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Events COVID-19 Experiential Marketing

The next frontier for live experiences: creating a perfect blend

dentsu UK & Ireland

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February 12, 2021 | 5 min read

The Covid-19 pandemic has heightened our appreciation of the things that we love

It is experiences that ultimately bring us the most joy, smiles, bellyaches of laughter, and the priceless stories to be regaled in the future. It’s those experiences that last a lifetime and bond us together.

What makes a ‘vintage year’ for you? If you’re anything like me, it is the people you spend time with, the events you go to with people you love – birthday parties, festivals, football matches, holidays and so much more.

2020 was certainly not a vintage year for those in the events industry. After almost 12 months of living in virtual world, has the fire for experiences been extinguished, or is it merely ‘on hold’?

MKTG’s inaugural Frontier X research into the live experiences industry captures a snapshot of how those who work in the events and live experiences industry are feeling in such a tumultuous time. Surveyed in September 2020, our global respondents of brands and agencies reflected on the continuing impact of Covid-19 and on their long-term view of the events industry beyond 2021.

Confidence in physical events remains high

Frontier X found that 85%, of respondents agree that there is still a place for physical events with only a small minority of 3% saying that live events are a “thing of the past”. Audience engagement is still seen to be strongest at live events. This vote of confidence bodes well for the industry when things start to return to normal.

The convergence of physical and virtual events has been accelerated

The research found that there was a lot of positivity around the development of more hybrid events – where virtual and live events converge. There was a strong conviction that the two can complement each other well, and 84% of our respondents agreed that hybrid experiences will increase reach and engagement.

While virtual events are usually viewed as the ‘supporting element’ brands need to ensure that they make the virtual audience feel just as valued. Creating special content and interactive features will help to ensure this audience also have an engaging and memorable experience and not a ‘watered down’ version of the live event. Brands therefore need to pay just as much attention and thought to the virtual event as you would the physical one.

Virtual experiences need to be more compelling and immersive

Two-thirds of our audience said that virtual trade shows are not as effective as live. It could be that respondents have had little experience in seeing virtual demos as they are still relatively new, or those they have seen have not been executed well with the necessary high production values to be made compelling.

This is where technology that enables mixed-reality content to interact with physical objects and people in real-time will be key while interfacing with standard enterprise packages such as Zoom, helping brands to engage virtually in a compelling way.

Consumers are seeking out brands whose events have a deeper societal purpose

In fact, 70% of our respondents thought that consumers see this as important. You can understand why, events are such an integral touchpoint for brands as it is a face-to-face engagement with their audience. It therefore needs to be aligned with the brand’s values to ensure that they are seen to be both authentic and consistent.

There is also a desire for brands to actively support local communities. Acting locally is gaining more traction to bring brands closer to their audiences, especially as people are travelling less outside of their immediate communities with a dramatic fall in commuting as people increasingly work from home.

You need to be ‘tooled up’ to have confidence in measuring live experiences

The more data and research tools used by an organisation, the more confident our respondents felt in measuring the effectiveness of live events. 95% felt confident in measurement if they had 9+ research tools to measure effectiveness. However, the specific data and research tools used don’t appear to make a difference. It’s more about using a variety of methods to measure ROI.

Ultimately, there is no one single metric to measure success, it should be a mix of data that is used to judge overall effectiveness. This includes everything from time spent engaging with the brand, uplifts in brand awareness and sentiment, dwell times, social sharing, footfall, and sales.

The future of events is blended experiences

Investment and interest in virtual events will increase as a way of bringing together audiences when many will want to avoid travel, or feel the need to be there in person. This in effect has the power to then draw in much bigger audiences. Consumers can now be reached across different and complementary platforms, which is brilliant for brands seeking to widen their appeal and reach new audiences.

Humans, businesses and brands thrive on connection. The pandemic has shone a light on the things we really miss as well as both the limits and the limitless potential of technology to enable and enhance experiences in the future. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

The events and live experiences industry has more than risen to the challenge; a powerful future lies ahead as consumers and brands connect as never before.

Sarah Hazlehurst is Managing Partner at dentsu UK's MKTG

Events COVID-19 Experiential Marketing

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