Here’s How to Get Attendees to Follow Health and Safety Rules at Events (Elevate Connect)

Key Takeaways

• Enforcing social distancing and COVID compliance at events isn’t easy. Brands should use an event staffing solution, a tech option – or both.
• The “new world” we suddenly find ourselves living in has meant new consumer habits and preferences, leaving many brands with instantly outdated consumer insights.
• Brand activations are getting a makeover in the Covid world, as brands produce socially distant events like drive through pop-up experiences.

Social Distancing Events: How to Get Attendees to Follow the Rules

There’s a new set of rules in the event industry. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, event marketers are adding a line item to their budgets – health and safety. While mandating mask-wearing and social distancing are both simple and effective techniques, wrangling attendees to comply is easier said than done. Some might not abide by health and safety rules because they don’t understand what’s required, and some may be in full-on denial that measures are even necessary.

Despite these challenges, the only way for events to go on is via a health and safety plan. Event Manager blog points out that there are several strategies to choose from. One of the easiest is making sure personal protective equipment is provided to attendees. There are also more technologically advanced options such as wearables that alert guests when they are too close to others. But one of the best solutions? Hiring Covid Compliance Officers who can serve as health and safety monitors, all while ensuring attendees have a remarkable brand experience.

Brands, Half your Insights Became Irrelevant in 2020

2020 is shaping out to be unpredictable – and that is to put it lightly. Our lifestyles have been turned inside out. There is a racial reckoning happening around the world. Anyone who wants things to go back to ‘normal’ is understanding that option has sailed. There is little doubt that adapting to the new world is the best strategy to move forward. And the truth is, many of our life changes will continue even beyond the pandemic, such as how people buy things and even what they want to buy. This means that many of the insights brands painstakingly gathered over the years may no longer be helpful.

New habits = new insights. As this Adweek article points out, there are two strategies brands need to take to bring their product and service marketing approaches up to date. The first is taking an active look at shopper insights, which serves as the immediate reaction that consumers have to change. Then brands can shift their marketing tactics to meet those reactions. Check out the full article here.

Here’s What’s next in Socially Distant Brand Activations

Virtual events have provided brands an opportunity to engage with customers in the time of social distancing (and beyond). But, for us as human beings, nothing compares to in-person interaction. And as stay-at-home orders start to ease, brands are creating ways to engage consumers in real life while still ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved.

Recently BizBash published one of the ways brands are getting back to live experiences – drive through pop-ups. One designed by GDX studios is completely interactive. The drive through includes areas where people can play an AR game or take advantage of a cool photo opportunity. The concept lets brands have the best of both worlds – providing a brand experience while keeping people safe.

How Facebook and IBM Took Conferences Digital in Different Ways

 Companies in almost every category have gone to great lengths to ensure employee safety, from business travel restrictions to canceling large events. But for some, instead of canning events completely, converting to digital events allowed participants to engage safely from home. Two brands that were successful in pulling off this major pivot were Facebook and IBM.

Facebook teamed up with Jack Morton Worldwide for the “Un-Summit,” which was produced in place of its annual in-person internal event. This meant creating a multitude of content options, like recorded sessions, or coordinating with life hosts. IBM, on the other hand, reimagined the IBM Think Digital Experience, which was originally designed for 30,000 in-person guests. The company successfully expanded the event into the digital sphere to include more than 90,000 attendees. Check out the details here.

Author: Kelly Springs-Kelley

Kelly Springs-Kelley is a marketing veteran who specializes in digital and experiential. When she's not creating compelling content or pondering the future of in-person consumer engagement, Kelly can be found hiking the mountains of Arizona with her 2 kids and 3 dogs.