A team responsible for scaling internal innovation inside a global pharmaceutical company had a real mandate and no shared story. Its members described the work differently to each other and differently again to the stakeholders whose support it depended on — which for a team whose entire function is influence is a structural problem, not a communications one.

They needed to align internally on their vision, and then take a narrative to global stakeholders and their wider influencing community.

Solution

We designed an interactive two-day session and built all the materials for it, providing the research and end-to-end facilitation. The session was structured to produce a narrative rather than a discussion about one — the difference being that people leave with words they have agreed rather than a sense that they broadly concur.

We documented and visualized the resulting narrative, then designed and delivered a second event for the team’s global stakeholders: partly to share the narrative, and partly to gather feedback on it while it could still change.

Impact

The team has continued to grow, and now has a powerful working metaphor for developing champions across the company — “Come Get Your Cape” — which came out of the session and outlived it. A metaphor people repeat unprompted is a better test of a narrative than any of the ones normally applied to it.

At a glance

• 2-day interactive narrative session
• Plus a second event for global stakeholders
• Research and end-to-end facilitation
• Narrative documented and visualized
• Feedback loop built into the process
• Produced a metaphor the team still uses

Two hundred senior leaders, three days, and an agenda dense with plenaries, breakouts and working sessions. At that scale the logistics start to consume the content: people spend the meeting working out where they should be, the pre-reads go unread because they arrived by email three weeks earlier, and the conversations that were supposed to happen between sessions do not.

The organization also wanted the meeting to be genuinely sustainable for the people in it — three days of back-to-back sessions produces diminishing returns somewhere around lunchtime on day two.

Solution

We built a personalized environment that carried the whole meeting. Each leader saw their own schedule, built from the sessions and breakouts that applied to them, so nobody had to reconcile a master agenda against their own name.

Live polls and Q&A ran through the plenaries, so a room of two hundred could answer a question in a minute rather than hearing from the four people who speak at that scale. A podcast and pre-read library sat behind the agenda, available before the meeting and still there afterwards.

Well-being sessions were self-bookable rather than scheduled — the difference between an organization saying it cares about sustainable working and one designing for it.

Impact

The meeting ran across three days as a single connected experience rather than a sequence of rooms, with a pre-read library that was actually used because it lived where the agenda did, and a record of what two hundred leaders said in the polls that outlasted the meeting itself.

At a glance

• 200 senior leaders
• 3-day event
• 1 connected environment
• Tailored schedules per leader
• Live polls and Q&A through the plenaries
• Podcast and pre-read library
• Self-bookable well-being sessions

Four associated respiratory studies were running in parallel, each with its own investigator community, its own site list and its own set of materials. The sponsor was managing them as four separate engagement problems, which meant an investigator working across two studies received two of everything and had no way of telling which version applied to which protocol.

Then a critical protocol change landed. It had to reach every investigator, in every country, in a form that could be evidenced — and it had to reach the right investigators for the right studies, without re-training people on a protocol they were not running.

Solution

We built one hub for all four studies, with tailored environments inside it. Access was resolved per investigator and per study, so a site working on two protocols saw two sets of material clearly separated rather than one merged pile — and a site working on one saw only what applied to them.

The protocol change was handled as a designed engagement rather than a document distribution: targeted training built specifically around what had changed, resources released to the affected environments, and structured comprehension checks so that “we sent it” and “they understood it” were different measurements. Community features ran alongside, so investigators could put questions to the study team and see the answers other sites had already received.

The whole thing ran on SmartLab, which meant participation, completion and comprehension were recorded as they happened rather than reconstructed afterwards.

Impact

Over 2,000 investigators across 40 countries were brought onto a single platform spanning four studies. The protocol change reached the affected investigator population with targeted training, a resource set and a comprehension record, and the sponsor had one place to answer the question the change had made urgent: who has seen this, and can we show it?

At a glance

• 2,000+ investigators engaged
• 40 countries
• 4 associated studies on one platform
• Tailored environments per study, with access resolved per investigator
• Critical protocol change delivered as targeted training
• Participation and comprehension recorded for audit

A new oncology product was launching into a crowded therapy area where medical professionals are already asked to absorb more new data than any of them can read. Awareness was the objective, but awareness measured as impressions is worthless in this context — the audience either understands the mechanism, the evidence and where the product fits, or it does not.

The team needed something people would choose to spend time on, in a category where almost nothing is.

Solution

We built an interactive hub combining gamified activities with augmented reality, designed for self-paced exploration. The gamification was not decoration: progression required actually engaging with the science, so time on the platform corresponded to knowledge rather than to browsing.

A multi-day live event ran alongside the hub, with 29 live speakers, deepening the parts of the story that benefit from a person telling it. The hub stayed open around the live event, so the sessions had a before and an after rather than existing in isolation.

Impact

653 medical professionals across 48 countries engaged with the hub and the live program. Self-paced exploration and the live event together deepened product knowledge and engagement in a launch window where the alternative was another set of emails.

At a glance

• 653 users
• 48 countries
• 29 live speakers
• Gamified activities and augmented reality
• Self-paced exploration around a multi-day live event
• Progression tied to engaging with the science

As part of a global initiative to build selected leadership competencies and technical skills — and to embed a culture of curiosity — the organization needed to equip medical associates in country medical organizations to operate as leaders rather than as the technical expert in the room.

That is a genuinely difficult shift and it is not a knowledge problem. These are people whose credibility comes from scientific depth, being asked to influence, prioritize and lead across functions where depth alone is not what moves anything.

Solution

We designed an end-to-end five-month learning journey, driven by SmartLab and built for virtual and flexible participation around clinical and business commitments.

MedEx opened with a three-day live kick-off event that engaged key-role medical associates in the organization’s own strategy development and in the program’s focus areas — so the program started with the business rather than with a competency model. It then ran as a series of virtual classroom workshops, each dedicated to one focus area, with interactive learning materials available through the SmartLab-powered program portal.

Participants formed learning teams to reflect on shared goals and collaborate on assignments, and could book one-to-one coaching with subject-matter experts. Throughout, the program was anchored to real business challenges in leadership, collaboration, communications and strategic thinking — not to case studies.

Impact

The program achieved an overall satisfaction rate of nearly 100%. More usefully, it ran as a repeatable structure: a live opening that ties the cohort to the strategy, focus-area workshops, learning teams and bookable expert coaching — which is a model the organization can run again rather than a one-off event.

At a glance

• Satisfaction rate of nearly 100%
• 5-month blended journey
• 3-day live kick-off event
• One virtual classroom per focus area
• Learning teams plus bookable 1:1 expert coaching
• Anchored in real business challenges, not case studies

A global pharmaceutical organization needed an animated signature visual to bring its hematology function to life — a versatile asset that would support promotional efforts while also working as a memorable touchpoint at international industry events.

The requirement contained a real tension. A visual distinctive enough to be recognized on a congress screen at fifty meters usually will not work as a three-second bookend on a webinar, and vice versa. It needed to be one visual system that survived both.

Solution

We took the science itself as the design brief rather than working from the brand guidelines outward.

We designed bespoke 3D models of blood cells and animated them to simulate a flowing bloodstream — accurate enough that a hematologist recognizes what they are looking at, and abstract enough to work as identity rather than as illustration. That animation was combined with patient imagery and bold animated text to carry the organization’s approach to advancing treatment in hematology.

The asset was built as a system with multiple crops and durations, so the same visual works as a motion banner, a bookend and a full-screen congress moment.

Impact

The signature visual has become a core asset in the company’s communications, appearing in formats from online motion banners and video bookends to large-scale screens at international conferences. Its continued use across years and formats is the real measure — a branded visual anchor that outlasted the campaign it was made for.

At a glance

• Bespoke 3D blood cell models
• Animated flowing bloodstream
• Patient imagery and bold animated text
• Used as motion banners and video bookends
• Plays on large screens at international conferences
• One system, multiple crops and durations

A new clinical study protocol had to be understood — not merely circulated — by investigators in 32 countries. The default option was a single large investigator meeting: a day of presentations, high attendance, and no way of knowing which sites had grasped the parts that most often go wrong.

The sponsor also had the problem every global investigator meeting has. One event cannot be scheduled at a reasonable hour for every time zone, and the sites that dial in at three in the morning are not the ones who ask the questions.

Solution

We designed the series as two connected layers rather than one event. An on-demand layer carried the study materials and the training, available before and after in whatever time zone the site was in. A live layer ran hybrid sessions where the value was genuinely live: the questions, the edge cases, the things an investigator only raises when they hear another site raise them first.

Surveys and polls ran across both layers, which is what turned the series into a measurement as well as a meeting. We could see which protocol sections generated hesitation and which sites had not engaged, and put a session in front of them specifically — rather than repeating the whole meeting for everyone.

Impact

930 investigators and study team members across 32 countries worked through 255 discrete activities across the series. Engagement and knowledge assessment were captured in both formats, so the study team finished the series with a view of which sites were aligned on the protocol and which needed another conversation — before the first patient was enrolled rather than after the first deviation.

At a glance

• 930 users engaged
• 32 countries
• 255 activities across the series
• On-demand and live layers, one environment
• Polls and surveys used for knowledge assessment, not just engagement
• Sites needing follow-up identified individually

A global oncology organization wanted to open up career paths and connect people across a function spread over 52 countries. The obvious format — a plenary broadcast with a Q&A box — reaches everyone and engages almost nobody, because the thing people actually want from an event like this is a conversation with someone senior about their own situation.

Virtual made that harder, not easier. The corridor conversation is the part that does not survive a webinar.

Solution

We designed the event in two halves that did different jobs.

The plenary carried the shared message and set up the day. Then the event broke into “choose-your-own” breakout scenes organized by area of interest, so participants navigated to what was relevant to them rather than sitting through what was relevant to the average attendee — 40 live speakers across the program, each one running something small enough to be a conversation.

The final layer was the one most virtual events skip: informal networking with senior leaders, structured enough that it happened and loose enough that it did not feel like a scheduled session.

Impact

1,123 people across 52 countries took part. One participant described it as the best event they had attended in twenty years with the company — which is a higher bar than a satisfaction score, and the kind of thing people only say about an event where they got something they specifically wanted.

At a glance

• 1,123 users
• 52 countries
• 40 live speakers
• Plenary plus choose-your-own breakout scenes
• Informal networking with senior leaders, designed in
• Fully virtual

Novartis wanted to increase awareness of its Giving, Matching and Volunteering program during the end-of-year period, and to motivate employees to actually participate rather than simply know it existed.

December is the worst possible month for that. Every function is running its own end-of-year communication, employees are managing deadlines and leave, and the emotional register the subject deserves is exactly the one that reads as seasonal filler if it is handled badly.

Solution

We conceptualized and delivered an interactive digital holiday calendar designed around anticipation and repeat engagement rather than a single announcement.

Each day, employees opened a new door revealing a surprise: short films and stories about the real impact of giving and volunteering, and announcements that Novartis would match employee donations by three or five times. The matching announcements were the mechanism — they gave people a concrete reason to come back and a concrete reason to act, on a specific day.

Beyond the calendar itself, we supported the wider rollout with a coordinated communications campaign: social media posts, digital posters and short-form video assets.

Impact

Live for one week in December, the calendar generated strong internal buzz, with many employees returning multiple times to discover new content. It attracted over 7,500 unique visits and measurably increased visibility of the giving and volunteering program — showing how a well-designed engagement experience can drive participation and generosity at scale.

At a glance

• 7,500+ unique visits
• Live for one week in December
• Donations matched at 3x or 5x
• A new surprise behind each door, daily
• Employees returned multiple times
• Supported by social, digital posters and short-form video

As part of its sponsorship of Eurovision 2025, Novartis wanted to celebrate the relationship between music and science. The risk in a brief like that is obvious: sponsorship content about a cultural moment usually ends up being about the sponsor, and audiences discount it within seconds.

The content had to feel authentic, emotionally resonant and human — showcasing the people behind the science for both internal employees and a broad external audience, during a globally visible cultural moment where the comparison set is professionally made entertainment.

Solution

Ludic Media Studio produced the We Are Novartists campaign: a series of cinematic short films centered on Novartis employees who are also serious musicians.

Each film told a personal story that linked music to a way of thinking about work — using songwriting to learn a new language, composing music inspired by protein structures, embracing the fail-fast discipline of rehearsing a complex piece. The link was never stated as a corporate message; it emerged from the person telling their own story, which is the only way that kind of parallel survives an audience’s scepticism.

We handled end-to-end production across multiple locations: scripting, filming, editing and post-production.

Impact

The series launched across Novartis’ internal and external channels and has achieved over 40,000 YouTube views to date, alongside strong internal engagement. The films became a centerpiece of Novartis’ presence at Eurovision 2025, showcased at the Eurovision Village in Basel, where thousands of visitors encountered a more human, creative face of the organization.

At a glance

• 40,000+ YouTube views to date
• Eurovision 2025 sponsorship activation
• Showcased at the Eurovision Village, Basel
• Cinematic shorts featuring real employees, not actors
• End-to-end production across multiple locations
• Built for internal and external audiences at once

A major pharmaceutical organization wanted a video series on disability equity that underscored its commitment to inclusivity for all employees, regardless of visible or invisible disabilities.

This is a brief with a high failure rate. Handled carelessly it produces content that speaks about people rather than with them, flattens very different experiences into one message, and leaves the contributors feeling used. The production process mattered as much as the output.

Solution

We centered the approach on personal storytelling: a series of films in which associates living with disabilities tell their own stories, in intimate direct-to-camera interviews, alongside b-roll capturing a day in the life of each participant.

Before any filming, we held pre-filming sessions with each contributor — partly to make them comfortable, and mostly to let them shape their own narrative rather than answer questions they had not seen. What people chose to include was theirs to decide.

Filming took place across Europe and the United States, with our local production teams managing multiple locations so contributors were filmed where they actually live and work rather than flown to a studio.

Impact

The videos became a cornerstone of the company’s internal communications campaign on equity and inclusion, sparking meaningful conversations across the organization and reinforcing its commitment to a supportive workplace.

At a glance

• Personal storytelling, direct to camera
• Day-in-the-life b-roll for each participant
• Pre-filming sessions so contributors shaped their own narrative
• Filmed across Europe and the United States
• Local production teams in each location
• Became the cornerstone of the internal equity campaign

The company ran a talent development program and wanted it to do two things at once: develop the participants, and produce something the business could use. Most programs choose one. The ones that choose development produce satisfied participants and no artifacts; the ones that choose output produce a hackathon.

The subject was the role of digital in modern medicine — a genuinely open question at the time, with two live brand challenges that needed answering regardless of who answered them.

Solution

We structured the program so the two objectives reinforced each other rather than competing.

Teams began with action research in their own context, which meant they arrived at the event already carrying evidence rather than opinions. That research culminated in a facilitated innovation event over three days, addressing the two real brand challenges.

The event drew on current research and methods in idea generation, service design and business model innovation, and put participants alongside industry experts, members of the company leadership team and innovation partners — people who could tell them quickly when an idea would not survive contact with the business.

Impact

By the end of the series the teams had fully formed ideas with corresponding business models, prototypes and business cases, presented live to an executive panel. The program produced developed people and work the business could act on, which is the outcome talent programs usually have to choose between.

At a glance

• 3-day facilitated innovation event
• Preceded by team action research
• Two live brand challenges addressed
• Industry experts and the leadership team in the room
• Service design and business model innovation methods
• Ideas, models, prototypes and business cases pitched to an executive panel

Medical education was being commissioned therapy area by therapy area. Each one produced a program, a registration process, a set of resources and a link — and each one started from nothing, because the previous program had no permanent home to build on.

For HCPs, the effect was a new login for every program and no single place to go. For the medical team, it meant paying the full cost of audience acquisition every cycle, and having no way to see whether the clinicians who engaged with one therapy area ever came back for another.

Solution

We built one hub. An HCP registers once and reaches everything: live webinars, on-demand recordings, interactive tools and the resource library, across every therapy area the program covers.

The education itself is CPD-accredited, which changes what it is worth to a clinician and therefore what attendance means. Peer discussion spaces run alongside the content, so the hub accumulates something a series of one-off webinars never does — a community that is still there between programs.

Content is version-controlled and access-separated by audience, so promotional and non-promotional material never share a door, and what any participant saw remains recoverable.

Impact

The hub runs continuously rather than in bursts, so each new therapy area launches into an existing audience instead of building one. Engagement is reported per participant and per session, which gives the medical team something more useful than a registration count when they are asked what the education program achieved.

At a glance

• CPD-accredited across multiple therapy areas
• One registration for every program
• Live, on-demand and interactive in one environment
• Peer discussion spaces that persist between programs
• Promotional and non-promotional material access-separated
• Engagement reported per participant and per session

As part of a wider change in strategy, the company had created a new operating methodology for commercializing products and services, with an associated set of new ways of working. The methodology was sound and it was documented.

The problem was the one every methodology rollout has: key account management teams had to adjust their actual behavior and apply the method in everyday work, and reading about a method is not how anyone learns to use one under pressure in front of a customer.

Solution

We built the program in two deliberately different parts.

First, an online e-learning course delivered the knowledge and introduced the principles of the new methodology in a simplified, easy-to-learn format — getting the cohort to a common baseline before anyone spent a day in a room.

Second, together with the client, we convened and delivered a three-day in-person bootcamp series that integrated that knowledge into practice. The bootcamp was experiential rather than instructional: the point of putting 120 people in a room for three days is the rehearsal, and the discussion between peers about what actually happens when the method meets a real account.

Impact

120 employees came through the program, prepared with the skills to collaborate and contribute to delivering the new commercial model — in a setting that was experiential and, by the client’s own account, genuinely enjoyable, which matters more than it sounds for a cohort that had been through several previous methodology launches.

At a glance

• 120 employees trained
• Two-part blend: e-learning then bootcamp
• 3-day in-person bootcamp series
• Built around a new commercial methodology and ways of working
• Aimed at key account management teams
• Co-delivered with the client’s own team

Patient and clinical safety is a large, technically demanding function whose work is mostly invisible to the rest of the business until something goes wrong. The team needed to explain what it actually does, how it fits into the wider ecosystem, and why the rigor it applies is a feature rather than a bottleneck — to colleagues who had never had a reason to find out.

A presentation would have been accurate and unmemorable. The function needed an asset that could anchor a communications campaign and then keep working as a reference afterwards.

Solution

We ran a content and idea crowdsourcing exercise across the function, then designed and facilitated a virtual design event connecting three locations, so the people who do the work shaped how it was described.

Out of that came a messaging architecture and a visual metaphor: a smartphone that opens in layers. The surface is the thing everyone sees; underneath it are four progressively deeper layers showing the complexity of the work that makes the surface possible. We handled all the scripting, filming, animation and visual assets, and built the interactive graphic itself — securely viewable in any browser, with embedded video throughout and a knowledge library behind it.

Impact

The interactive rich picture became a key asset in an integrated communications campaign and then outlived it, continuing to serve as an information resource for stakeholders across the business — which is the harder test, and the one most campaign assets fail.

At a glance

• Four interactive layers behind a single visual metaphor
• Content crowdsourced from the function itself
• Virtual design event across three locations
• Embedded video plus a knowledge library
• Browser-based and secure — no install, no download
• Still in use as a reference asset after the campaign closed

Novartis was launching Behaviors in Action, an initiative to bring its company values out of strategy decks and into lived experience. That is a familiar ambition and it usually produces a film in which people describe values to camera — which is precisely the register the initiative existed to escape.

The campaign had to communicate the initiative in a way that felt human, participatory and credible: showing behaviors being explored in practice rather than explained abstractly, to both internal employees and wider external audiences.

Solution

We developed a short-form video campaign supporting Imagine If…, a facilitated, card-based game designed to spark reflection and dialogue around behaviors.

The production decision that made it work was simple: we filmed colleagues actually playing the game, for a single day, rather than staging a representation of it. What we shot was real interactions, real hesitation and real laughter, and the edit shaped that into a series of authentic video assets designed for both internal and external use.

Nobody in the campaign explains a value. They are visibly in the middle of working one out, which is a much harder thing to fake and a much easier thing to believe.

Impact

The campaign launched across LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, generating strong engagement from both Novartis employees and wider audiences. The films helped legitimize the initiative by showing it in action — demonstrating how playful, human-centered interventions can unlock genuine dialogue and scale values-based conversations across a global organization.

At a glance

• One day of filming, a full campaign
• Real colleagues, real gameplay, no actors
• Launched on LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram
• Supports the Imagine If… card-based game
• Built for internal and external audiences
• Values shown in practice, not explained

A global beverage company needed to run a high-impact strategy engagement for its leaders, guest speakers and subject-matter experts — with roughly a quarter of the room joining remotely. The brief was not simply to stream the event. It was to make the remote experience as valuable as the one in the room, so that a leader on a laptop in another timezone contributed as fully as a leader sitting three meters from the stage.

Solution

We designed a three-day hybrid experience built around a single digital layer rather than a stack of separate tools. Pre-work opened the conversation before anyone travelled. During the event, 120 participants in the room worked through SmartLab on their own mobile devices while 40 remote participants joined on laptops and tablets through the same interface — the same polls, the same ideation boards, the same content.

Fifteen speakers presented on stage and fifteen more were broadcast into the room, with live Q&A, polling and content sharing running throughout. Because in-room and remote contributions landed in the same place, facilitators could read the whole room at once instead of managing two audiences.

Impact

The engagement ran as one event rather than two: one platform, one live stream, one set of outputs. Thirty guest speakers and subject-matter experts contributed across the three days, and remote participants generated input alongside those in the room rather than watching from the outside.

At a glance

• 3-day hybrid event
• 160 onsite and online participants
• 120 participants in the room using mobile devices
• 40 remote participants joining via laptops and tablets
• 30 guest speakers and subject-matter experts
• 15 speakers on stage
• 15 remote speakers broadcast into the room
• One platform, one live stream, one seamless experience

A global organization was implementing Salesforce across its business. The technology was not the hard part. The challenge was making sure the change was understood, adopted and embedded — spanning requirements definition, solution piloting, training for sales teams, and engagement with everyone else whose work the platform would touch.

Solution

Working in partnership with the systems integrator, we covered the full change and enablement journey rather than the training slice of it. That meant sitting inside requirements definition so the enablement reflected what was actually being built, running pilot activities to test both the solution and the way it was being explained, delivering training for sales teams, and running a broader engagement program for the wider organization.

SmartLab provided a single environment for the whole journey: resources, learning content, communications and implementation updates in one place, with the delivery team able to manage engagement across different audiences and phases from the same platform.

Impact

The rollout was supported end to end rather than in handoffs between the integrator, the training function and internal communications. Sales teams were trained against the solution as built, and the wider organization was engaged through the same channel that carried the implementation updates — so what people were told and what they were asked to do stayed aligned throughout.

A global humanitarian organization needed to develop critical skills courses for a diverse international audience, many of them working in emergency areas. The audience had less time and less bandwidth than any corporate learner, and content written for a head office would not survive contact with the field. Whatever we built had to be practical, culturally relevant, and short enough to complete between operational demands.

Solution

We co-created the program with the organization, representatives of the audience itself, subject-matter experts and instructional designers — the audience representatives mattered most, because they were the check on whether an exercise was realistic in the environments people were actually working in.

The result was a four-week blended course combining virtual and face-to-face components. Each week paired a virtual classroom session with self-learning modules, individual exercises and peer or group activities, all in bite-size, practical content. SmartLab carried the learner journey across the weeks, so a participant returning after three days in the field could see exactly where they were.

Impact

The course reached a global, field-based audience without assuming stable connectivity, uninterrupted time or a shared cultural starting point — and delivered practical skills in a format that fitted around emergency work rather than competing with it.

At a glance

• 4-week blended course
• 4 weekly virtual classroom sessions
• Virtual and face-to-face components
• Designed for a global field-based audience
• Bite-size, practical learning content
• Self-learning modules, individual exercises and group activities
• Co-created with the client, audience representatives and subject-matter experts

A global organization was rolling out SAP SuccessFactors as part of a wider HR transformation. The system was the visible part; the real problem was that people needed to understand new ways of working, work out what their own role now was, and adopt a new operating model — across the whole enterprise, at the same time.

Solution

We built an engagement and enablement program rather than a communications campaign. Communication, role enablement and new ways of working were designed as one thing, with solution-focused activities that let people work through what the change meant for their own job rather than reading about it.

SmartLab was the central platform for the whole journey: a single place to access content, take part in activities, contribute feedback and see how the new operating model applied to a specific role. Because feedback came back through the same channel that carried the content, the program could respond to what people were actually struggling with.

Impact

Adoption of the new operating model and HR system was accelerated across the enterprise, and the approach was subsequently adopted internally as a best-practice model for change programs.

As one participant put it: “This is pretty amazing to have such a tool to support the transformation.”

A global organization needed to upskill 8,000 HR associates to deliver the pillars of its HR strategy and engage directly with leaders. The content was strategy and compliance material. The rollout ran for six months. Nothing about that combination naturally holds attention, and the risk was a well-built site that nobody returned to after week two.

Solution

We built an interactive engagement and learning site and released content into it in sequence rather than all at once, pacing the release against the strategy pillars. Teaser trailers went out ahead of each release. Interactive learning videos carried the substance. Around them sat online games, physical role-playing games and competitive team-based gameplay tied to whichever pillar was live.

The competitive element was deliberate: it gave associates a reason to come back that had nothing to do with compliance, and gave teams a reason to talk to each other about the material between releases.

Impact

Across the six-month campaign, the five online games were the most interacted-with elements on the entire site — ahead of the videos and the reference content. More than 20 videos were released alongside them, and the periodic release schedule sustained engagement across 8,000 associates for the full duration rather than front-loading it into the launch week.

At a glance

• 8,000+ target audience
• 5 online games — the most interacted-with elements on the site
• 20+ videos released across the site
• 6 months of periodic content releases
• Interactive engagement and learning site
• Physical and online role-playing games
• Competitive team-based gameplay

A financial services think tank needed to bring senior participants and remote subject-matter experts into the same future-focused strategy discussion — and leave with prioritized actions rather than a good conversation. The constraint was time: two days to move from open-ended expert input to decisions the organization could act on.

Solution

We designed a two-day hybrid format that made the path from insight to decision explicit. A pre-event survey and pre-work established where participants already stood. On the day, forty participants worked in the room on iPads against a single plenary screen, while five remote subject-matter experts joined by video and live stream to inject specialist input at the points where it mattered.

Breakout groups captured their thinking directly into SmartLab and reported back into plenary, where the room polled and prioritized in real time. Talks were driven by the live data rather than a fixed running order, so the agenda followed where the room actually was. The final session mapped the prioritized material into actions and recommendations with named owners.

Impact

The forum closed with a prioritized set of actions and recommendations rather than a summary document. Because every contribution — pre-work, breakout output, plenary vote — was captured in one place, the facilitators had a live view of where the room stood at each stage, and the output was complete when participants left rather than weeks later.

At a glance

• 2-day hybrid event
• 40 participants in the room
• 40 iPads and 1 plenary screen
• 5 remote subject-matter experts
• 2 facilitators
• Pre-work and pre-event survey
• Plenary polling and prioritization
• Breakout groups with structured report-out

A global organization wanted an executive development program for its female leaders that was practical rather than ceremonial — one that strengthened pragmatic leadership, built genuine innovation capability, and sent participants away with ideas they could apply rather than a certificate.

Solution

We designed a 12-month blended development journey. Participants ran action research initiatives on innovation and digital transformation trends, working on real business challenges from their own parts of the organization rather than case studies. Practical leadership toolkits ran alongside, giving them something to use between sessions.

At the center of the year sat a three-day immersive innovation workshop where the research came together and ideas were pressure-tested. SmartLab connected the whole journey — live events, learning content, action research and collaboration in one environment — so participants could keep refining their thinking after the workshop rather than losing momentum when they went back to their day jobs.

Impact

Participants left with tested ideas rather than notes. Because the action research was drawn from live business challenges, the work produced during the program had somewhere to go, and the most promising ideas were given ongoing support after the 12 months ended.

At a glance

• 12-month blended development program
• 3-day immersive innovation workshop
• Designed exclusively for female leaders
• Action research on innovation and digital transformation
• Real-world business challenges from participants’ own functions
• Practical leadership toolkits
• Ongoing support for the most promising ideas

A global organization needed to move 200 senior leaders through an immersive development experience without diluting it into a single mass event or fragmenting it into 11 unrelated ones. Each cohort needed to feel like its own experience; the program needed to stay consistent enough to say something coherent about leadership across the enterprise.

Solution

We designed a blended engagement journey delivered across 11 cohorts, hosted on SmartLab. Each participant began with onboarding and a 360 assessment, followed by a one-to-one feedback debrief. The cohort then came together for an on-site immersion event and team debriefs, and continued afterwards through peer coaching sessions, one-to-one coaching, self-learning and masterclasses.

The platform gave each cohort a dedicated space while holding the program structure constant underneath. Between live moments, participants accessed content, followed their own journey and shared takeaways with their cohort — which is where most of the reinforcement happened, rather than in the room.

Impact

Two hundred senior participants completed the Enterprise Leadership Experience across 11 cohorts. Running the program through a single platform kept it scalable and repeatable while preserving the intimacy of cohort-based work, and strengthened participants’ ownership of the leadership commitments they made.

At a glance

• 200 participants
• 11 cohorts
• 360 assessment and 1:1 feedback debriefs
• 1 on-site immersion event per cohort
• Peer coaching and one-to-one coaching
• Self-learning modules and masterclasses
• One platform holding the journey together between live moments

A global organization needed to support leaders newly promoted into role and working across different locations. They had the title but not yet the clarity: what the responsibilities now were, who they needed to collaborate with, and how to work practically inside an operating model that was itself new.

Solution

We built a gamified leadership and role-enablement experience that treated the role itself as the curriculum. Leadership topics were delivered through interactive classrooms and e-learning, then applied immediately through practical assignments, pod work and use cases drawn from the participants’ own situations.

A virtual workshop series brought multi-disciplinary groups together to work through collaboration needs across role types. Expert coaching and one-to-one sessions ran alongside, with collaborative discussion spaces, media content and toolkits available throughout on a single platform.

Impact

The program has been repeated through multiple cohorts across several years — the clearest signal available that it works, since a leadership program that does not land is not commissioned twice. Leaders came out of it able to describe their own mandate and accountabilities, and to name the people they needed to work with to deliver them.

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“The world of work is being reshaped by AI and digital innovation at a pace that demands a fundamentally new approach to learning. Organizations need more than content – they need experiences that shift mindsets, build capabilities, and embed new behaviors across their entire workforce. That is exactly what we have built Ludic and SmartLab to do.”

— Paul Ashcroft, Co-Founder, Ludic Group and SmartLab

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What Fosway Said

Europe’s #1 HR industry analyst highlighted Ludic’s integrated approach—combining strategic consulting, proven methodology, and platform capability—as a key differentiator in a market where organizations need full-solution partners, not just technology.

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“The need for effective workforce development has never been more critical. Ludic combines a sophisticated platform capability, proven methodology and high-class consulting, enabling organizations to guide workforces through complex change. Their growth and innovation continue to place them as a Strategic Leader.”

— David Wilson, CEO and Founder, Fosway Group

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SmartLab - Digital Delivery at Global Scale

SmartLab—Ludic’s purpose-built digital experience platform—is the engine behind Ludic’s ability to deliver immersive programs to global workforces at scale. This year has seen significant advances in SmartLab’s AI and data architecture, enabling richer personalization, smarter automation, and sharper impact measurement.

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“SmartLab has always been about more than technology; it is about creating the conditions for real learning and behavior change at scale. This year we have made significant advances in our AI and data architecture, enabling richer personalization, smarter automation, and the kind of impact measurement that organizations need to prove the value of their learning investment.”

— Clemens Hackl, Digital Director, Ludic Group

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SmartLab Programs - Expert Partnerships, Ready to Deploy

Ludic is launching SmartLab Programs—a new range of out-of-the-box learning experiences developed with world-class experts in learning, leadership, AI, and organizational development. It pairs leading partner methodologies with SmartLab’s delivery reach, giving organizations powerful programs that are ready to scale globally from day one.

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One of the first launches is SmartLab Leaders, developed with Nina Bressler of Reimagined Value, helping organizations build the leadership capabilities needed to navigate constant change.

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“What we hear consistently from our clients is that the challenges they face are no longer just about skills gaps; they are about how to transform the way their organizations learn, adapt, and perform. SmartLab Programs lets us meet organizations where they are and give them the tools to move forward, faster.”

— Georg Seiler, Commercial Director, Ludic Group

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“SmartLab is one of the most modular, scalable, and agile solutions I have encountered. It allowed us to digitize the essence of our work without flattening it into passive content. We used to see a fade-out once people returned to delivery pressure after a workshop—SmartLab changed that by keeping learning alive in the flow of work.”

— Nina Bressler, Founder, Reimagined Value – SmartLab Programs Partner

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About Ludic

Ludic is a global consultancy that designs and delivers transformative learning experiences for the world’s leading organizations, specializing in digital transformation, AI adoption, leadership development, and industry-specific programs. Visit www.ludicgroup.com

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About SmartLab

SmartLab is a digital experience platform built by Ludic that enables organizations to design, deliver, and scale immersive learning experiences for global audiences. Its modular architecture, AI-powered personalization, and integrated analytics make it the platform of choice for Fortune 500 companies driving measurable transformation at scale. Visit www.smartlabservices.com

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About the Fosway 9-Grid™

Fosway Group is Europe’s #1 HR Industry Analyst. The Fosway 9-Grid™ provides independent analysis of the principal learning and talent options available to organizations in EMEA. Visit www.fosway.com

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About Reimagined Value

Reimagined Value, founded by Nina Bressler, develops leadership practices rooted in systems awareness, sensemaking, and relational depth. Through SmartLab Leaders, Reimagined Value brings its methodology to distributed leadership communities at scale. Visit www.reimaginedvalue.com

Watch now to learn how to:

• Design immersive virtual spaces
• Drive meaningful participation
• Use facilitation tools that work at scale

Want more? Join the Ludic Insights community to continue the conversation, access bonus materials, connect with peers, and stay updated on upcoming sessions.

Workflow Ideation helps your teams move from theory to practice—quickly. These sessions are designed to identify friction points, explore automation potential, and prototype new ways of working using AI. Led by expert facilitators and supported by SmartLab’s visual tools, each sprint guides participants through mapping, testing, and refining smarter, tech-enabled processes—aligned to business priorities and user needs.

Designed for

Operations leads, innovation teams, functional departments, and anyone looking to redesign how work gets done with the help of AI—without waiting for lengthy transformation programs.

The impact

You’ll walk away with:

• Rapidly prototyped AI-augmented workflows
• Clear understanding of where and how AI can improve outcomes
• Cross-functional alignment on next steps
• Practical concepts that can be tested, scaled, and embedded

The Prompt Engineering Hackathon is where creativity meets utility. In a dynamic, collaborative environment—delivered face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online—teams work with AI experts to craft effective prompts for agents, copilots, and other AI support tools. These aren’t theoretical exercises: they’re grounded in real tasks, tailored to your business, and designed for use in the flow of work. Each session ends with the creation of prompt libraries and custom playbooks your teams can use and scale immediately.

Designed for

Business leaders, functional teams, innovation leads, and change agents ready to implement practical AI. Ideal for organizations looking to equip their people with tools they can use right now—not just explore.

The impact

You’ll leave with:

• A set of proven, on-the-job prompts designed for your work context
• Custom playbooks that support consistent, scalable AI adoption
• Confidence in how to interact with and get value from AI tools
• An energized team ready to drive practical AI use across the business

Real transformation doesn’t happen from a single workshop. Ludic’s Organizational Activation Programs are designed to sustain change—blending communication, capability building, and engagement over time to embed AI into your culture. Through curated learning experiences, internal campaigns, leadership engagement, and SmartLab-powered events, we help you shape the mindset and skills needed to work with AI—at every level. The result is not just knowledge, but momentum.

Designed for

Organizations that want to go beyond pilot projects and truly integrate AI into how their people think, work, and collaborate. Perfect for transformation leads, L&D, or leadership teams rolling out enterprise-wide initiatives.

The impact

You’ll create:

• A culture of curiosity, confidence, and AI literacy
• Sustained engagement through workshops, campaigns, and learning journeys
• Visible alignment across leadership, teams, and functions
• Ongoing access to tools and programs that keep capability growing

This is more than a strategy session—it’s a co-creative journey. Working closely with Ludic facilitators, designers, and AI experts, your team will explore, test, and refine key messages, use cases, and transformation narratives. Powered by SmartLab and SmartLab AI, the process blends human insight with intelligent tools to rapidly prototype a future vision of AI in your business. You’ll engage with real tools, challenge assumptions, and translate strategy into an engaging visual story that informs, inspires, and aligns.

Designed for

Business leaders, strategists, transformation and innovation leads who need to communicate complex ideas clearly—internally or externally. Whether you’re launching a new initiative or aligning stakeholders around a bold AI ambition, this blueprint helps turn abstract ideas into tangible narratives.

The impact

You’ll walk away with a beautifully designed, high-impact blueprint tailored to your business. This includes:

• A powerful narrative and storyline that brings your AI vision to life
• A compelling theme and visuals aligned with your brand
• In-depth personas to ground the vision in human experience
• AI agents, use cases, and prototypes that show the future in action
• A document that becomes a rallying point—easy to share, hard to ignore

These aren’t just briefings—they’re crafted experiences. Guided by Ludic’s expert facilitators, advisors, and award-winning designers, Executive Briefings are built to spark action. Together, we refine your messaging, sharpen your strategic narrative, and bring your AI vision to life through impactful presentations, storytelling, and media. Whether delivered in-person or online, each session is tailored to your audience, context, and goals—ensuring your message doesn’t just land, it resonates.

Designed for

Business leaders, transformation strategists, and decision-makers who want to lead with impact. Whether you’re presenting to your board, launching an AI initiative, or aligning your teams behind a bold vision, this is for those who need to communicate with power and precision.

The impact

You’ll leave with a message that’s not just clear—it’s compelling.

• A confident, polished narrative aligned to your AI goals
• A high-impact presentation or media asset designed to inspire action
• Communication strategies tailored to different stakeholders
• The ability to drive alignment and momentum across the organization

AI Strategy Development combines robust research, scenario thinking, and creative facilitation to shape your AI vision—and ground it in reality. Using SmartLab’s global collaboration tools and Ludic’s proven methodology, we work with your leadership and teams to define a clear blueprint for the future. From there, we co-create an actionable plan that includes events, stakeholder engagement, and communication strategies to bring that vision to life. The process moves from insight to alignment to execution—ensuring you leave with a strategy that’s not just smart, but ready to activate.

Designed for

Business leaders, strategists, and transformation leads who are ready to move from experimentation to execution. Whether you’re launching an AI initiative or scaling an existing one, this is for organizations seeking clarity, direction, and unity around their AI agenda.

The impact

You’ll leave with:

• A strategic blueprint backed by research, market insights, and co-created scenarios
• An implementation-ready roadmap with clear priorities, milestones, and ownership
• An optional launch event (virtual, hybrid, or in-person) to align stakeholders and drive momentum
• A global engagement campaign—including learning modules and multimedia—to embed the strategy across your organization

AI Opportunity Mapping helps you cut through the noise and identify where AI can create real value. Through a guided process—powered by stakeholder mapping, market insight, and AI-assisted analysis—you’ll explore customer touchpoints, internal processes, and strategic imperatives to prioritize AI use cases with the greatest potential. It’s a fast, structured way to align your team around the most promising opportunities and lay the groundwork for successful AI adoption.

Designed for

Business leaders, transformation leads, and innovation teams looking to invest time and resources where AI can deliver the most value—whether for internal operations, customer experience, or strategic differentiation.

The impact

You’ll come away with:

• A visual map of high-priority AI opportunities across your business
• Clarity on where to start and where to scale
• A shared understanding of the stakeholders, goals, and impact areas involved
• A strategic lens for evaluating and prioritizing future AI initiatives

Ludic’s AI Events are built to engage, align, and energize. Whether you’re kicking off a transformation program, launching a new initiative, or scaling AI adoption across teams, these events create momentum. From immersive design workshops to hybrid experiences powered by SmartLab Events, participants engage in decision-making, wayfinding, and hands-on learning—supported by mobile tools, live facilitation, and dynamic content. Designed to feel as engaging as the best in-person experiences, even when fully remote.

Designed for

Business leaders, innovation teams, and change leads who want to roll out AI at scale—building understanding, excitement, and action across geographies and business units.

The impact

You’ll achieve:

• Shared language, mindset, and commitment to AI transformation
• Interactive event formats that spark conversation and unlock decisions
• Mobile-enabled learning journeys and resource hubs tailored to your rollout
• A creative, immersive experience that makes change feel real—and possible

In just two hours, participants are guided through a dynamic learning journey that blends strategic insight with hands-on experimentation. Powered by the SmartLab platform and SmartLab AI, each lab creates a collaborative, risk-free space to explore real AI tools, test emerging use cases, and co-create solutions. You’ll demystify AI concepts, interact with practical frameworks, and build a deeper understanding of how AI can align with and amplify your business goals—culminating in a tailored prototype or AI-enhanced idea ready to take forward.

Designed for

Business leaders, strategists, innovation leads, and decision-makers who want to move beyond AI hype and start building real capability. Whether you’re shaping AI strategy, exploring use cases, or simply trying to understand how AI fits into your function, these labs are designed to meet you where you are—no technical background required.

The impact

Participants leave with more than ideas—they gain clarity, confidence, and a tangible output. That includes:

• A clearer understanding of the language, tools, and relevance of AI
• Direct, hands-on experience with powerful AI applications
• A co-created roadmap or concept for how AI can be applied in your context
• The momentum to lead informed conversations and next steps across your organization

This offer is all about turning awareness into ability. Through a blend of coaching, workshops, and learning programs, we help individuals and teams upskill quickly and sustainably—supported by a curated ecosystem of tools, experts, and resources. Delivered via Ludic’s SmartLab platform, these programs connect seamlessly with your existing systems (like LXPs) to deliver learning in the flow of work. Whether it’s a one-off workshop or a longer-term capability campaign, we tailor everything to your context—so your people gain not just theoretical understanding, but day-to-day confidence.

Designed for

Business units, innovation teams, talent leaders, and functional departments looking to equip their people with hands-on AI fluency. Perfect for organizations that want to build scalable capability aligned with real workflows and business needs.

The impact

You’ll gain:

• Confident, AI-enabled teams who know how to apply tools in context
• Access to tailored resources, expert networks, and live coaching
• A unified learning hub linking all your content, systems, and support
• Proven formats—from gamified campaigns to deep-dive learning sprints—that accelerate capability across the business

Ludic’s Digital Transformation (Organization Activation) Discovery Lab is a high-impact session that helps teams turn digital strategy into action. Participants explore emerging tech, digital trends, and real-world applications—building a clear roadmap to embed innovation across the organization.

Designed for

Built for transformation leaders, innovation teams, and operational managers, this Lab is ideal for organizations navigating disruption. It’s especially valuable for sectors like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing, where agility and digital fluency are key to staying competitive.

The impact

Participants gain hands-on experience with digital tools, identify barriers, and co-create a plan for embedding change. By the end, teams are ready to lead transformation with confidence—boosting efficiency, improving experience, and driving long-term impact across the business.

Ludic’s People Change & Organization Activation Discovery Lab helps organizations lead transformation by equipping teams to embrace change. Through hands-on exercises, proven methodologies, and AI-powered collaboration, participants learn how to engage people, overcome resistance, and drive lasting impact.

Designed for

Ideal for HR, transformation leaders, and change teams, this Lab is built for organizations navigating digital shifts, M&A, cultural change, or restructuring. It’s especially relevant across sectors like finance, healthcare, and tech where workforce agility is critical.

The impact

Participants gain a practical roadmap for activating people and embedding change. The session boosts engagement, accelerates adoption, and builds resilience—empowering teams to lead transformation with confidence and clarity.

Ludic’s Future of… Learning & Programs Discovery Lab helps organizations rethink how they design and scale impactful learning experiences. Participants explore trends like AI-driven personalization, gamification, and microlearning—building strategies that make learning continuous, engaging, and business-aligned.

Designed for

Perfect for L&D leaders, HR, and capability teams, this Lab supports those modernizing learning strategies and embedding digital, blended, and experiential solutions. It’s relevant across industries where continuous upskilling is vital—such as healthcare, finance, and retail.

The impact

Participants leave with a roadmap to build future-ready learning ecosystems. The session equips teams to drive skill development, boost engagement, and align learning with business goals—ensuring talent stays agile and prepared for what’s next.