Page 31 - AdNews Mar-Apr 2021
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                “We’re not going to be able to discount that huge new, online audience,” she says. “I think we’ve heard this all before, but hybrid experiences are going to be the way forward. So that online experience will still exist in some sort of format for more experiential events going forward.”
One of the most important learnings for putting together a hybrid event is ensuring virtual attendees don’t feel like an “afterthought”. Experiential marketers are going to have to be more considered in their approach.
“Their online experience is going to have to be very carefully curated in the same way we would do for an in-person audience,” she says. “There’s tons of opportunities such as exclusive access content and other moments you can include as part of that.”
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) was an early adopter of this approach with its annual RESET conference in November 2020. With reduced capacity at the venue due to govern- ment restrictions, and some unable to attend in-person, having a streaming element was essential.
However, the industry body wanted to make it worthwhile for virtual attendees and pulled together exclusive content and Australian comedian Joel Creasey to host in between sessions. The format proved a huge success.
Return on experience
One of the biggest challenges experiential marketers have faced during the past few years pre-COVID-19 has been providing tangible
(Below) Laura Roberts of INVNT; Hushidar Kharas of Prime Video Australia; Dominic Price of Atlassian.
results that show the return on investment. Or in this case, return on experience.
At Jack Morton, Panchal says they have been using technology like facial recognition and heat map- ping to help optimise its live experi- ences for clients. Now, as more com- ponents of experiences move online, he says they are able to pull together all kinds of data to demon- strate the success of the event.
“One of the big challenges for experience has always been their attribution model,” he says. “I would argue that is not even an excuse anymore because we can absolutely show where we would fit in as part of an integrated brand campaign.”
They can gather insights such as when people are coming into the virtual event, when they’re dropping off, what content they’re really engaging with, and
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