How Our Agency Turned Meetings into Must-Watch TV

“Cue lights. Ready camera 1. Standby for host entrance. Ready camera 2. Standby audio. Standby graphics. Let’s roll the opening title sequence in 3, 2, 1—cue video. We’re live!”

This might remind you of a TV studio or control room. Picture the flurry of people with headsets directing cameras as screens pop to life with that unmistakable video magic.

Now, picture all of that taking place within the confines of an ad agency. 

Welcome to MOSHO: the live, hour-long TV show we produce every few months to celebrate our agency’s people, culture and accomplishments—filmed with a studio audience and broadcast live to our global offices. Internally, MOSHO is known for celebrating our Klicksters, philanthropic efforts, engagement activities, agency wins, cultural highlights and achievements. 

We used to host quarterly Mojo meetings with the same mission, each one led by our Toronto, New York or Philly offices and streamed across Zoom.

Unfortunately, not everyone was feeling the love. At the start of 2024, agency execs Dave Holmes and Glenn Zujew saw that our Zoom viewers weren’t feeling the same energy as our live audience members.

Dave and Glenn brought me into the fold to help figure out how we might leap from running a Zoom meeting to producing a broadcast-level show. I knew we had the technical chops to rise to the occasion. However, creating a shared “Klickified” global experience would take a village, so we gathered our various specialty teams. We challenged ourselves to make sure every Klickster felt connected and deliver:

• The same energy to both in-person and remote audiences;
• Dynamic content that is memorable and people-first (goodbye, slides!)
• The feeling of intimate connection despite having a global audience of 1,500 across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Dave and Glenn also called our attention to the best-in-class live shows that achieve all three of these promises. Oprah and Jimmy Kimmel make us feel like we’re in the room, no matter where we’re watching from.

We developed a live TV talk-show formula with a high-energy host, engaging segments, guest appearances, a slick graphics package/sequence and plenty of surprises. We created a four-camera setup, live audio mix and all the bells and whistles you’d expect on your favorite talk show. We transformed our large Toronto Café into a live TV studio with theater-style seating, a set, displays for video packages and professional lighting. On show day, we filled the audience with Klicksters, sharing an immersive, fun and exciting experience.

We kept our audience grounded in a classic talk format while ensuring the unique Klick magic shone through:

• We cut slides entirely and put our people first and at the heart of the show.
• We produced moments celebrating our people. 
• We cut together “slice-of-life” montages, like a segment of Klicksters’ families hilariously answering the question “What do you do for work?”
• We also created segments that share behind-the-scenes stories from our most recent work.

To amplify the energy, we produced a dual-screen experience for our remote audience with Slack to ensure key information was received and retained. We appointed a live Slack correspondent to prompt our audience and further curate their experience. We incorporated live hits from other offices, synchronized moments where multiple offices were part of the broadcast, and even hosted viewing parties in our international workspaces. We also rewarded participation, starting with a free takeaway lunch for our studio audiences.

We’ve broadcast two MOSHOs so far with more in the works. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that MOSHO isn’t just a show; it’s a testament to our relentless pursuit of culture and connection. It’s about turning ordinary meetings into extraordinary experiences, bringing us closer despite the distances. MOSHO is proof that when creativity meets innovation, magic happens.