Last September 21st we had the honor of attending the event on ”The immediate and lasting future of events in marketing plans” organized by EventoPlus. Several professionals of the sector gave us their point of view about the current state of events, and how we are facing a new era that requires new techniques and strategies.
That’s why, in today’s post we want to talk a bit as an expert Brand Experience agency,about the highlights in this new era.
New events require new targets.
During the event, the word ”tribe” was used to refer to these new types of consumers who are increasingly aware of what they want and how brands try to sell it to them.
Any marketer knows that before launching a product or creating an event, it is necessary to have a defined target. However, now we need to rethink again who we are targeting, as those who used to seem like our ideal audience may not be the ones we are trying to sell to. We marketers need to start thinking about what occasions we want to build for which audience and start communicating from there.
This is how we will build customer loyalty from now on. The importance no longer falls on what the brand offers, but on what the user wants. They are put at the center of all communication to create a relationship with them and generate an experience. Experience is connection and connection is loyalty.
That’s why we need to create the events of the future with our tribe in mind. Depending on our objective we need to specify which events we should do. And all this integrated into the strategy in a holistic way, so that all brand objectives are aligned with consumer needs.
Sustainable brand experiences
As you know, we love to talk about sustainability, but this time it’s not the sustainability you think. By sustainability we mean creating experiences that last over time and keep the consumer by our side for years, not experiences that offer a moment of happiness to the consumer, but do not ensure their loyalty.
This is achieved, as we said before, by putting the consumer at the center of all our communications, listening to what they want and need and responding to their demands. This is why it is necessary to think about long-term experiences.
Accompanying consumers throughout their lives guarantees loyalty and a deep-rooted feeling that can spread through word-of-mouth. This is called brand satisfaction as a time value.
If a consumer is happy with your brand, and accompanies him over time, either with experiences, messages, and even promotions; we not only build loyalty so that he is part of the brand for years; he also functions as a content creator. We move from storytelling to storydoing, making them part of our story and our values.
How?
What you read. The content creators of this era are not the brands, but the consumers. Events and activations are just formats. If a consumer is happy, he will be the best promoter of your brand. He himself will be in charge of letting everyone know through word of mouth, networks or active participation in your campaigns that your brand is the best.
But this can only be achieved with sustainability over time as a brand experience.
The new event formats of the future
So, what will be the model in this new era of events? In the EventoPlus talk itself, this was discussed, and all the speakers agreed on one thing: corality. The events of the future will be choral events.
Creating brand-centric conferences and events was a pre-pandemic force and a very useful way to create brand image.
But in an era where time is the most precious added value, consumers don’t want or have time to be invested in a single brand. Hence the need to create choral events, where different brands collaborate to create an experience and position themselves as experts in the sector.
We put the user at the center of our communications, not thinking about what we as a brand stand to gain, but what they as consumers stand to gain.
The reality is that the events sector has undergone a great change, but we cannot remain stagnant, because events will continue to evolve without waiting for anyone. Having an agency by your side to accompany you in the process of adapting to this new era is fundamental.
At Grupo WDi we are always thinking of you and we want to help you create the right strategy, with innovative and disruptive events that put you in the spotlight. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you are curious and want to know how we do it!