Summer 2022 marked a moment of true restart for the world of events.

The possibility offered by the beautiful season to organize outdoor events has given a boost to the sector, which however has not forgotten digital events, albeit rethought in an innovative way to face new trends. Each additional element that is inserted within the organization of an event, online or in person, must be designed to create increasingly interconnected experiences for the public.

The events proposed in recent months have increasingly highlighted some of the changes that the sector is experiencing. Working in the world of experiences, it is essential for us to fully understand the changes that are taking place in the sector, for this reason, we have decided to carry out an overview to analyze the most interesting ones.

The first element that can be noticed is also one of the hottest topics at the moment: sustainability. Being respectful of the environment is difficult and at the same time fundamental, especially when we are faced with in-person events with a certain turnout.

Many companies have decided to translate some physical events into digital ones, increasing their reach and combining two of the current trends, sustainability and omnichannel.

Just Eat, on the occasion of the Women’s Euro 2022, moved in this direction: the brand managed to get noticed for the interactive stand created together with TRO, an experience that involved the public during the days of the event, maintaining particular attention to the environmental issue. On the evening of the final of the European Women’s Football Championship, the brand served all the food on sale in biodegradable packaging, to underline the company’s real commitment to such an important issue, especially on the occasion of an event of such resonance.

There are various ways to undertake more eco-sustainable approaches, and it is precisely for this reason that many companies have decided to translate some physical events into digital ones, increasing their reach and combining two of the current trends, sustainability and omnichannel.

Through a survey submitted by LinkedIn in 2022 to 1800 event organizers, it emerged that 42% will continue to choose virtual or hybrid events also for reasons related to sustainability.

However, it is essential not to fall into the temptation to consider digital events as a replacement for in-person ones: the last two years have taught us how essential it is to rethink them by adapting the programming of each event to the needs of the public. Today we are no longer able to follow a single event for 6 or even 8 hours in a row: the attention we show towards online events has inevitably decreased over the last two years. Being able to mantenere alti livelli di coinvolgimento e attenzione è diventata una vera e propria sfida. Anche per questo motivo abbiamo notato una propensione verso eventi più brevi ma continuativi e con una maggiore frequenza. 

It is therefore necessary to change the programming of events, evaluating meetings with a not-too-long duration that are interactive and engaging. This is precisely the case of the cycle of 6 digital seminars organized for one of our leading clients in the pharmaceutical sector.

ATTR-ACTION, an event created for Pfizer in the field of rare diseases, involved 45 specialists from different Italian regions as speakers. The webinars took place in May and June and their organization took into account the evolution of the panorama of online events. By opting for less than 2 hours, we made them interactive thanks to Q&A moments, sharing immediate feedback and thanks to round tables. The mix of frontal presentations with moments of interaction is useful both to obtain a greater performance in terms of attention and to collect live feedback on the event and be ready to modify some elements in progress.

The mix of frontal presentations with moments of interaction is useful for obtaining greater performance and live feedback.

The in-person events sector has finally restarted after two years of hiatus and in this case, too we have seen some changes. In particular, the greater frequency in the organization of small events can also be found in the organization of live experiences. Many small continuous activations that extend over time are preferred to a single event lasting one or a few days. This choice not only increases brand awareness but also allows companies to adopt a Test & Learn approach.

This philosophy was also adopted by Inventa TRO for the organization of the St-Germain Les Amis Tour, a journey to discover elderflower liqueur. The brand, part of the Bacardi group, wanted to organize a tour consisting of more than 350 stops that took place in numerous locations in Italy during the summer of 2022.

Benedetta De Rosa, Account Manager at Inventa TRO, tells us “The decision to organize small events to the detriment of larger ones is a strategic choice because, in addition to increasing the visibility of the brand, you can also obtain greater commercial profits.”
Making an experience unique is not easy, standing out from other brands in a panorama so rich in communication stimuli is a daily challenge, for this reason even the choice of location is becoming a fundamental element for the creation of events.

The location is no longer understood as a simple frame, but as a narrative element that serves to understand the storytelling that lies behind the creation of each experience.

There are various ways to exploit this trend: presiding over cultural places of particular impact is certainly a way to create an emotional effect; redeveloping characteristic and innovative environments with an urban style is useful for creating a more modern environment and if you do not have an impactful place in which to hold the event, you can build a stand in line with the storytelling, in fact creating from scratch an environment that fully reflects the brand essence and that can engage the public is another way to put the location at the centre of the narrative.

In short, every summer brands compete to emerge and be noticed by the public and it is therefore normal that you can notice some changes that become increasingly popular. Understanding them, exploiting them and adapting them with a critical sense to the needs of each project is the basis of all our work, past and future. The next season promises to be full of events and we can’t wait to create the next experience, stay tuned!