For more than half a century, SAP has served as a cornerstone behind many of the world's enterprise applications. Across industries and geographies, companies of all sizes have relied on SAP's enterprise resource planning solutions for human resources, accounting, and travel planning as well as customer relationships, supply chains, and other essential business operations. To ensure the need for human connections behind these technologies, SAP has long gathered customers and partners for its flagship SAP Sapphire conferences. While the software landscape is constantly evolving, the scale of change has sped up in the age of business AI — a challenge and opportunity SAP recognized as it began to scope its 2024 conferences.

Amidst an increasingly crowded field of technology events, SAP pictured Sapphire 2024 as a crucial moment to engage its customers and partners while reinforcing the value of the global brand's traditional strengths and evidencing its scalability and flexibility for the future. Given the diversity of its business offerings and use cases, SAP sought to immerse Sapphire attendees in its innovations in cloud and business technology with a clear vision and strategy. That call to “Bring out your best” — by using the right tools to execute — evolved from 2023's tagline, “The Best Run,” and set out not only new messaging but also an overarching framework to inform the conference design to deepen brand equity and create a greater sense of cohesion.“It was a good opportunity to stop and reset,” said Matt Samuels, program director of SAP Sapphire.

The first of two Sapphire conferences — SAP Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference Orlando 2024 — took place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from June 2 to June 5, with a virtual component running during the second half of the four-day event. A week later, SAP Sapphire expanded the experience in Barcelona, Spain, at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via from June 11 to June 13. Throughout an immersive and intuitive journey built across more than 1 million square feet of space in each venue, customers and partners were front and center, on stage and on the floor. The 28,000 attendees in person and virtual represented more than 3,000 companies based in more than 100 countries.

A collaborative effort from Freeman's brands helped bring the experience to life: Sparks led creative and sponsorship strategy, Freeman's Event & Exhibit Services (E& ES) team ensured execution, and the Freeman AV and Alford Media teams delivered lighting and rigging. Collaborating with SAP's global events, content, and brand teams, Freeman's brands continued to evolve the successes that came from past work. One of the most significant planning changes that followed on from 2019 was SAP's decision to keep its floor plan consistent to provide an intuitive and familiar environment for SAP's repeat customers, said Samuels. By creating a floor that accommodated all attendee needs, SAP aimed to elevate its content delivery with dynamism, accessibility, and impact top of mind.

Bring Out Your Best
To set the stage to achieve a new benchmark for client engagement, SAP challenged its design teams to narrow the physical and emotional distance between its content strategy and the conference design, ensuring that any time spent between keynotes, sessions, and meetings were also opportunities to be immersed in SAP's strategies. The meticulously crafted show floor established a start-to-finish journey through SAP's modules, and the conference created dedicated spaces throughout the halls to focus on education, activations, and peer-to-peer conversations.

The result was a Sapphire experience with theme messaging, “Bring out your best,” glimmering along blue and silver sequined walls. The show floor was organized around distinct districts. Each segment of the conference halls focused on one component of SAP's strategies. The environment was designed to enable personalized pathways through rich learning opportunities.

Sapphire 2024 was developed to be visually striking, inspiring, and informative from the moment of entry as SAP welcomed current and potential customers and partners, as well as media and analysts, into its world of solutions. Covering 100 feet, LED canopy lighting was suspended over the show floor. The consistent application and progression of lighting arrays established a sense of continuity and forward motion throughout the hall. Soft gray and blue carpeting created pathways and distinct sections. Lounges were integrated throughout the floor to provide comfortable respites for attendees, with easily moveable tables and seating enabling collaborative conversations. Overhead signage distinguished areas like Applications or the Services and Support Expert Center, each core to SAP's offerings. More than 4,000 live trees and other plants not only enhanced the natural feeling of the space, but reduced stress and improved air quality and cognition, thereby prioritizing the overall health and well-being of the conference attendees.

Sapphire 2024's keynotes were broadcast throughout the event's theater district, which comprised 33 distinct theaters. The keynote theater seated 5,000 people, while two large theaters sat 400 each, and 30 smaller theaters could accommodate between 75 and 125 people.

And this setup enabled Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, to open Sapphire 2024 delivering a clear assertion about the changing technology landscape affecting the entire audience: “We are entering a new phase of AI,” he said, “with endless possibilities for all of us.”

An Ecosystem of Partners
One of the most important elements behind the design and the programming of Sapphire 2024 was to put SAP's global customers and partner brands at its forefront. This meant creating an environment where each attendee's interests could be realized. Multiple activities occurred simultaneously, including spontaneous networking opportunities in nourishing spaces that embraced sustainable practices in design and function. Sessions included customer success stories, strategy talks, solution demos, deep dives, and one-on-one conversations with experts.

Thoughtful applications of digital technologies improved navigation and clear messaging around schedules. In partnership with SAP's internal IT team, the event teams relied on digital demonstration headers and agenda monitors for real-time updates, delivering a more effective, seamless, and sustainable alternative to printing and replacing physical signage. For those unable to attend in person, the virtual conference extended its reach with live footage, curated on-demand content, and expert sessions tailored around SAP's partner ecosystem. “The value of that virtual event takes us further in the year,” said Samuels, noting the long tail of online engagement. “It carries that moment where the physical event is done.”

From the onset, SAP aimed to integrate partners into at least 25 percent of the content presented at Sapphire 2024, featuring their stories as critical parts of the overall SAP story — and a measure of its success. From advance engagement to post-event follow-up, SAP provided sponsorship solutions and around-the-clock support to SAP's most strategic global partners, resulting in more than 150 successful sponsor-led content sessions that featured more than 350 speakers. These cross-team collaborations were designed to drive strategic sponsorships, increase revenue, offset costs, ensure partner satisfaction, and strengthen the overall attendee experience.

The Americas SAP Users Group (ASUG) organized expert-led seminars and content-specific roadmap sessions in advance of the main event, and a concurrent SAP Select event offered further exclusive access for C-Suite customers to engage with SAP's leadership and featured speakers. (SAP also runs TechEd, a separate user- and practitioner-centered conference that is held each fall.) Ultimately, 50 percent of the content that was delivered on-site were partner-led sessions. Partners' physical presence also was woven into the “SAP solution” areas to highlight their successes. The overall results further boosted brand visibility, customer engagement, and lead generation.

With executives from Amazon, Microsoft, PwC, and other organizations in featured slots, more than half (57 percent) of all speakers were customers, and 25 percent were industry partners. These sessions amplified customer and partner voices as critical to SAP's industry leadership.

Measuring Results
Even with aggressive goals to showcase SAP's expertise and end-to-end enterprise solutions and to fuel new opportunities and pipeline growth, the event results surpassed expectations. “In 2024, we exceeded all the goals, all of the registration goals, the attendance goals,” said Samuels. “All of the KPIs for pipe acceleration and deal closing were exceeded in 2024.”

From the beginning, the immersive conference design helped build anticipation among attendees and encourage advance registrations. Because of these efforts, partner attendance grew year over year by 20 percent in Orlando and 45 percent in Barcelona. On-site, the success story continued. More than 5,000 meetings took place on the show floor — a year-over-year increase of 28 percent. SAP's total cloud pipeline touched by the events grew by approximately 30 percent compared to 2023. Sponsorship packages sold out four months before the conferences, delivering sponsorship revenue growth while maintaining high partner satisfaction. And the sales process shortened the timeline for SAP to close and collect. â?¯

In building this strong sales pipeline, Sapphire 2024 managed and supported more than 43,500 square feet of booth space and extensive graphics through an intense advance review process. SAP also helped facilitate more than 2,600 hours of meetings between sponsors and customers. To achieve these results, internal teams effectively managed communications with more than 600 partners, from initial sales outreach through final debriefs.

In total, Sapphire 2024 engaged more than 28,000 attendees through its global programming. In terms of gender representation, roughly 37 percent of speakers in Orlando were women — a 4 percent increase from 2023 — and 38 percent of speakers in Barcelona were women. Furthermore, SAP's global communications team managed outreach to media, analysts, and industry influencers, welcoming more than 100 journalists and analysts and driving more than 700 articles in global industry outlets covering announcements, keynotes, partners, and more.

And customer satisfaction hit an all-time high: Barcelona achieved a 96 percent satisfaction rating, Orlando hit 92 percent, and the virtual component was strong at 89 percent. Customer feedback celebrated the overall layout of the show floor and the immersive experience, integrated branding, and production quality, with repeat attendees reporting Sapphire 2024 as the best Sapphire they could remember. The quality and relevance of session content also garnered top ratings. An AI architect at a major U.S. university wrote that the integration of Joule into SAP's supply chain efforts “could be huge,” especially in helping customers predict demand and rectify potential issues. Other partners highlighted how “exploring SAP's latest innovations has been truly inspiring” and commented on the “positive energy for everyone.”

“Slam dunk, SAP team!” wrote one attendee. “The conference was extremely well organized and ran very smoothly. The organizers thought of everything needed, such as ample meeting and networking spaces, well-labeled theaters, booths, and show floor maps, plus spaces for relaxing and quiet time.” Others noted their appreciation for “the opportunity to directly meet with SAP executives, partners, and industry experts,” “connecting with fellow SAP customers,” “learning about their vision for the future,” and “hearing about their best practices to help us get the most out of our investment.”

Not all celebrated outcomes were a matter of metrics. With sustainability a critical element throughout planning, hardwood floor paneling in Orlando was donated to a local Habitat for Humanity program and all remaining food that was safe to be donated was given to Second Harvest Food Bank, a regional organization that worked with regional partners to provide more than 6,000 lunches to those in need in the surrounding communities. Dishware and utensils were compostable bio-based products made from renewable raw materials to reduce the overall carbon footprint from the conference. In Barcelona, washable chinaware and glassware further minimized waste. An embrace of the Freeman-designed adaptable asset program mitigated new builds and material waste, while also repurposing components and crates from Sapphire 2023. By opting to rent through the Freeman Flex system, SAP further reduced the need for the disposal of materials used in common single-use construction methods.

“Most of our solutions have a sustainability aspect to them, like how can you be more sustainable, whether it's where you're sourcing your product from, whom you're selling to, who made those things,” said Samuels, connecting SAP's stated commitment to sustainability on the conference floor with its business offerings. “All of our SAP software has all of that built in.”

Looking Ahead
Continuing its evolution, Sapphire 2024 established a sturdy foundation for the company to expand upon in 2025 — with conferences held in Orlando again and in Madrid, with continued attention to SAP's virtual audience. While business AI in particular claims ever more of the industry's attention, the content framework tied in with the immersive and innovative design reinforced SAP's longtime role in the industry as well as its belief in its technology to deliver in new ways. “This year we're launching into the way we sell our product, which is now a complete package — the full SAP business suite,” said Samuels. “'Bring out your best' was our kickoff.” E