A growing segment of the population is “Empty Nesters,” people who are broadly defined as 55 to 75 year olds whose children have left the house. For the most part, these people haven’t had the benefit of learning about technology in their lifestyle landscape and being spoken to in their language.
For these reasons, Windows decided to reach out to these “digital immigrants” and one of the first efforts to do so involved a partnership with Holland America Lines (HAL). This high-end provider of luxury cruises has a longstanding reputation for excellence, and its typical guest is approximately 60 years old.
The goal of the Holland America Lines Digital Workshop powered by Windows (DW) was to provide a fun, social, on-ship experience that would equip cruisers with powerful skills to make computing easier and more productive. This goal was achieved by creating an integrated program of seven distinct one-hour sessions covering topics related to enhancing and extending the vacation experience of the guests (e.g., digital photo editing, movie making, blogging, etc.). Holland America provided the guests and the dedicated space on each ship; Windows provided the course content and materials, laptops, furniture, space branding, and one instructor per ship. All sessions are free of charge to participants.
Though still early, there are clear signs of significant success. Attendance has increased 80% over the first six weeks that the program operated on all four pilot ships. Participants have uploaded an estimated 30,000 UGC objects to date, and Windows has acquired nearly 3,000 Windows Live IDs from program participants.
The success is not all about numbers, though. Said one DW participant, “The Digital Workshops was exceptional & very exciting. I encouraged many to attend & met new friends because of it.”
Client: Microsoft Windows
Agency: The Convergent Group LLC
Budget: Undisclosed
Date of Campaign:June 2008 - Present
Case Study URL: http://msamsterdam.spaces.live.com/
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