Embracing data and digital is critical for “transforming” the events industry
- Words by AMR International commercial strategist Chris ‘O Connor
Senior event leaders recently attended the inaugural AMR Data and Digital Strategy Events Symposium, London. The recurring themes included lack of collaboration between organisers, exhibitors and vendors – something that’s considered a major weakness.
Increased investment in capability and people is needed to advance innovation while also providing organisers with the ability to combine outsourced innovation with their vision of the future of events
Creating more personalisation through data and digital is needed to ensure ‘the customer comes first’. It will also improve event quality by offering insights, which benefit organisers through an enhanced contextual exhibitor/visitor experience.
Growth in the events industry is now converging with GDP. More technology is being adopted at a faster rate with the onset of more smart devices. At the same time, there is an understanding and acceptance of supplying personal data (demographic, firmographic, search history, etc.), which is leading to a more contextual experience.
Trade shows have been slow to respond because profits and cash flow remain strong and there is trepidation to disrupt a cash cow with no ‘burning platform’. As a result, the industry is facing a dilemma in how they respond to the demand for 21st century digital and data services.
A wide swath of startups (~1,500) are targeting a range of capabilities within the events landscape; many are well-funded by venture capital. Most of the focus has been on various point solutions that are building sophisticated functionality; there is also a limited number end-to-end solutions.
The consequence of this innovation, that is essentially outsourced, is that organisations are starting to test new solutions primarily at the individual event level and not centrally. For many organisers, it is the internal users (event managers) who are pushing to increase technology adoption starting with limited solutions and customer expectations.
However, some organisers are taking a more centralised and standardised approach. Many medium and larger players are hampered by immature enterprise systems and everyone is hampered by a lack of common standards and or a common integration platform.
To respond more effectively, organisers need to develop coherent data and digital strategies that will support their customers and their businesses. In doing so they should consider three themes.
Organisers are facing similar technology challenges independent of one another. Much of the industry is addressing building block technology requirements with limited experimentation of more innovative technology solutions.
There is uncertainty about the role of the venue and how venues can contribute to building technology capabilities at events. Lastly, there is poor communication between vendors and organisers about the requirements for technology solutions.
By sharing experiences between organisers, discussing technology requirements with vendors and infrastructure requirements with venues, organisers can accelerate innovation and capability development by clarifying what is needed and who would be responsible for which requirement.
Organisers are starting to build digital organisations yet have no formal R&D or investment budget. While hiring talent is a first step, innovation is happening within the start-up and venture capital community. The risk is that vendors could one day build enough insight, customer and workflow profiling, and capability that they could become digital companies, eating into the profit pool and acting as a disrupter.
Very few organisers are centrally allocating budget, time and resources to innovate, test and build technology capabilities. Add to this the general uncertainty of what will work and the requirement from organisers to immediately monetise, creating even further reluctance to allocate budget. All of this creates an investment vacuum and the need to overcome the inertia.
Organisers should consider refocusing on customer rather than organiser needs to remain competitive and most probably monetise.
As consumers become more accustomed to personalised experiences through online, mobile and commerce, they have higher expectations of face-to-face experiences. Younger generations are familiar with and are demanding contextual experiences, which is reducing hesitation from older generations to adopt technology.
Whilst the events industry is exploring a more data driven approach, it is playing catch-up with many of the industries that events serve, which already have strong data driven cultures. Organisations (exhibitors) are becoming more data savvy and are being asked by corporate for quantifiable justification of spend and metrics. This leads to a requirement for increased data collection, analysis and transparency.
Through data, organisers can create a more contextualised experience by understanding attendee requirements. Organisers can use data to tailor offerings and the experience.
The events industry is on a path of evolution that is exciting, yet increasingly complex. EW
