#MarketingEventsAwards 2021 spills: Trinax bets on the metaverse in 2022

Founded in 2011, Trinax is a creative technology agency in Singapore that specialises in designing and developing interactive digital experiences built on an omnichannel framework. According to the agency, these frameworks enable marketers, retailers, and creatives to conduct meaningful and experiential offline-to-online (O2O) engagements with end consumers.

Its projects include Guardian's spend and win jackpot game, OSIM's VR experience, McCallan's interactive concierge, Shiseido's ultimune beauty challenge and Kiehl's future made better virtual festive, among others. It is no wonder that the agency managed to impress the judges, clinching the silver award in Best Retail / Shopper Marketing and Best Virtual Event (B2C) at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Marketing Events Awards 2021. Other awards also include the bronze for Best Virtual Event (B2B). 

In an interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Albin Yeo (pictured), chief innovation and technology officer at Trinax, explained how the industry is changing, and the needs of customers are always evolving. He also added how the use of the metaverse would allow the agency to creatively bridge the gap between the physical and virtual world. With creative story-telling, it will allow the agency to further synergise and engage with its clients and their target audiences, explained Yeo. 

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners and finalists’ interview series for Marketing Events Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here. 

Tell us a little bit about how the past two years have been for you, and the steps you’ve taken to survive and thrive in a tough industry?

Yeo: The pandemic has taken Trinax, and all of us, on a rollercoaster ride these past two years. From the restrictions of physical events to lock-downs, many of us had to rethink our strategy amidst this hurdle.

Here at Trinax, we strongly believe in the investment of our internal growth by providing developmental and learning opportunities. This has allowed us to battle through the pandemic with new technologies and solutions like virtual events and immersive gamification.

Moving forward, it is extremely important to equip ourselves with the right tools and skill-set as we transit into the new normal beyond 2022.

With markets slowly opening up, what do you think 2022 will be like for you?

Yeo: The year 2022 is definitely going to be an interesting year for Trinax. As we continue to innovate and seek out new innovations, we must also anticipate the resumption of physical events.

The industry is always changing and customers’ needs are always evolving; our main focus will be bringing metaverse and creative storytelling to the table. The use of metaverse will allow us to creatively bridge the gap between the physical and virtual world. On top of that, creative story-telling will allow us to further synergise and engage with our clients and their target audiences.

Marketing events and technologies often go hand in hand and as a creative technology agency, Trinax is excited to bring consumers on yet another great adventure in 2022.

What are some of the new challenges you are preparing yourself for and looking to counter?

Yeo: There are always challenges, with or without COVID-19. As with each year, we will always be challenging ourselves to do better than before. How can this marketing activation be better? What kind of solutions are we lacking? These are some of the questions that are constantly on our mind as we work with our clients.

The key challenge for us will be how we can fuse the exciting world of metaverse and creative storytelling with our bread and butter solutions to bring forward a marketing experience like never before. The diversity in the creative and technology industry is what’s keeping us going!

In this new world that we are living in, what do you think a great event really looks like?

Yeo: The pandemic taught us many things, good and bad. With the restrictions of the physical marketing activations and events, many unintentionally discovered the true power of the digital world.

We envision that in this new era, a great event will certainly consist of both physical and digital aspects. These events will also be able to engage the target audiences with no physical and time constraints, in turn achieving even greater results and returns.

Brands and corporations will definitely be looking and yearning for more as we venture further into the future of immersive marketing events.

What will be the role of events in the world of marketing in the future?

Yeo: Immersive and experiential to say the least. In today’s context, marketing events have already evolved beyond the usual likes of physical events with physical games and activities.

In 2020, the industry shifted its focus from physical to digital events. These digital events ranged from virtual exhibitions to interactive showrooms and provided engagements without the limitations of time or space.

Moving forward, we strongly feel that events might not even feel like events to audiences anymore. These events will likely be so customised and immersive that it engages and connects with users effortlessly. These events will therefore act as an extension of the brand, further enhancing the brand experience.