Gain Creators
- Latest Wacom products
- Training on software
- Coffee and snacks brought into the space
- Wacom values made visible
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Creative World Hub
Turning an event space into a purpose-driven creative community.
The Wacom Experience Center was known as a room you could rent. We rebuilt its meaning — from a venue into a hub where creatives of every discipline come to connect, create and collaborate for a creative world.
Purpose
To create a purpose-driven community around the Wacom Experience Center.
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The Challenge
Wacom had built a physical home for creativity in Portland’s Pearl District — equipment, staff, programming and an open door.
The space was real. The meaning was missing.
The brand was well known by our participants, but the Center itself required far more awareness in terms of what it actually does.
How do you turn a place people rent into a place people belong to?
People found the Center mostly through referrals. Events were the second reason for finding it. Almost no one arrived because of what the Center stood for.
The challenge was not to promote a venue.
The challenge was to give the Center a reason to exist in the minds of the creative community.
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The Research
We started with the people already using the space and the people who should have been.
Who we found:
Millennials whose lives circle around careers, jobs and hobbies related to graphic arts and creativity, and who genuinely enjoy what they do. They wake up in the morning motivated and eager to get their work done.
What the data told us:
- People found the Center mostly through referrals; events were the second reason
- Participants responded strongly to team-working and innovation that makes the world better
- The perception was that the space and brand are only for graphic designers
- The location was difficult, and the Center was not visible from the street
“Everything good requires creativity to come to life.”
All findings based on data obtained in the WEC.
Strategic Insight
Based on our research, we concluded that people knew the WEC primarily as an event space to rent rather than what it stands for.
The Center is most likely to be noticed and found by what it does — more than what it says, or where it is.
A venue is booked. A cause is joined. So the work was never to advertise the room; it was to give the room a purpose people would travel for.
Communities do not form around spaces. They form around shared work.
The Concept
Wacom Experience Center — more than an experience. A story of creative greatness.
We introduced the Creative World Hub [CWH]: a place, physical and virtual, where creatives of all types come and collectively work on socially-compelling causes using Wacom products and The Experience Center — to improve and change our world through creativity.
The ideation that got us there:
- Change the Center so it can be more team-friendly
- Talk to all types of creative people
- Add signs around the Center so people notice not just Wacom, but the Experience Center too
- Add more welcoming furniture so people feel comfortable and invited
- Partner with brands that have foot traffic and share WEC values
- Make it known that the Center is for everyone — not just Wacom workers or teams
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Purpose Value
To create a space for people to come and experience, network and connect for a creative world.
The Experience Center provides a physical and virtual space for people to come and unite their creative efforts for a common cause.
The product stops being a tablet. The product becomes belonging.
Value Proposition
Mapped against what the creative community actually needs from the space.
Gains
- Feeling comfortable where others share your beliefs
- A tranquil space to think
- Different tools to work with
- Help and interaction with the WEC team
- Networking
Pain Relievers
- Help with equipment compatibility
- A space designed to collaborate
- A layout that promotes teamwork
Pains
- A hard-to-find location
- Individual-only spaces
- Not team friendly
Scope of Work
MKTBox led the engagement across research, strategy, content and space.
Research
- Audience identification
- On-site participant data
- Perception analysis
- Insight prioritization
Strategy
- Purpose and positioning
- Value proposition canvas
- Creative World Hub concept
- Action plan
Content & Creative
- Creative direction
- Messaging and storytelling
- Social carousel development
- Three-month content calendar
Community & Space
- Community engagement strategy
- Brand alliance selection
- Furniture and layout direction
- Signage and wayfinding
Objectives
Two main objectives drove every decision:
- To maintain and grow the creative community
- To build social media awareness of the WEC
Everything else was in service of those two.
Outcome
The Center was repositioned from rentable venue to Creative World Hub — with a cause to join, a platform to join it on, and a space redesigned to hold it.
Content moved from product-focused to brand-focused. The audience widened from graphic designers to creatives of every discipline.
A space becomes a community the moment it gives people something to build together.
For a creative world, actions are needed.
Involve people in the creative process of changing the world. You are the change. Come and create.
At MKTBox, we use design thinking through the Lombard Method® to turn spaces into purpose, purpose into community, and community into brand equity.
The Actions
Introducing CWH — how the Creative World Hub actually runs.
The Calling
A casting call for people with creative-driven careers — an open invitation rather than an advertisement.
The Cause
A real challenge that needs a creative solution, chosen so the work matters beyond the brand.
The Creative Process
The WEC hosts a brainstorming session with the people who respond to the call, inside the space itself.
The Solution
The group develops the final idea or piece over a designated period of time, in public view.
Content Strategy
Based on our research and the Wacom brand guidelines, we set one rule for creative direction:
All content creation is brand-focused rather than product-focused.
- Everything created highlights brand guidelines — connectivity between all types of creators, and creativity for a creative world
- The WEC is shown as a place to come and create, for creatives of all types to connect and experience together — not as an event space
- Creative direction steers away from products as the main focus
We wanted to expand and redefine perception by highlighting the values and brand guidelines that give Wacom a soul.
Wacom’s soul, for a creative world.
Social Action
To grow an authentic community in the digital world, we put the social back into social media.
Community Engagement
- Targeted hashtags: #Portland #PortlandOregon #wacomexperience #foracreativeworld #wacom #digitalart #portlandcreatives
- 500 comments per day to engage current followers and the community we want to attract
- Prompt the community to engage with our brand values and guidelines
Cadence
- 30 posts per month — daily posting
- 15 posts highlighting CWH and brand guidelines
- 15 posts highlighting events, workshops and happenings
- Detailed calendar built January through March
Platform
- WEC Instagram account as the home of the hub
- DM groups used as the team-work space to share ideas and progress
- Wacom accounts posting every step of the creative process
Storytelling
- Casting call for people with creative-driven careers
- Progress posts on the project as it develops
- Faces of the people making it — not just staff
- Recap content after every event
First post — the calling
“We are assembling a team of creative people from all careers, backgrounds, genders and professions. We need you.”
Come and create.
Brands That Share Our Beliefs
We needed alliances with local brands around the Center so the community would feel we had their backs.
We selected brands Portlanders already like and trust, within walking distance of the Center — turning the surrounding blocks into an extension of the experience and a way to find it.
The neighborhood becomes the signage.
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The Challenges
Three things were happening at the Center: a lack of team working space, weak branding around the building, and a difficult location.
Lack of Team Working Space
The layout was focused on individual designers. We re-thought furniture distribution to open the space for entire teams to come and create together.
Branding Around the Center
The space needed tools and cues that support the creative process and make Wacom's values visible the moment you walk in.
Location and Communication
A challenging location called for videos, posts and testimonials of people taking us to the Center — showing the way rather than describing it.
Limited Users
People believed the space was only for graphic designers. We opened it to advertisers, communicators, strategists, social media managers and entrepreneurs — the whole creative team.
Team Friendly Spaces
Signage
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