. Ultimately, this comes down to the digital storytelling software used to power the experience.
For corporate applications, it’s essential that Customer Experience Centers and Executive Briefing Centers use professional digital storytelling software like the Hyro platform. Hyro is one of the few options available for enterprise-grade digital storytelling software. It provides the total flexibility and customizability needed to precisely tailor each experience to a specific audience.
As the hardware setups are a substantial investment, it’s vital that they are not tied down to a fixed routine of media assets. With digital storytelling software like Hyro it’s possible to adapt continuously with updated content, new digital stories, and non-linear storytelling that complements the conversation with the customer. This is the best way for companies to ensure that they continue to gain the most value from their AV hardware, even when the world changes around us.
