Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research across the world. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings through their global events and eight international investment conferences. 

The events team manages hundreds of annual events, with over 13,000 registrants across eight countries. These events include client trainings, key conferences, and internal executive-level events. They have catapulted the program’s success by pushing the boundaries of event technology and bolstering their global brand.

Building a Powerful Global Tech Stack

The road to becoming an event powerhouse presented unique challenges for Director of Events and Operations Caroline DeCamp. The team was decentralized and the original in-house system could not support the suite of international events. Head of Experiential Marketing Leslie Marshall notes, “The homegrown solutions did not capture all the data and information that we wanted to understand about our clients. It also did not give us the event experience we wanted for our attendees."

To streamline and centralize operations, the Morningstar team turned to Cvent in 2015. In conjunction with Cvent’s Event Management platform, they now leverage Cvent's OnArrival, CrowdCompass, LeadCapture, Appointments, and RFID solutions. “What’s great about the technology that we’re using with Cvent is it really helps us elevate the client experience, help them register more effectively, and get the information that they need through the mobile app. It’s always working behind the scenes,” explains Leslie. 

The team leveraged Cvent’s Event Management platform for an automated functionality that streamlined registration and payment processing. They have strengthened event marketing efforts in line with their brand to create a unified event experience, regardless of location or region. “Previously, we were only using Cvent for client-facing events. The seamless experience we have delivered to clients, and how that experience supports our brand, has enabled us to show the value for internal events as well,” adds Leslie.

Crafting an International Reputation of Excellence

The U.S. Morningstar Investment Conference (MIC) in Chicago serves as the brand's flagship event. Because of its success, the team was tasked with expanding their international events. “One of the challenges rolling out this program globally has been understanding the needs of particular events in different countries," explains Caroline. The team increased international technology adoption while enabling regional departments to self-manage for efficiency. “By investing in this technology and making sure our event managers were trained to use the Cvent tool...they’re empowered to really manage their events in their markets and run them really successfully,” adds Leslie.

Event templates now ensure branding is easily carried across events, and on-demand reports measure the effectiveness of their campaigns across international markets. In 2018, the team rolled out OnArrival for the U.K., India, Italy, and Australia conferences. They saw a 500% increase in technology adoption and elevated check-in for over 7,500 attendees. Automating this process not only saved the team more than thirty hours per event, but ensured compliance with GDPR standards and CE accreditor requirements. 

“Using Cvent’s reporting system, we can demonstrate to senior management that our conference generates revenue through paid attendance and exhibiting, as tracked through Cvent. It also contributes to the company lead-generation and revenue attribution goals.”

Leslie Marshall, Head of Experiential Marketing

Creating a New Morningstar Mobile Reality 

CrowdCompass offers Morningstar the ability to integrate industry-leading technology into their attendee experience. "We really want to elevate that experience and make sure attendees feel that they get a solid return on investment," notes Leslie. In 2018, users spent almost 121,000 collective minutes in the app, resulting in an 8% year-over-year growth globally. They also use the app to attract key sponsors for additional revenue generation. To increase cost savings, going paperless saved $31,000 for the U.S., U.K., and India conferences. 

 At the 2018 MIC U.S., the team worked with Cvent to create a deep link through CrowdCompass to a companion augmented reality (AR) app. They saw 36% of CrowdCompass mobile app users download the companion AR@MIC app as a result. Through this unique onsite experience, Morningstar saw huge spikes in customer interactions; they tracked 250 sponsor interactions and 1,300 exhibit hall discoveries through the AR@MIC app alone.