22Miles: Seizing the AI Moment

In the early days of 2023, 22Miles could lay claim to many titles. Award-winning digital signage innovators? Absolutely. The most flexible visual communications content management system on the market? Without a doubt. True partners, who see every project through to a successful conclusion? Their dealers affirm it time and again. Naturally, Caster had many great stories on the docket for the 2023 PR strategy and content calendar. One title, however, was not initially on our radar: 22Miles, artificial intelligence pioneer.

Flash forward to Q2: With mere weeks to go before InfoComm – one of the most important events of the year for the North American Pro AV industry – 22Miles invited Caster into discussions about an ambitious new direction for the company. Founder and CEO Joey Zhao was developing a vision that integrated 22Miles’s unrivaled 3D wayfinding and deep stack of API integrations with the conversational capabilities of large language model (LLM) AI like ChatGPT. At this stage, the discussion was all possibilities and no product – but Zhao insisted he could have a proof-of-concept ready to demonstrate at InfoComm.

This was big. In June of 2023, AI was the hottest topic in tech – however, very few enterprise AV companies had integrated LLM capabilities into their solutions. Conversational AI capabilities could be a serious stand-out for 22Miles in a crowded field at InfoComm. At the same time, however, time and options were limited. The team was already weeks into executing a show messaging strategy focused on the API integrations, scalability, and customization options offered by the 22Miles content management system (CMS). Editorial deadlines for at-show publications were long past, and embargoed press releases were already in the hands of busy trade editors. Caster was tasked with amplifying the new 22Miles AI capabilities without allowing the news to be drowned out by the already boisterous tradeshow news cycle.

The Strategy

At Caster, we firmly believe that tradeshows are a touchpoint, not a communications strategy. While we always capitalize on opportunities to connect with the media at InfoComm 2024, we also aim for a steady burn rather than a flash in the pan. Caster used the surprise reveal of the 22Miles AI Wayfinding Assistant – which enhanced the brand’s trusted wayfinding app with conversational AI capabilities – to kick off a sustained AI brand leadership campaign.

In the days leading up to the show, Caster initiated the spark by entering the new 22Miles solution for late-breaking awards that were adjudicated at the tradeshow. Then, onsite, Caster spread grassroots awareness of the app by demonstrating to the press and influencers how it supported show navigation, using the app on Caster devices to direct them to the 22Miles booth to get it for themselves. With incredibly positive reception, 22Miles won the AV Technology Best of Show and Pro AV Best in Market awards for its new Wayfinding AI assistant.

Caster leveraged the app’s accolades to secure a fresh round of coverage for the AI Wayfinding Assistant post-show. With the proof points well established, Caster then embarked on a thought leadership campaign to position 22Miles as a pro AV industry leader in enterprise AI strategy, pitching and securing thought leadership opportunities for 22Miles Chief Revenue Officer Tomer Mann. The campaign would culminate in announcing three new official AI-driven products from 22Miles, guiding a natural continuation of the ongoing thought leadership narratives and bolstering the brand’s market stance into 2024.