case study
White Cap — Inaugural Sales Conference
An Industry Giant Takes Its First Steps
White Cap is the leading construction supply company in America. The company has grown substantially, doubling its size over the past two years. Much of White Cap’s meteoric growth came from acquisition. Many of White Cap’s new sales associates worked for a competitor a year ago or less. White Cap’s executive leadership wanted to bring their new sales team together for the first time (literally & figuratively) to unify them and build a culture.
Our strategy put a dynamic twist on the key conference activities. First, instead of a typical general session, we created The Power Arena to generate enough energy to galvanize 1500 salespeople into a strong team with a singular vision. The energy and power came from 100 feet X 30 feet of curved LED. The audience expected a typical projection show but got an immersive experience featuring 4k video with 3D graphic animations delivered across a massive LED surface. To help build culture, we designed the inaugural White Coat awards ceremony for their top 75 sales associates.
White Cap wanted something more dynamic to drive conversations and build relationships between 100+ supplier partners like 3M, DeWalt, Mikita, and their sales associates. To accomplish this, we created TraderLIVE! Simply stated, we brought the pages of White Cap’s Contractor Trader catalog to life in an exhibition designed more like a festival than a traditional tradeshow. We structured exhibitor footprints and used common branding to create a uniform TraderLIVE! community. To add energy and fun to this outdoor festival-style exhibition, we designed two stages bookending the TraderLIVE! layout. The stages were used by our TraderLIVE! host, White Cap leadership, and supplier partners throughout the day. TraderLIVE! had dueling DJs on each stage playing hit music and food trucks serving great eats to complete the festival feel.
The event was a tremendous success. Ratings exceeded 94% for content and effectiveness. Field managers are already reporting the salesforce has dropped their legacy thinking and have begun working together as a team. And White Cap’s supplier partners are pledging support for another event in 2024.
