Modern buyers expect more from B2B buying experiences. They crave immersive, engaging, and relatable moments that resonate emotionally while providing value. Traditional webinars no longer suffice in a world where audience attention is fleeting.
Enter Storylane’s Demo Dundies, a virtual awards show inspired by The Office. This event shattered B2B event norms and delivered:
- 50% increase in brand searches
- 40% lift in social advocacy
- $30,000+ influenced sales deals
Under the leadership of Akshaya Chandramouli, Head of Brand at Storylane, the Demo Dundies became a masterclass in turning creativity into measurable success while naturally positioning themselves as the go-to interactive demo solution. In this playbook, we’ll break down their strategy and actionable tips so you can replicate their results.
The Vision & Foundation Behind The Demo Dundies
Every successful marketing campaign begins with a strong “why.” For Storylane, the goal was twofold:
- Build advocacy by creating a platform to celebrate their community’s work
- Spark social chatter to amplify their reach and solidify their position in the SaaS space
The solution came in the form of the Demo Dundies—a virtual awards show that aligned perfectly with their product and audience. They ensured it would generate buzz and engagement by putting their community in the spotlight and making the event fun and relatable.
To do this, nailing the virtual experience was essential.
Akshaya and her team embedded the entire hosted experience on their website with Sequel.io to fully immerse their audience into the Demo Dundies and Storylane’s brand. This process took less than 5 minutes to embed the webinar experience and guaranteed their audience could navigate to other content on their website as seamlessly as possible. The goal was to opt for an audience-centric design that prioritized engagement and streamlined the audience journey.
After solidifying their vision and technical foundation for the event, Akshaya broke down their strategy into three interconnected pillars that guided the event’s development and execution.
- Understanding their Audience: The team recognized that SaaS professionals value creativity and community. The Demo Dundies tapped into this by celebrating their audience’s work in a fun and relatable format. By anchoring the event to The Office, Storylane leveraged nostalgia to create an emotional connection directly on their website.
- Creative Execution:
The Demo Dundies positioned themselves as the first awards show dedicated to interactive demos, instantly differentiating the event from the stale webinar standards in the market. By treating the event as a fully-fledged production rather than a presentation, they infused every moment with excitement, from live performances to surprise awards. With Sequel's seamless media upload functionality, they could even host the event live while triggering prerecorded content during key parts of the show to make sure everything went off without a hitch.
- Impact-Driven Planning:
The goals to drive brand search, social advocacy, and pipeline were defined from the get-go. To ensure they were maximizing post-event ROI, they repurposed event content for sales enablement, ensuring the impact extended far beyond the live experience.
Creating a First-of-Its-Kind Experience
To stand out in a crowded B2B space, the Demo Dundies tapped into the cultural zeitgeist by drawing inspiration from The Office. This nostalgic and humorous theme resonated deeply with their target audience.
“The Office has a cult-like following,” Akshaya explained. “We knew it would attract SaaS professionals and help us create an event that people genuinely wanted to attend.”
The results were immediate. Fans of The Office in the SaaS world flocked to the event, creating organic chatter and building excitement.
Storylane reimagined the awards show format with elements designed to surprise and delight:
- Tangible Rewards: Winners received physical trophies, and a grand prize winner won an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris, boosting nominations by 5x.
- Interactive Content: Trivia, surprise awards, and a spin-the-wheel finale kept attendees engaged and entertained.
- Relatability: Hosts dressed as Dwight, Jim, and Prison Mike, blending humor with professionalism.
“We didn’t want to create something that just worked,” Akshaya said. “We wanted to create something people would love.”
Driving Advocacy Through Shareable Content
A key ingredient in the Demo Dundies’ success was its highly shareable visuals and assets. Inspired by The Office, these materials were distributed to nominees, panelists, and partners, encouraging widespread sharing across social media and triggering a 40% lift in social advocacy.
This strategy amplified the event’s reach, with attendees and participants acting as advocates for the Storylane brand.
“People loved the visuals because they were fun, relatable, and easy to share,” Akshaya noted.
However, you can create beautiful assets but if your distribution strategy isn’t on lock, no one will see them. Storylane’s multi-channel approach on the other hand ensured maximum visibility by incorporating:
- Social media campaign drips (organic and paid) to generate pre-event buzz with teaser visuals, countdowns, behind-the-scenes content, and announcements for key milestones, like finalist announcements.
- Personalized outreach to nominees, panelists, and customers to encourage engagement.
- Promotion in Slack communities, email newsletters, and even sales calls to keep the momentum alive.
Their distribution strategy wasn’t an afterthought—it was a core part of the planning process to guarantee a steady stream of attention.
Extending ROI Through Content Repurposing
The Demo Dundies’ impact didn’t end when the event wrapped. Storylane turned the experience into a long-term asset by using the recording to reactivate cold leads, helping their sales team close enterprise deals.
They even repurposed highlights into blog posts, social snippets, and case studies to keep the momentum going. This strategy not only extended the event’s lifespan but also amplified its ROI.
Replicating Storylane’s Playbook
Storylane’s Demo Dundies didn’t just make waves in the SaaS community but delivered measurable, meaningful results for the company, including:
- 50% increase in brand searches
- 40% lift in social advocacy
- $30,000+ influenced in sales deals
By blending creativity, meticulous planning, and community celebration, Storylane transformed a single virtual event into a brand-defining moment directly on their website. And it all boils down to 8 key steps that you can follow to replicate their success:
- Define your event’s purpose and align it with your audience’s aspirations
- Leverage pop culture or nostalgia to create an engaging, shareable theme
- Design an event experience that surprises and delights your audience on your website
- Treat your event like a T.V. show, with careful planning and rehearsal
- Use visuals and content to drive advocacy and organic sharing
- Build a distribution strategy that amplifies your reach
- Keep the hype alive with teasers and updates
- Repurpose event content to extend its value
By incorporating these elements into your own virtual event playbook, you can create an experience that doesn’t just exist but attracts the right audience and engages them across the customer journey.
Want to see how Storylane increased brand traffic by 50% with an embedded event experience on their website? Find time with us to learn how Sequel.io can help you create unforgettable virtual event experiences.
