Creative events have been really helpful in this period. Since the beginning of this year, the world has experienced an unprecedented health crisis that has brought our lives to a standstill. A situation that no company could foresee, impacting the economic market and disrupting human contact.
Some sectors are more affected than others, but what about the events? Since the beginning of the health crisis, hundreds of events have been cancelled, bringing the sector to a complete standstill. This situation has led to major budget cuts, approximately 16 million euros for the CEO of GL Events, Olivier Ginon.
It is necessary to bounce back during the crisis and especially afterwards. To do this, advertisers must implement a communication strategy that protects its clients, while offering them real immersion. It is therefore essential to reinvent services and give a new lease of life to the organization of creative events in order to maintain human contact with its various audiences.
Innovation is the key to success, which is why agencies must react at all costs and show that even thought they may be physically far from their clients and staff, they remain present in their daily lives.This is why in this article we present different solutions that will allow you to keep this contact with them.
Post-Corona : How to reinvent your communication strategy thanks to digital?
If you wish to continue developing a communication strategy during containment, this is possible, thanks to digital! The GlobalwebIndex study shows us that during confinement 76% of the population admits to spend more time on their phone. This proves us that the Internet and screens have become vital to the population to work, communicate with their entourage but especially to fill the boredom.
Individuals are looking for entertainment and novelty that can brighten up their days and make them forget about confinement. This is where creative event agencies come into play, as they are brimming with creativity to find new formats that are as innovative as they are engaging. In view of the circumstances, it is thus necessary to focus its strategy on digital, whether by creating creative events on the internet, seminars, or live events on social networks. Internally, many companies use platforms to communicate during the confinement: Zoom, Teams, Skype are the most used. From an external point of view, companies are more interested in social networks because it is easier to communicate with their community. A simple hashtag can create a buzz and allow those who use it to have a sense of belonging. Digital allows for the promotion of new jobs (community managers, graphic designer, web designer) and finally recruitment since every day we reinvent marketing, communication, strategies and especially events.
Competition can often block some agencies from wanting to evolve, especially in the field of communication. With the confinement, all companies have moved towards digital. This is why it is necessary to succeed in differentiating oneself by creating your own marketing campaigns. Bstaff, for example, during the confinement, produced a series of articles called “WordTour“, which aimed to talk about different topics from around the world. Here we have an element that allowed us to maintain cohesion with our audience, through the novelty and the subject that is related to our brand. Each agency must act according to the image it wants to project to its different audiences by proposing content that is different from that of its competitors.
Strategies for creative events as impactful as face-to-face events
The challenge for the events sector is to allow its audience to enter another dimension for a moment, or to catch the eye. This is why, during confinement, events must be as impactful as on live. That’s why we find this practice through immersive creative events and data driven. Multiple strategies are used thanks to the evolution of trans-humanism starting with artificial intelligence or robotics.
Strategies can also be based on olfactory or taste marketing. Usually we find this strategy on many stores, in perfume shops or when we are offered to try something before buying it. By the current situation it is an interesting solution, where consumers receive a package that allows them to be connected with the company either by taste (cheese, cookies), or by smell. The packaging is also important because the first impression of the customer will be this one. The strategy will focus on the product and what the companies want to show.
Influencers are also a great solution since they are present on social networks and often have a large community. Indeed, they are the spokespersons, individuals trust them and follow their advice. At the present time when events are not yet allowed, influencers can be of great help and by bringing them up you can actually reach millions of people.
Webinars and Social Media Lives
Webinar is still an unfamiliar word to some people, yet necessary and useful during this confinement since they are simply online seminars. They have been developing more and more in recent years. Until now, they were used to allow people who could not travel to attend a conference. Today, it is the ideal tool to continue our seminars at home in a private circle! A platform that allows us to communicate not only via video but also via chat to allow everyone to interact. An adequate solution to the current situation but which is above all sustainable and within everyone’s reach.
In a circle targeting a larger community, social networks are also ideal platforms to communicate! Instagram and Youtube lives have become a more than innovative strategy to interact with a larger audience. As we have observed, Instagram lives have been a success and have multiplied during the confinement. A simple and effective tool, indeed, it is within everyone’s reach and especially live at a specific time. These lives can even be qualified as a show because it entertains us but the advantage is to be able to ask questions instantly and for the luckiest to get an answer!
These two tools allow us to reach the objectives set by the company while saving time by avoiding travel. Moreover, these platforms are and will be more than certain to be valued since by limiting real interactions they avoid the spread of viruses while targeting the desired audience. Companies that use these digital tools will obtain a good brand image because of the security offered. It is especially an asset for companies to convey a message during their live events and to be more than creative and innovative to achieve quality live creative events.
Post-corona goodies
Despite its many human and economic losses, we must succeed in taking advantage of this crisis because it can provide a springboard for certain agencies. Goodies are often small gadgets that help to maintain a sense of belonging with the company both internally and externally with, for example, pens and other innovative gadgets.
It can be assumed that in the future companies will focus their budgets more on goodies in order to revive the brand image in the minds of the consumer and rekindle employee loyalty. Masks, hand sanitizer, face shield or other products are more than necessary in our daily lives since the health crisis. Companies can strategically use them and distribute them as goodies. This will allow to obtain a good image but above all the opportunity to stand out from competitors and to innovate.
Resize events
To get out of this situation, the events sector must think about the future and adopt new changes. We need to think about a post-containment strategy. To do this, adopting a path based on eco-responsibility may be interesting or even essential in a few years time. The interest is to learn from the sanitary context that it is preferable, for example, to opt for events with short circuits through direct sales without intermediaries, to put forward local producers.
In the same way, we must not forget to propose an event that respects the restrictions by guaranteeing intact hygiene and safety. Indeed, the reliability of the event will be above all the promise of safety, hygiene and barrier gestures to not endanger any guest or employee.
The events will then be carried out in small groups for safety, which is why it will be necessary to be strategic with regard to the guests while not compromising those who cannot come. Thanks to this, we can choose to focus on different means such as live broadcasts, sharing on social networks or the digital wall. So many devices that we can put in place while guaranteeing the best for the guests. The event sector will always reinvent itself despite the new restrictions.
Finally, COVID-19 has taught us that from one day to the next, our daily lives, our job, our way of life can change and become completely disoriented. This has been reflected in the events sector, as the study by the newspaper Écho showed us, which indicates a loss of around 15 billion euros in this sector.
The loss of human contact is complicated but it is imperative to keep the link. Agencies had to be creative before the health crisis to differentiate themselves from their competitors but since then, creativity is no longer enough.
Innovating, learning lessons, adapting to this new environment may seem like vague advice but they will be the solutions of tomorrow. Let’s not forget the internal part of the company which must surely have had doubts and uncertainties about their agencies and their future. It is therefore important to adopt a more transparent policy both internally and externally.
We must take advantage of this crisis and absorb the positive side of it in order to roll out something new through new posts, means of communication or even interactive content. While waiting for the normal, we must then focus on the different solutions listed in our article and take into account the health context by adopting safety gestures and not forget the ecological side.