Creating the “Me” in Memorable Moments
A conversation around event production
Today’s U.S. consumers would not care if 83% of brands disappeared, according to our latest Meaningful Brands study. From a brand’s messaging and campaign initiatives to their partnerships and experiential activations, it is imperative for them to find a way to connect with consumers in an authentic and meaningful way.
Mike Cohen, Senior Director of Production at Havas Sports & Entertainment, has managed events for some of the world’s biggest brands, from Coca-Cola, Delta, ESPN and Harley-Davidson. With 15 years of experience, Mike has crisscrossed the globe more times than he can count on behalf of projects including the Harley Davidson 110th Anniversary, Coca-Cola Bottle Art Tour, Live Earth and Blue Planet Run.
Mike explains how brands can create the “me” in memorable moments for their fans through experiences.
Q: WHAT ARE THE CURRENT TRENDS IN EVENT PRODUCTION?
There are a few notable trends. For starters, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) continue to be explored and improved. From a staging perspective, events of all sizes are utilizing different sound and lighting techniques to create an immersive and exciting atmosphere. Lastly, consumers still enjoy elements of surprise and experiencing “wow” moments. These are the moments that continue to spark conversation and leave a lasting impression after an event.
Q: WHAT IS A “MUST-HAVE” ASPECT WHEN CREATING A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE TODAY?
In our experience-driven culture, brands have an excellent opportunity to curate one-on-one interactions with consumers. But it is not enough to just host an event. The consumer must walk away from an event thinking that what they just experienced — even if only for a few seconds — made a personal connection with them in some way, which in turn will make a connection with the brand. Influencers who help promote the event, brand ambassadors who represent the brand onsite and the actual venue the brand is activating at are all key components that help build these authentic connections.
75% of Millennials prefer experiences over things, according to a 2017 Eventbrite study.
Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN EVENT PRODUCTION?
As much as we say we can do anything, there are some things we can’t always control — budgets, resources, timelines. There tends to be a disconnect between brainstorming an idea and physically bringing it to life. The challenge is bridging this gap. Although there are things we cannot control, communication is key. Clear communication with the client ensures we have a deep understanding of their passions and their needs. We then have to be transparent and communicate back to our clients what we can confidently do with the allocated budget and resources. Internally, it is important that everyone on the project is included in the brainstorm and planning phases to ensure the ideas we want to bring to life are feasible and will create a brand connection with the target consumer.
Q: HOW IS THE PLANNING FOR A GLOBAL EVENT, LIKE THE FIFA WORLD CUP™ TROPHY TOUR, DIFFERENT THAN A NATIONAL TOUR?
For global tours, there needs to be a cultural global idea and connection that can resonate with audiences far and wide. In the planning stages, we develop a set of global guidelines to ensure consistency and uniformity throughout all events during the tour. The challenge with global tours is creating and sharing content that is globally relevant, but also authentic to the local markets. For the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour, for example, the connection point is soccer. We integrated the culture of the sport with other passion points — music, fashion, food — to engage multiple audiences, which varied from country to country.
Q: WHAT CHANGES DO YOU PREDICT IN EVENT PRODUCTION OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS?
Every 60 seconds, more than 470,000 tweets, 2.1 million snaps and 50,000 Instagram photos are posted, according to a 2018 Domo report.
Today’s consumer is always connected “socially.” They crave off-the-screen experiences that they can talk about and share online with their friends. It is our role as event producers to leverage technology and social media to add value to our brand experiences. 86% of event marketers think that technology can have a positive impact on the success of events according to the Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends Report. It’s crucial for event producers today to use the right social channels to engage with their audiences. Creating conversations before, during and post-event on social media can help amplify the brand’s message and extend the reach of the activation.
Havas Sports and Entertainment (HSE) has managed and curated events for some of the world’s biggest brands. From planning multi-market global tours to local grassroots events, HSE creates meaningful experiences driven by consumers’ passions. Their team of experts have proved that increasing brand engagement begins with meeting consumers in the places they love, in moments that matter, and with the people that count.
To learn more, visit www.havas-se.com.
