When two worlds collide for the better

This post was done in collaboration with Hubilo.

Most of us are no longer unfamiliar with the world of virtual events. In 2020, brands and event organisers had to rethink what holding an event meant as markets underwent rapid lockdowns.

While event organisers were undoubtedly some of the most creative minds in the marketing industry when it came to physical executions, many struggled to push the boundaries of virtual, said Cathy Song Novelli, SVP of marketing and communications at Hubilo.

Most event organisers and brands in this space, were simply trying to keep up, she shared during a recent webinar held by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, in collaboration with Hubilo, titled “Best of both worlds – driving engagement and competitive advantage with the power of hybrid events”.

“Event organisers are some of the most creative minds in marketing. But I think a great majority within the industry were sort of thinking that they’ll do these virtual executions until the world gets back to normal,” Novelli said.

She said that most were simply not pushing boundaries because they didn’t think this would be the way of the future.

“The biggest thing that has surprised me is how long that trend has really lasted,” she added.

But the trend is finally shifting, she explained. The event industry as whole is starting to experiment and push the boundaries with executions such as 3D and green screens, and AR and VR. This comes as companies are starting to feel the pressure of generating a pipeline with a much smaller budget.

“I think that they’re right now, creativity from in-person events is starting to bleed into virtual because event organisers are realising it’s not going to go away as soon as we all hoped,” she said.

Managing director at Mercury Marketing & Communications, Tjin Lee, also agreed with Novelli’s initial statement, saying that most companies would prefer to stay in their comfort zone than adapt.

“Because our events had in the past been so successful, we’ve never had to evolve or to change,” she added.

Speaking from her experiences, she addresses the fact creatives now need to think out of the box and challenge themselves to rethink events and executions as a whole.

For example, while social media had always been a staple part of her business offering, it was never really married into events. Rather, it was seen as an additional offering. But last year, as clients moved to hosting events online, PR and social media had to be married into the online execution as an integral part of the holistic offering.

Reskilling and upskilling

Lee also highlighted the importance of staying nimble and unlearning processes of the past to adapt to the new world. She added that employees at Mercury had to rethink and reshape their minds and think of events in a virtual format.

However, Lee said that not all were able to keep up with the speed of change and the skills needed in the world of virtual. This led to the event industry as a whole seeing departures of some very senior talent.

“Some of these departures were from very experienced senior individuals – people with over 20 years of experience, and they did not want to be back in a digital classroom, learning everything from scratch again, and I understand that,” Lee said.

However, with these people leaving, it has paved the way for new recruitment opportunities, people who enjoy digital or digital natives, she said. A firm believer in reverse learning, Lee said that she’s been keeping up with the changes by learning from the younger fresher blood in her agency.

“I think it’s fantastic to see how young people can really come to the forefront at times like these and how much we can learn from them.”

Echoing similar sentiments was Malati Singh, events director at Rebel and Soul, who said that 2020 presented a really “interesting time to learn” for the agency.

Rebel and Soul spent a fair amount of its time trying to make its employees feel supported and giving them avenues to upskill their offerings. With the challenging times, and with the shift in lifestyle and workplace environment, the agency focused on keeping its staff upbeat and motivated – especially with a majority of employees working from home.

What will we see in 2022?

As companies approach 2022, there are likely to be changes in the brand activation and events scene. According to Novelli: “Next year will see a lot more leaning into new technologies; people are going to try to play a lot more with green screens, 3D and maybe AR and VR.”

While she predicts that AR and VR may pose some challenges as the end user needs to have the technology in order to access them, event organisers and creators should definitely not stop experimenting, she says.

Similarly, Singh also commented that the livelihood of the industry is going to experience a boom. As people come out harder and faster, the industry is going to see a lot of amazing technologies that have been facilitated online over the past few years, such as PR, but in the live space.

“One thing we will keep recommending is keeping an element of surprise because you have to keep the intrigue there for your virtual events,” she said.

Lee also added she thinks live events will indeed return – and with a vengeance.

“It will be a marriage of online to offline or offline to online, and I think it will be an exciting time”, she said.