Events have to SHINE! But what does that actually mean? VOK DAMS shows why you have to follow this leitmotif in order to plan and implement successful events.
CHALLENGES TO MARKETING: SOCIAL TRENDS
To develop our success formula for events of the future, we first took a look at social trends and developments. From these, we deduce how events can be successfully planned and implemented.
The Corona pandemic has triggered the “Comfort Bubble Mindset” in all of us. Home office and homeschooling have become the new cornerstones of our daily lives and have reinforced the tendency to spend more and more of our free time within our familiar four walls, leaving our comfort zone only when it is really worth it. Event managers are also faced with a special challenge due to the phenomenon of the “Attitude of Entitlement”: The significantly increased sense of entitlement that can be found in our society. Participants must be convinced that the event offers real added value and a unique experience. That is why only the most special is selected from a wide range of offers; we have become true “cherry-pickers”. In addition, it is becoming increasingly important that our own values match those of organizations and people who surround us – greenwashing, rainbow-washing and co. are being exposed – values are being critically questioned, especially with regard to sustainability. We increasingly expect individual and customized offers. Consideration of the individual and different personality types with different needs is continuously moving into focus. Increasing digitization is also accompanied by the phenomenon of blended reality. The merging of virtuality and reality can be observed more and more in everyday life – our world has long since become hybrid. Related to this is the increasing loss of concentration, focus and long attention spans, as our world becomes steadily faster and more dynamic.
EVENTS HAVE TO SHINE
Our reality has not only become faster but also more complex. We have arrived in the VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity). We see rapid developments everywhere: Markets are changing at breakneck speed and in some cases radically, and in the social sphere we are seeing sometimes even contradictory developments. Our response to the increased complexity is quite clear: We have to open ourselves up to it and use it to develop precisely tailored solutions. To achieve our goal, we have developed the success formula SHINE and use it as a guiding system for our conceptions and planning, as a checklist to counter and further think about concepts and projects.
SHINE stands for Sustainable, Hybrid, Individual, Networkable and Extraordinary – we will have to consider all these attributes in the future in order to continue to run successful events.
SUSTAINABLE
Sustainability is an important topic that raises many questions. And the search for answers leads us to improve our understanding of our environment and the interactions between people. After all, sustainable action is much more than just reducing our ecological footprint. Sustainability consists of three dimensions: ecology, economy and social issues. On the one hand, we must optimize events to become as climate-neutral as possible and compensate for any emissions that occur. Equally important is DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion). DE&I is an important aspect of social sustainability and should be an indispensable part of event planning to take individual needs into account.
HYBRID
Due to the increasing digitalization, also caused by the Corona pandemic, it is important to consider the digital world at events, as it is always present. For this reason, every event today should include hybrid elements, combining live and digital into a holistic experience. Our goal and aspiration must be to produce digital and live content on equal footing – and in such a way that participants can also meet each other on equal footing, whether they are there live or from the screen. We are convinced that the Metaverse will become the ultimate operating system for hybrid events, because there are no limits to the imagination and the social interactions come very close to reality.
INDIVIDUAL
In the coming years, individuality will become a key concept. It will be important to provide the appropriate information to the appropriate individuals at the right time. In our diverse and pluralistic society, the classic target groups and sinus milieus are disappearing all the time. Today, especially in events, we need to focus on the individual, to recognize and serve their needs. By collecting data, we can learn more about the event participants and their interests and respond accordingly. AI will be able to help us optimize our processes and create even better experiences – there are numerous AI tools with helpful features.
NETWORKABLE
Why do we visit events? Not just to see the most thrilling show, but above all, to meet exciting people and gain experience. Social interaction is what every human being naturally strives for. We’ve had 3 years of a pandemic where all of that has come up short. That’s why networking is considered key for successful events in 2023! The agenda should not be so full that participants jump from one program item to the next because it’s all about serendipity – chance encounters that can only happen like this at a live event. It is important to create formats that deliberately create and allow this – whether live or virtual – that facilitate social interaction and create a sense of belonging.
EXTRAORDINARY
How can we do justice to society’s trend towards cherry-picking and an increased sense of entitlement? Our answer is: Extraordinary. Events have to be extraordinary in order to lure people out of their comfort bubbles. To guarantee success, an event must be inspiring, positively surprise participants, and sometimes break through expectations. We assume that in the future there will be a digital background noise with live events as highlights. Events will become the pacemaker of marketing: the live campaign idea will come back into play here and events will be the absolute highlight for content. In addition to great images and emotions, we also need high-quality content – which must not be overwhelming but must be snackable in the truest sense.
In summary, we need to create WOW moments – moments that stay in the mind and are positively associated with the brand. We want to create lasting memories, anchor messages emotionally and bring community to life – and what better way to do that than with an event?
Source: VOK DAMS
