ESAB
Spark22.
Challenge
For as long as ESAB has been attending FABTECH, North America’s largest fabricating tradeshow, it’s been known for its innovative presence. ESAB was the first to play music at its booth and pushed the boundaries with fully enclosed displays, beer gardens, metal artists, and so much more.
But if you’ve been to a tradeshow, you know you don’t get much time with those who attend. So in 2022, ESAB pulled perhaps the boldest move to date and didn’t attend FABTECH at all. Instead, the company created its own exclusive event, just down the street, where everyone could share dinner and stories instead of business cards. And it was our job to help make it happen.
Action
So we got to work – starting with a name as epic as the event. “Spark22” was not only a nod to the welding industry, but it represented ESAB’s goal of sparking more meaningful connections, as well as innovation. Our logo design reflected the innovation ESAB was announcing this year and all the directions it would send the industry in. We mailed VIP invitations that doubled as swag and raised excitement and intrigue. We designed Spark22 branding (from elevator buttons to balcony wraps), produced sizzle videos, and even built an immersive presentation that told the unique stories of 16 revolutionary products for the very first time. Oh, and we may have had a helicopter land at the venue and take people over the city of Atlanta.
But what about everyone else? With ESAB being a global leader in fabrication, we knew it was impossible to get all of its users in the same room. So after Spark22, we launched SparkWeek – five consecutive days on YouTube Live that unveiled ESAB’s new products to the public for the first time. We wrote scripts explaining the new products’ specs and points of differentiation, built a metal showroom set, flew in dozens of product managers from around the world, and filmed them alongside the new tools and machines. In just over a week, we had five epic episodes ranging from 20 to 40 minutes and a full roster of ESAB influencers on deck to amplify the excitement. People from all corners of the globe tuned in to YouTube Live for days, and, before we knew it, messages like “Guten Tag from Germany!,” “ESAB is epic!!!,” and “When will this be available in Sweden?” were filling the chat.
Capabilities
Results
Throughout these two unique Spark events, we created more than 215 social posts – sharing 30+ pieces of content per day during SparkWeek alone. These posts generated 317,328 engagements across ESAB’s social platforms. And those five epic videos? They scored thousands of video views on YouTube Live. Beyond that, we created two landing pages, countless event branding materials, and product giveaways worth hundreds that motivated thousands to tune in. But most importantly, we helped create the meaningful connections ESAB was looking to spark with its users and sales reps, and plans are already in the works to continue these two events for years to come. It’s safe to say ESAB stole the show again. By creating its own.