German Telekom
Telekom Shift

For Deutsche Telekom, Telekom SHIFT was not a traditional conference or a one-off corporate event, but the launch of an international organisational movement. The task was to translate the concepts of global co-creation, a shift in perspective and collaboration into an event format that would engage participants not as passive listeners, but as active creators.

The challenge manifested itself on several levels simultaneously. We had to create an international staff event that was inspiring, accessible and easy to engage with, whilst being robust enough to represent a shift in mindset across a global organisation numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The event had to create a common language for colleagues from different countries, disciplines and organisational cultures.

Telekom SHIFT had to demonstrate this shift in perspective not only in terms of content, but also spatially, visually and digitally. Therefore, the event branding, the stand and the mobile app developed specifically for the occasion all had to be designed to support the experience of co-creation and to encourage participants to connect, think together and create shareable content.

The solution was based on the Anython format, which combined the key elements of a hackathon, a barcamp, a design thinking workshop and collaborative creation. The aim was for participants not only to attend talks, but also to work together on real-world business and organisational challenges.

Progressive was also involved in developing the event concept, event branding, the visual identity, stand design and the on-site experience. The basis of Telekom SHIFT’s visual identity was the idea of a shift in perspective: we translated the visual language of movement, change of direction and multidimensional thinking into arrows, spatial interplay and Escher-inspired graphic solutions.

The event’s branding did not function as a mere decorative layer, but as an integral part of the on-site experience. We created a coherent visual world that worked across communication materials, workshop spaces, digital content and subsequent international Telekom SHIFT appearances.

We carried this approach through to the stand design as well. We designed the stand to offer a different visual experience from various perspectives, taking on a new meaning even when viewed from above. In this way, the space not only served the event but also became one of Telekom SHIFT’s core messages in its own right: a shift in perspective, collaboration and multidimensional thinking were given physical form.

The participant experience was further enhanced by a mobile app developed specifically for this event, which we created in collaboration with DT’s specialists. The app facilitated navigation, engagement and collaboration, meaning that Telekom SHIFT functioned not only as an event but also as a digitally supported employer branding experience.

The Telekom SHIFT event was attended by 300 colleagues from 25 countries, which, within such a large global organisation, provided a unique opportunity for personal connection, knowledge-sharing and collaborative creation. The event not only supported the creation of innovative solutions but also reinforced the employer branding message that, at Telekom, change is the result of working together.

The strength of the project lay in the fact that event organisation, event branding, stand design, mobile app development and internal communication were not treated as separate elements, but functioned as part of a unified employee experience. Telekom SHIFT thus became not only an international event, but also a globally recognisable brand experience, which, through the participants, was able to carry the co-creation ethos to the organisation’s various countries and teams.