#EventEducationFestival: From Experiential Expertise to Understanding Brands and Consumer Journeys

by  Mugdha Gaonkar Industry Watch | July 2, 2021 | News

Event Education Festival Whistling Woods International School of Event Management

In conversation with anchor and moderator Sachin V Kumbhar at the second edition of ‘Event Education Festival’ organised by Whistling Woods International School of Event Management on 1 July 2021, Mansi Negi, Associate Director – Projects, 70 Event Media Group; Sunny Vohra, CEO, Madison TurnT & Anugrah Madison; Gautam Jain, Founder Director, Real Reel, talked about what corporates and brands are looking to do in the experiential space with the help of modern technology and digitisation, and how one could forecast trends and evolve brand solutions during this period.

Technology – Important Role in Brand Evolution

Speaking about technology playing an important role in the brand evolution, Negi said, “It has opened a new dimension for us. In the beginning of last year for most experiential planners, agencies or brands, going completely virtual was a very foreign concept. Digital technologies were always a part of any brand campaign that happened so far but it did not lead to the entire event experience that we used to build.”

Noting that the challenges and the hardship that were brought to the industry had a silver lining in the form of increase in digital tech, Negi added, “The beauty of this digital tech evolution is that it’s actually allowing brands to explore every avenue of how the virtual world functions. Now brands are certainly experimenting more and each of them are benefiting in different ways. Brands are reaching a wider audience base through virtual/digital tech and they are also nurturing a personal connection through this format. But I still believe that the whole essence of creating experiential engagement will still remain.”

“It’s not just brand evolution, it’s an evolution process of event management as an industry  and this is the right time to get into these new dimensions of event management. We have been doing on-ground events for so many years and we will keep on doing it but for people like us this technology and the digitisation is a new dimension. I believe it’s a good time for the students to look forward and play with on-ground, technology and the demands of the brands and integrate them together to create a great experience,” said Jain.

Training Workforce

Vohra explained that a lot of time has been spent in understanding the new terms of execution. He added, “I think the real meat is yet to come. In the next six months people need to train their workforces and I believe people have also become more receptive to learn and explore new ideas. The real investment is going to be in training people in data analytics and digital consumer journeys. Moving forward it will be a better time for the students to enter into this space.”

Consumers Have Evolved, Too!

“This period of pandemic has given us clarity on what we need and what we want. Consumers are now becoming more invested in solution-based branding so we have to be very cautious while branding. Now, needs and wants are the two things that we need to cater to along with the various other factors,” said Jain.

Concluding with a piece of advice, Vohra said, “Initially our pitches were more from the experiential point of view. But now the education should be about, when you are going for a pitch you should have a thorough knowledge of the entire ecosystem of the brand. This is going to be the biggest evolution because currently the brand manager or CMO knows much more about the consumer who is now looking towards much more meaningful experiences. They should know about how well I know the brand before I start my pitch process.”