Up Next in Commerce by Salesforce – An Interactive Online Park for Businesses to Learn About What’s Next

Every day, online sellers of any industry must ask, “What’s next in commerce?” Even traditionally, in-person businesses are moving their physical stores to digital. The future is here. And e-commerce professionals live in it.

This Salesforce Commerce Cloud awareness campaign exists to help businesses stay a step ahead. Ahead of expectations, of the competition, and of whatever comes next.

At Salesforce, events are a significant part of their marketing strategy. However, due to the pandemic, these events have gone digital. The Salesforce team wanted to encapsulate that magic and bring a spark of joy right to users’ homes or offices by creating a direct mail kit that appeals to the senses and emulates their event and brand feel, including an online and virtual reality experience.

The final result is an exciting and immersive experience that can be explored online via a desktop or laptop computer, a mobile phone, as well as through VR goggles.

This initiative repositioned Salesforce as a thought leader in e-commerce. Every phase of the campaign journey contains tactical, action-oriented content. You don’t have to be a customer to get value from these materials. Notable among its activations:

A direct mail kit including a VR headset, gifts, customer stories, and product information
An original VR experience (created by Groove Jones): an immersive digital “nature park” of multiple environments, original films, a self-assessment quiz, and customer interviews
A guided digital experience on salesforce.com with tips, trends, and resources
An “Up Next” Podcast series (reaching #1 in Business and Marketing on Apple Podcasts) created in partnership with mission.org

Welcome Center

Visitors to the site enter the Up Next Evergreens National Park and are greeted by Salesforce’s corporate mascot Astro, who will help guide the user through the entire experience.

The Welcome Center is the hub of the park, with pathways to other areas to explore.

The Welcome Center is filled with wooden carvings of well-known Salesforce characters like Codey the Bear, Cloudy the Goat, Blaze the Wolf, and Earnie Badger.

Here they are introduced to the experience by Anna Rosenman, VP of Marketing, Commerce Cloud. She sets the stage and lets the user know what to expect to discover within the park.

Conversation Canopy

One of the stops the user can take is at the Conversation Canopy, where they get the chance to step into Einstein’s treehouse and join a three-minute Thought Leadership Conversation.

Users step into the elevator located at the tree’s base and then exit high above the treetops where they can look out onto the park.

Once they step into the treehouse, they can watch customer success stories.

Beyond watching the videos, users can discover hidden interactions and fun artifacts hidden throughout the beehive-inspired location.

Solution Tree

Upon heading down the path to the Solution Tree, users get the chance to take part in an interactive game where players make selections to narrow down their needs by industry, pain point, and goals. Animated elements make this vibrant and whimsical.

The experience ends with a “Next Steps” list of recommended reading, watching, and listening. Curated lists will be emailed to prospects showing benefits of connected commerce via Customer 360, and drive to assets and demos.

Trailblazer Fields

When users visit the Trailblazer Fields, they can listen to Podcasts of Salesforce customer success stories. They activate each story by opening a firefly jar on the log in front of them.

Once opened, the glowing fireflies fill the sky above and put on a fun light show, highlighting the key theme of each customer’s story.

After listening to all 4 of the Podcasts, the user unlocks the Ranger Achievement.

The audio clips are part of the customer interviews originally conducted for the “Up Next” podcast and feature representatives from Sonos, Asics, Kellogg’s, and Chamber Gasket.

Gamified Rewards – Unlockable Achievements

Just like at a traditional conference or event, Salesforce has given away fun and collectible patches and stickers to attendees. For the site, we created a digital version of this. Visitors can unlock and earn Achievements by visiting areas within the park and taking part in the activates at each location.

These achievements are then displayed on the park map.

Visitors activate the evening light show grand finale by earning all 4 achievements.

Concept Art

Below are some of the conceptual art that was created to build the digital park. Groove Jones worked with Salesforce creative team to make sure the site was on brand and continued the national park themes that have made Salesforce stand out in the conference industry.

Concept Art – Camp Map

One of the first things we designed was the map for the camp. This not only served as a visual guide to the park for visitors, but it helped us organize and layout the structure of the site and environments.

Signage and maps throughout the environment were inspired by U.S. National Forest designs and could be found throughout the experience.

Concept Art – Welcome Center

We created wooden totem poles of various Salesforce mascots and characters they have used. Other fun touches were the projection screen that drops down and the imperfect wooden bleachers and projection stand. We imagined ourselves at camp, around a fire, beneath the trees, and what it would be like to watch a movie.

Conversation Canopy – Concept Art

The Conversation Canopy scene had multiple layers that needed to be designed. At the base of the tree is an elevator that takes you up into Einstein’s Treehouse. We came up with numerous methods to make your way into the treetops. Once inside, you walk into a fantastic structure with an oversized bookcase, a giant clock, and interesting artifacts covering the desk. On the wall, you can find photos of Einstein with Astro and Cloudy the Goat, along with a Harvard Crest and certificate.

Trailblazer Fields – Concept Art

In the evening, you can watch a fun lighting bug show as the podcasts play. The Trailblazer field has some fun camping gear and accessories you can find.

Solution Tree – Concept Art

The Solution Tree has a steampunk vibe. Below is an early mockup of the space.

Direct Mail Piece – With VR Headset

The Salesforce team created a series of direct mail pieces that were shipped to customers. Inside of each kit had various camp premiums and information about the site and program.

A set of VR cardboard goggles was included, so users can see the experience on their mobile phone in true VR fashion.

Award-Winning Work

The Salesforce experience continues to win awards including a Vega Digital Award, Addy, Hermes Creative Award, and an NYX Cretive Award. Below are links to some of the accomplishments it is collected.

We were awarded the Canopus Award – the highest award and highly sought-after prize offered by IAA.

CANOPUS AWARD
Client: Salesforce
Production: Up Next in Commerce by Salesforce
Category: Website: Business to Business
Case Study: https://vegaawards.com/winner-info.php?id=3655

GOLD AWARD
Client: Salesforce
Production: Up Next in Commerce by Salesforce
Category: Electronic Media / Social Media / Interactive Media | Web Element | Portal
Link – https://www.groovejones.com/groove-jones-wins-six-2021-nyx-marcom-awards-including-2-best-in-show-grand-awards/

PLATINUM AWARD
Client: Salesforce
Production: Up Next in Commerce by Salesforce
Category: Electronic Media / Social Media / Interactive Media | Web Element | Portal
Link – https://www.groovejones.com/groove-jones-clients-win-5-awards-2021-hermes-creative-awards/

GOLD AWARD
Client: Virtual Truth
Production: Flood of Reality
Category: Web Creative | Use of Multi-Media
Link – https://www.groovejones.com/groove-jones-clients-win-5-awards-2021-hermes-creative-awards/