How Event Agencies have adapted to digital-first and even mobile-first approach for their events
The event industry is brimming with new virtual platforms each day. These incorporate a variety of tools for planning and executing the events held online. While in-person events are under many restrictions during these days, virtual events have been in high demand.
According to a recent study, the global virtual events market is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 23.2% from 2020 to 2027 to reach USD 404.45 billion.
The rapid adoption of technology for remote work proves that people are open and ready to find new ways of doing everything. While the shift to virtual or hybrid events may require extra research, participant guidance and technology, the industry seems to grow uniquely and creatively.
Speaking about his experience of curating virtual events, Abhinav Jain, CEO, Almond Virtex says, “We have been partnering with top-notch event agencies in the country providing services to them as technology enablers and digital transformation catalyst. The biggest shift that we have seen is agencies' digital-first and sometimes even mobile-first approach for their events, which are mostly hosted virtually on Almond Virtex Platform.”
Virtual events have become a necessity in today's time and organisers have started evaluating the platform that best suits their requirements.
Jain further adds, “While no virtual event can replace the joy and vibes of a physical experience, however, a virtual event comes with its wide variety of advantages like saving time, saving money and "couch convenience". People have become habitual to this and that's the bright sign for virtual event platforms like us.”
According to Nanni Singh, Chief Executive, Showcase Events, “With the pandemic and the lockdown, all the models of conducting an event had to change, we all needed to re-invent ourselves otherwise it was just about sitting back and waiting for a miracle to happen which was not going to happen. Taking on technology hands on, learning more technology features and growing with it has been essential. Event industry people who have done that have grown with it. We have also seen that the quality of our events has improved amazingly from the time we had started. Virtual events have helped us stay alive with all the knowledge sharing that has happened.”
An ideal online platform should cover each aspect of a physical event from registrations, audience interaction, to marketing, payments, and live streaming.
Even once face-to-face events are back in full swing, development of hybrid events that offer a mix of live in-person and virtual offerings will stay. This combination can ultimately play up the true advantages and perks that only come with meeting in person, while also utilizing the more flexible benefits that can be drawn from virtual aspects.
“The ones who were related to production like light, sound, fabrication have suffered the maximum, because for them the virtual platform did not make any sense. But event companies and agencies who were coordinating all those things moved to the virtual platforms. Moreover, the designers became paramount important and a whole new industry came up which was just a complimenting line before the pandemic,” mentions Singh.
Piyush Gupta, President, Kestone explains how the event industry is introduced with a breather of experiential virtual event platforms. "Businesses received virtual versions of their physical events loaded with features such as customized event skins and 3D environments, support for multiple languages, gamification with polls & quizzes, social media integration & photo booths and deep data analytics for understanding customer behavior," adds Gupta.
Kestone has been able to support business growth for its clients across industries such as IT, BFSI, Pharma, Healthcare, Education and Fintech. Gupta says "With the flexibility to scale event operations on-the-go, virtual event platforms could transcend geographical barriers and could wire business with their customers spread globally to collaborate, communicate, and strategize at a wider scale."
Speaking about virtual event platforms, Syed Fawaz Ahmed, Co-founder, Digital Jalebi says that marketeers have created an opportunity to build virtual spaces that go beyond any physical constraints. "Scaling a virtual platform to reach thousands of audiences is comparatively easier than never before because of the quick and robust scalable infrastructure that is now available readily in India. The virtual platforms are all web-based and smooth to run on all the devices making it feasible for everyone to experience."
The industry has been quick enough to adapt to the virtual space and at the same time it is working diligently towards enhancing the experience of virtual events.
Ahmed also informs that Digital Jalebi being an experiential design studio has created a platform to come up with solutions for brands; to recreate how experiences happen in the real world without the need for users to get out of the comfort of their home.
