Whoever stages hits the target more accurately
The Harbour Club organized a symposium on event communications, turning it into a successful event
The Harbour Club stylized a symposium on event communications into a successful eventBy Andreas Panzeri How do I use an event for my communication? The answers at the Event Communications symposium ranged from relationship machines as event venues to Accenture Nights and the World Economic Forum as a global sales fair. A useful checklist for organizers of effective events was also presented.
"An event is not three-dimensional television, but active involvement of the participants in a communication." With this definition, Oliver Nickel, Member of the Management Board of Icon Brand Navigation, Nuremberg, summarized the core statements at the Event Communications Symposium. The event was organized by Zahner & Partner, AG für Kommunikation, Marketing und Events, St.Gallen. The event was hosted by the Harbour Club in Zurich's Limmat Hall.
This association of 50 leading corporate communications officers aims to provide an exclusive platform for exchanging ideas and professionalizing the corporate communications industry. The club succeeded in doing just that at this symposium. The six speakers were convincing with in-depth analyses and news about the superficially ever-widening trend wave of events.
Oliver Nickel illustrated the scope of the topic with a game of skill. The aim is to push white balls into various holes outdoors using an iron hook. If this simple game is played in a beautiful landscape by people in exclusive leisurewear, it is called golf. If the balls are pushed over worn plastic courses by noisy children next to the parking lot of a shopping center, it's called mini golf. It therefore depends on the emotional values with which an event is made tangible for the audience.
In order for a brand to be experienced sensually, an event for Nickel absolutely must continue where the brand has already been emotionally positioned in traditional advertising. In concrete terms: a company boss's love of jazz is by no means a reason for, let alone a guarantee of, advertising success with a sponsorship event at the Montreux Jazz Festival. However, an event can achieve something if it actively integrates the targeted customers into a communication process, because "emotionally learned things are retained longer".
Thomas Sevcik used the example of VW's Autostadt in Wolfsburg to illustrate how this can work with a veritable relationship machine as an event location. In his presentation, the Creative Director of Arthesia, Berlin, with offices in Zurich and Los Angeles, looked for ways to "leave the background noise of communication" and make a lasting impression on his audience thanks to an event.
The Autostadt theme world, with its development costs of around one billion marks and over three million visitors since opening in June 2000, is not an easy model to copy. However, such think labs can also be realized with smaller budgets.
"Shocker" sends share prices soaring
With variations such as Deutsche Bank's Future Lab, the relationship machine can initiate and support transformation processes in a company. In this temporary lab in a factory building near Frankfurt, workshops, presentations, events and parties were held over a period of five months, enabling Deutsche Bank to communicate its expertise in the global e-world with great success.
With costs of 20 million euros for the lab, the bank's share value rose by 16 billion on the opening day. Sevcik calls such a communication effect a "shocker". If the project is designed for longer communication, as is the case with Autostadt, he refers to the second phase as a "carrier". The "carrier" is a think-tank-like project that has the freedom to communicate beyond conventional boundaries. In Switzerland, SwissRe has created such a "carrier" with its Center for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon.
Events only succeed with detailed planning
"Nobody buys a Bentley or even a new Audi after visiting the Autostadt," said Sevcik, because after a detached house, buying a car is the second-longest decision-making process of all purchases. In a society that has become more open, where in the EU a German can even buy his own car in Italy, the Autostadt experience with its distinctive presence is a constant factor in an increasingly less regulated market. "In saturated markets, I have to communicate by other means," said Sevcik, summarizing his idea of an "event combined with a certain intelligence".
An "event" organized by computer supplier Compaq also pushed the boundaries of convention. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2001 in Davos and 2002 in New York, Compaq distributed a pocket computer to all 2500 WEF participants. Thanks to Bluetooth technology and specially installed Powerpoints at all important meeting points and even in the hotels, WEF participants were able to surf wirelessly everywhere, call up WEF information, download presentations and send e-mails.
Compaq's aim was for politicians and top managers, as opinion leaders, to test the simplicity and advantages of these new devices from their own experience. The WEF had the target audience and Compaq had the infrastructure. "People were reached who don't normally deal with such things, but who are important for future thinking in relation to these new technologies," commented Adrian Mebold, Business Manager Mobile Computing at Compaq Computer (Switzerland), on the resounding success of his global "event".
Hans-Jürg Rufener from Rufener-Events explained with great expertise how such an event has to be thought through in much smaller detail. He showed how the first professional events 15 years ago have developed into today's "eventitis". Today, there are around 300 specialized event agencies in Switzerland. What they all have in common is that they can only make an event work "if the message is precisely defined", Rufener said. More on his checklist with the "golden rules" of event conception can be found on the new homepage www.ru fenerevents.ch.
"An event is not three-dimensional television, but active involvement of the participants in a communication." With this definition, Oliver Nickel, Member of the Management Board of Icon Brand Navigation, Nuremberg, summarized the core statements at the Event Communications Symposium. The event was organized by Zahner & Partner, AG für Kommunikation, Marketing und Events, St.Gallen. The event was hosted by the Harbour Club in Zurich's Limmat Hall.
This association of 50 leading corporate communications officers aims to provide an exclusive platform for exchanging ideas and professionalizing the corporate communications industry. The club succeeded in doing just that at this symposium. The six speakers were convincing with in-depth analyses and news about the superficially ever-widening trend wave of events.
Oliver Nickel illustrated the scope of the topic with a game of skill. The aim is to push white balls into various holes outdoors using an iron hook. If this simple game is played in a beautiful landscape by people in exclusive leisurewear, it is called golf. If the balls are pushed over worn plastic courses by noisy children next to the parking lot of a shopping center, it's called mini golf. It therefore depends on the emotional values with which an event is made tangible for the audience.
In order for a brand to be experienced sensually, an event for Nickel absolutely must continue where the brand has already been emotionally positioned in traditional advertising. In concrete terms: a company boss's love of jazz is by no means a reason for, let alone a guarantee of, advertising success with a sponsorship event at the Montreux Jazz Festival. However, an event can achieve something if it actively integrates the targeted customers into a communication process, because "emotionally learned things are retained longer".
Thomas Sevcik used the example of VW's Autostadt in Wolfsburg to illustrate how this can work with a veritable relationship machine as an event location. In his presentation, the Creative Director of Arthesia, Berlin, with offices in Zurich and Los Angeles, looked for ways to "leave the background noise of communication" and make a lasting impression on his audience thanks to an event.
The Autostadt theme world, with its development costs of around one billion marks and over three million visitors since opening in June 2000, is not an easy model to copy. However, such think labs can also be realized with smaller budgets.
"Shocker" sends share prices soaring
With variations such as Deutsche Bank's Future Lab, the relationship machine can initiate and support transformation processes in a company. In this temporary lab in a factory building near Frankfurt, workshops, presentations, events and parties were held over a period of five months, enabling Deutsche Bank to communicate its expertise in the global e-world with great success.
With costs of 20 million euros for the lab, the bank's share value rose by 16 billion on the opening day. Sevcik calls such a communication effect a "shocker". If the project is designed for longer communication, as is the case with Autostadt, he refers to the second phase as a "carrier". The "carrier" is a think-tank-like project that has the freedom to communicate beyond conventional boundaries. In Switzerland, SwissRe has created such a "carrier" with its Center for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon.
Events only succeed with detailed planning
"Nobody buys a Bentley or even a new Audi after visiting the Autostadt," said Sevcik, because after a detached house, buying a car is the second-longest decision-making process of all purchases. In a society that has become more open, where in the EU a German can even buy his own car in Italy, the Autostadt experience with its distinctive presence is a constant factor in an increasingly less regulated market. "In saturated markets, I have to communicate by other means," said Sevcik, summarizing his idea of an "event combined with a certain intelligence".
An "event" organized by computer supplier Compaq also pushed the boundaries of convention. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2001 in Davos and 2002 in New York, Compaq distributed a pocket computer to all 2500 WEF participants. Thanks to Bluetooth technology and specially installed Powerpoints at all important meeting points and even in the hotels, WEF participants were able to surf wirelessly everywhere, call up WEF information, download presentations and send e-mails.
Compaq's aim was for politicians and top managers, as opinion leaders, to test the simplicity and advantages of these new devices from their own experience. The WEF had the target audience and Compaq had the infrastructure. "People were reached who don't normally deal with such things, but who are important for future thinking in relation to these new technologies," commented Adrian Mebold, Business Manager Mobile Computing at Compaq Computer (Switzerland), on the resounding success of his global "event".
Hans-Jürg Rufener from Rufener-Events explained with great expertise how such an event has to be thought through in much smaller detail. He showed how the first professional events 15 years ago have developed into today's "eventitis". Today, there are around 300 specialized event agencies in Switzerland. What they all have in common is that they can only make an event work "if the message is precisely defined", Rufener said. More on his checklist with the "golden rules" of event conception can be found on the new homepage www.ru fenerevents.ch.
