Every June, Scientists from all over the world gather for the most important date in the Mass Spectrometry calendar, ASMS – in essence, the MWC of its field. 

World-changing innovation is unveiled by vendors who are transforming the landscape of molecular analysis, from drug discovery to gene and cell therapy, biomarker quantification to protein therapeutics. The future of health really is unveiled at ASMS. 

But despite the progress on show, vendors often fail to reflect the same level of ambition, innovation and creativity in their brand experiences. Generic animated molecules, cheap giveaways and stock imagery of men in lab coats is rife, undermining the ambitions and abilities of lab leaders, big pharma customers, PhD students and the next generation of scientific future gazers who attend. 

As pioneers and disruptors in this category, SCIEX tasked Boulder with capturing the imagination of eventgoers, looking beyond rational product messaging and towards a more meaningful and inspirational brand experience. 

The result was a multi-dimensional journey, blending inspired storytelling, subtle product promotion, an immersive group experience, introspective lead generation and a first-of-its-kind, hyper-personalised AI generative pay-off. 

The marketing objectives of this campaign aligned closely with the inherent nature and timing of the activation. While the daytime schedule at ASMS is reserved for presentations, business meetings and keynote speeches, the experiential activity always takes place in the evening, when the vendor suites turn into hospitality environments.  

With this in mind, our key aim was to create an enjoyable experience that blended science and fun, leaving a lasting impression on delegates and maximising their time on site, generating a wealth of first-party data. The activation also needed to be relevant to SCIEX’s core brand ambition: to be innovative technology providers who bring the scientific community together to solve the world’s next big health challenges. 

We knew that achieving our objectives required us to deliver a brand experience that was truly differentiated from the other vendors at ASMS.  

If the competitors were going to lead with a rational message focused on existing products, then we needed to lead with an emotional message, powered by imagination. 

But success could only be realised if the emotion tied back to the brand. We needed an insight that would bring together scientists from all different fields, who all use Mass Spectrometers in different ways, helping them realise that SCIEX are not only pioneering technologies that improve their labs, but also developing new ways of working that unite scientists in the pursuit of progress.  

The insight: Progress in science is only achieved through collaboration. And that collaboration is made all the more powerful with diversity of scientific approach. 

At ASMS 2023, delegates would enter an immersive journey that heroed different scientific perspectives and processes, whilst helping them understand what their own mindset is – a combination of their personality, workflow and mass spectrometer instrument use – and how it contributes to wider scientific progress. We referred to these unique scientific types as ‘Mass Spec Mindsets’, categorising them into 7 distinct groups.

Putting these different mindsets in perspective and discovering which group each delegate would associate with required a three-stage brand experience, with groups of 12 moving through one after another. 

12 synchronised Meta Quest headsets were set to simultaneously play an immersive story that introduced our different Mass Spec Mindsets and helped our delegates understand the importance of each. 

In the event space, we split each group in half, having each half sit in a circle of six swivel chairs. When headsets were activated, we mirrored this layout in the opening sequence of the VR experience, allowing our audience to seamlessly gain a comfort and familiarity with their new environment, recognising as we did that many people would be new to VR experiences. 

A voiceover led narrative then introduced our different Mass Spec Mindsets, taking delegates on a curiosity-inducing journey through different virtual environments. At the end, our audience found themselves back where they began, only now they looked at each other differently – no longer simply seeing a collective of similar scientists, but as each having unique and important qualities that combine to enable true scientific progress.  

The question to follow was – What Mass Spec Mindset did they each have? 

Inspired by the VR experience and fuelled by a curiosity to know their own Mass Spec Mindset, our delegates entered a new room with 12 table-mounted tablets, each displaying an interactive quiz interface. 

After inputting important first-party data, users navigated through 5 questions that challenged their personal scientific approaches and workflows. 

On selecting ‘submit’, our delegates would seamlessly move to the next stage. 

On the tablet in front of them, and after a short ‘generating’ sequence to allow our bespoke AI prompt creator to generate their unique image in Midjourney, each user would be met on screen with their own personalised Mass Spec avatar, engineered from the specific route that they took through the quiz. 

The images were then instantly printed and slotted into our delegates’ conference lanyards, hijacking this precious event real estate and putting SCIEX at the literal heart of each guest. This created a highly visible talking point for our scientists to strike up conversation about their ideal workflows. 

The AI generated avatars and supporting Mass Spec mindset descriptions were also automatically emailed to delegates with the ability to share seamlessly on social channels.