VMware User Group (VMUG) is an independent, global, customer-led organization, created to maximize members’ use of VMware and partner solutions through knowledge sharing, training, collaboration, and events. VMUG engaged Creative i to develop a new campaign for their membership. VMUG had grown dramatically over the last few years, but given the value VMUG brings to its members and to VMware, a major push was on to bring numbers significantly up, specifically in time for VMWorld.

The framework for the initiative was set up to be an annual membership drive that occurs over a set time period every year, with year-long incentives to encourage people to continue to bring in new people. The approach was gamification – which included a branded game/contest designed so members and their local groups would compete against one another for the chance to win prizes based on who could bring in more new members in a set amount of time.

Creative i set the tone to be exciting, energetic, engaging and fun. We created integrated elements consisting of marketing emails and collateral, landing pages, and a contest dashboard for participants to monitor progress and view rankings. The 4-month program generated successful numbers: 12% participation rate, 39% conversion rate, and membership increased by 20,000.