So much has been said and published now about hybrid events and their prominence in the post-pandemic world. Everyone has claimed their stake in the conversation, but the conversation must grow out of the weeds and into strategic action within our now-normal. Here’s a primer:
Focus on the experience first and foremost.
Across the industry, we see too many people approaching hybrid events backwards. They begin with the technology and craft their plans based on what that technology allows them to do. Instead, clients need to have a firm grasp of what success looks like in terms of metrics, brand affinity and brand awareness, and then design the experience – including the technology – to achieve those goals.
In other words, the platform is hardly the experience. The platform is one piece of the puzzle in delivering the desired outcome.
As brands re-examine their audience’s new needs, the hybrid approach aims to meet them where and when they are. So what does a successful hybrid experience look like?
For our Salesforce clients, Dreamforce ’21 made a definitive answer, setting a new high mark with a safe return to in-person engagement, while inviting a massive, global audience with 100+ million viewers tuning in via live broadcast. This year’s program looks to match if not exceed those numbers. Offering more choices for content than ever, Salesforce never veered from their core community experience, prioritizing a design capable of reaching everyone our clients intended.
Unified By Design
Our Hybrid POV laid the groundwork on designing hybrid experiences when people only first started warming up to the idea. And we practice what we preach.
In all our data, insights and learning, experiences are ultimately format agnostic, allowing us to focus on human, audience-first design and branching out accordingly. Brand experiences must simultaneously be integrated but separately designed in order to maintain the highest levels of authenticity in brand connection.
Keeping It Simple
GPJ has a track record going back a decade, delivering memorable, award-winning hybrid brand experiences. We take a data-driven combined with our strategy practice