AI Trading cards - Brand Activation at its best

Case Study: AI Trading Cards for ShareGate – A High-Impact Brand Activation

Client: ShareGate
Partner: Snapmatic
Events:

• ESPC24 – Sweden, December 2024
• Microsoft 365 Community Conference – Las Vegas, May 2025
• European Collaboration Summit – Düsseldorf, May 2025

The Challenge

In a world flooded with generic swag and forgettable freebies, ShareGate wanted to cut through the noise at a series of major tech conferences with something truly different - something fun, personal, and unforgettable.

The Big Idea

In collaboration with Snapmatic, ShareGate launched the AI Trading Card activation—a custom-built experience that turned conference attendees into fully-fledged ShareGate Heroes.

Visitors could choose their role—Partner, Cloud Architect, or Consultant—and within a minute, their face was transformed into a branded, fully customised ShareGate Trading Card, complete with:

• Profession-specific stats like “Complaints about slow Wi-Fi: 127” and "Ticket response rate: 99%"
• Industry and job role specific relatable catchphrases like “Try turning it off and on again” or "My default setting is : Secure"
• Printed, high-quality takeaway encased in a hard-shell sleeve—designed to look and feel like a collectible, high-value item

The Engagement

This was more than an AI photo booth. It was a hyper-personalized collectible that tapped into the shared culture of the Microsoft 365 community—and it blew up at every event.

• Crowds lined up daily, with over 300 participants a day at each show
• Cards were printed on the spot and handed out in sleek hard-shell cases
• The activation was visually magnetic, drawing in delegates and keeping the ShareGate booth buzzing for hours

"We thought the AI photo booth was engaging—this was on another level."

The Secret Weapon: Longevity

The real brilliance of this activation was its lifespan beyond the booth.

These cards didn’t just get shared online—they got displayed proudly on desks, mantels, and monitors across offices.

Unlike most event swag, the form factor meant these cards stuck around, becoming daily reminders of the ShareGate brand and conversation starters with coworkers for weeks, even months.

Execution at Scale

To serve multiple international events seamlessly, Snapmatic deployed its team from London HQ and Las Vegas, ensuring consistent delivery and support across time zones and venues. Our workflolw behind the scenes was tailored to handle:

• Real-time card generation
• Onsite production at scale
• High-speed printing and packaging
• Humour, accuracy, and professional tone—dialled in for each audience

Results

• Significant social amplification and organic buzz - leading to higher volume each day as word spread across the conference
• Increased booth dwell time and engagement with ShareGate staff
• Long-term brand visibility through high-retention physical assets

Why It Worked

• Personalisation: Attendees felt seen and celebrated
• Relevance: Roles and stats spoke their language
• Humour: The tongue-in-cheek tone created real delight
• Tangibility: A collectible that doesn’t get thrown in a drawer or lost on social media

What’s Next

The ShareGate AI Trading Card campaign proves that physical, humorous, and hyper-personalised experiences create unmatched engagement. With strong ROI and lasting impact - this is an engagement that's hard to beat.

The Key to this whole activation's success was the vision of the client to create something amazing - and cut through to attendees who've seen it all before.

The ShareGate marketing team take their job seriously - through live streamed interview on the booth to LinkedIn, social engagement and creating unique one of a kind brand activation giveaways - we've enjoyed working with this visionary client to create a brand activation that's delivering results across continents.

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