Companies in the events sector are confronted with a wide range of market and technological forces, even though their approaches and concerns may be in different market and customer areas. These forces of change are also reshaping the way the suppliers to events, be they providers of products or service, market and sell and how buyers buy. The ramifications spread to direct players, audiences, people engaged in the business and to investors.
Buyers are today caught in a squeeze between expectations and requests for new ideas, new applications, new methods and formats of delivery, and a range of technology innovation, services and device support. Plus pressures to keep budgets lean, staffing light and operations tight.
On the suppliers/providers side, technology and new entrants, running lean and intensely competitive, are upending the pricing models for many products and services. The notions of established position and pre-eminence in specific areas are being pushed aside as the demand profile changes. Clients are searching for new means of effectiveness and this draws those who outsourced a lot to bring some work and functions in-house while others who followed a rich in-house model are devolving their needs. There is a lot of flux and exploring for a new edge.
What does this mean for business strategy, new project development, adoption of new technologies and employee participation? We are starting to see more hybrid events, more tech delivery in person and via social media. Engagement and loyalty strategies for clients and means of measuring the effectiveness of social media applications is taking on new importance. Event companies are fast becoming creative innovators, technology specialists, behavioural analysts and costing/pricing specialists. People involved are seeing their business and personal ‘spaces’ and domains merge as social media options explode. The events business is moving more and more into a consumer-led and consumer-like environment.
Business agility is now becoming critical in a world where companies are compelled to meet rising consumer expectations, but many organisations are still shackled by their conservatism, that of their clients and aversion to risk. New entrants to the market tend to be less shackled by some of these attitudes and ready to adopt alternate approaches and so operate in a less restrained fashion. The analogous situation has emerged as a major force in the IT industry where IT legacy systems and attitudes have left some established companies fighting to hold their positions as newcomers enter the fray.
New technology is not only presenting enormous challenges in terms of day to day management, security, logistics and continuity – not to mention the personal challenge of so much email, messaging, new content formats – there is an important matter of how companies develop, manage and protect their intellectual property. The pace of change is ever-growing and getting the right talent on board as well as adopting the right culture and team attitudes is vital.
Talk to Ericc at New Millennium Business about how you can increase your margins and profits…and raise you company profile and recognition, locally and internationally.
