As part of the HES-SO Bachelor’s in Service Design, we had the opportunity to run a Driven workshop with students at the Technopole Swiss Digital Center in Sierre.
In November 2019, we were invited to the Technopole Swiss Digital Center in Sierre to present our training course, run as a workshop and Driven team building, to HES-SO (University of Western Switzerland). This workshop draws on motor racing to get a key message across: digital marketing is a dynamic activity that you steer with a strategy and tactics, and that has to be made to perform. Depending on participants’ interests and level, we put together a programme that sets the strategic elements of racing-car driving side by side with those of steering a digital marketing project, drawing the link between the two. The workshop usually includes a theoretical part (concepts, best practices) and a practical part (tool demonstrations, case studies, exercises, driving racing cars: karting, GT, Formula Renault on an F1 circuit, professional simulator). This fun, educational format proved fascinating for the students, even though we had to drop the practical driving part: we had two hours to cover 4 fundamental areas and engage the students interactively. The fascination was mutual: highly engaged students showed real maturity, both in their digital skills and strategically, in service design and management. The sporting analogy inspired the group to define high-performing digital marketing strategies and tactics during a short but dynamic session.
A dynamic programme
In a limited time, we created a momentum that we hope will last. Over two hours, the group drew the link between motorsport and digital marketing on the following 4 points:
- Direction
- Vision
- Optimisation
- Analysis
By combining theoretical concepts with exercises and case studies, participant interaction was at its peak. Talking is good, doing is better: there’s nothing like analysing real cases to bring theory to life. A real pleasure for us: the students threw themselves into it, with very insightful analyses and suggestions.
Passing on knowledge, but also creating
As well as presenting an approach, key principles and marketing tools, we received a huge amount during the workshop. During the group exercises, the students shared their views and analyses on various cases: we were impressed by the quality and originality of the ideas and suggestions they raised. In Driven, nothing is set in stone: dynamism and responsiveness must prevail in digital marketing, just as in sport. The students dared, presented, discussed, and turned roles and preconceived ideas upside down to suggest new perspectives. We left with new ideas and the feeling that the bar is rising: the new generations are digitally mature and ready to adopt and create new approaches.
We would like to thank HES-SO for taking part in the Driven workshop, as well as Professor Emmanuel Fragnière, head of the innovation and service creation programmes, and all the students for their welcome and participation.
The Driven workshop: fun or educational? Team building or training?
Approaching digital marketing through the lens of motor racing came naturally to us: Nicolas is a world champion racing driver and 7-time Swiss champion, as well as a digital marketing trainer and consultant. Marco is a service design consultant who facilitates sessions to optimise marketing and digital solutions. Some people tell us they are interested in the motor racing side of the Driven workshop, others in the digital marketing training: the positive feedback from participants tells us that combining the two is the right way to lay the foundations, inspire and motivate reflection and action. Driven is a half-day “team-building” event that is fun but also educational, with a coaching programme in racing driving and in digital marketing that adapts to participants’ level and interests. Since late 2019, we have had a confirmed partnership with one of Switzerland’s most famous racing drivers, Christophe Hurni: he started winning in various categories in the 1980s and hasn’t stopped since (Ferrari Challenge world champion in 2018). Christophe does us the immense honour of taking part in the Driven conferences, welcoming participants with us in his workshop, a museum of cars and trophies that is ideal for a “company retreat”.
Driven conference at Christophe Hurni’s workshopRecently, a multinational booked a Driven workshop for its sales teams in Geneva and Zurich, with the digital marketing part focused on social media. The company wants to help its salespeople accelerate their sales by turning them into brand ambassadors on social networks: sharing corporate communications, becoming an “opinion leader”, and developing their own identity and individual project to increase contacts, meetings and sales with their community of prospects and clients. The client’s original idea for the workshop was to motivate and reward its salespeople with a fun team-building event: the fact that, on top of having fun, participants could gain skills useful to both themselves and the company won them over.
