Harnessing the Hybrid Worlds

Despite the rollercoaster ride the world has been on in our post-covid world, brands are keen to deliver meaningful, spectacular storytelling. How this is achieved, however, has evolved faster than anyone predicted.

The threat of global disruption is fresh in brand’s minds, but at the same time, events are now able to make borders dissolve.

Agencies should keep this front of mind, and make adaptability a pillar of their briefs. Live affords social, tactile and experiential elements that can’t be easily replicated. Virtual, however, gives the ability to deliver novel experiences to an audience internationally, with measurable ROIs.

The merging of live and virtual has been particularly apparent through our clients seeking to make an impact at a major global sporting event in 2024. Events will be live, but also streamed.

Meanwhile, the metaverse is becoming a mainstay, cementing the need to consider ‘world-building’, while keeping in mind a person’s experience, both in real-life, and in avatar form.

Things to consider

Having an in-depth knowledge of the latest technology is vital, but having the creativity to harness it is another. The onus is on agencies to describe their vision to brands simply, from the perspective of an attendee, whose experience should be as seamless as possible. Always hide the strings.

As a result, agencies should encourage discussions with creatives and techies, but both parties should consider how to pivot an event seamlessly, should the in-person element be put at risk. A cursory look at the geo-political situation, post-Covid, should tell you that it’s likely that attendees will not be able to fly in at a whim. But that needn’t threaten your vision.

Agencies should also consider the USPs of their clients, and how they can harness these. In a recent event for a major Premier League football club, we allowed fans to meet their star player live in-person, but we also ensured that the interaction was shared with fans online. The overwhelming popularity of the player in question in his home country (and with his fan-base in India) meant the reach of the live event was increased 1,000-fold, with online competition winners being able to interact directly.

And so we look to a future where content will evolve unrecognisably. How a piece of Netflix content will be consumed in five years is likely to differ greatly than what we are used to now.

Great agencies will keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible technologically, but always ground their vision in the user experience.