As more businesses shift toward online platforms for event management, it becomes clear they have to become a little more inventive by partnering up with an experienced virtual event company.
Just because their event now has an online component to it doesn’t make it any less difficult. Virtual event planning has many moving parts – from event logistics and schedule planning to online security and marketing. A typical Zoom event just doesn’t cut it anymore. This is where event production companies come in.
In the past few months, we’ve seen several brands plan some of the most impressive virtual events that are driving audience engagement through the roof! Here are 8 of the most prominent examples and why they’re so effective.
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Fenty Skin’s Launch Parties
The beauty industry always finds a way to buck old trends and soak up all the media attention in the process. The latest of these brands is Fenty Skin with their virtual VR-driven house party. Fenty Skin mimicked the electrifying atmosphere of nightclubs by creating different ‘rooms’, including a living room that featured celebrity guests like Rihanna and Lil Nas X, and a bar to explore cocktail recipes.
Fenty was able to do all this with their epic VR experience. The skincare company also made sure to capitalize on the power of hashtags and it didn’t take long before the hashtag #FentySkinLaunchParty began trending on Twitter.
Nearly every business can pick one or two things from the marketing tactics of Fenty – very creative despite being in unexplored territory.
Marc Jacobs Fragrance – #PerfectAsIAm
This fragrance company used to do their promotions at Bryant Park and Santa Monica Pier. When push came to shove, they weren’t afraid to get a little creative by switching to a virtual event. The fragrance company launched a viral campaign on TikTok using their #PerfectAsIam hashtag. It gained enough traction to get over 3.7 billion views.
To be honest, it was heavily promoted by social media influencers such as Sofia Wylie and Emma Chamberlain. This doesn’t handicap smaller businesses with smaller marketing budgets. It proves that you can market a virtual event same as any traditional event. You just have to think outside the box.
Tomorrowland – Around the World Festival
Musicians and artists alike have been quick to adopt virtual events. Businesses can learn a lot from the Belgian festival Tomorrowland that managed to pull off a fully-fledged virtual festival.
And here’s the real deal – they managed to get a whopping 1 million people to tune in to their two-day exhibition. The festival charged 20 euros to watch the event live. It featured some heavy names such as David Guetta and Katy Perry.
Since they were at an obvious disadvantage due to the lack of physical sensations, Tomorrowland was able to successfully mimic the sounds, sights, and sensations of their usual musical festivals – complete with crowd cheers and virtual lasers. Although the event didn’t turn a profit, it was considered a successful experiment and is scheduled for another run.
Fortnite’s Astronomical Concert
Fortnite collaborated with Travis Scott to kickstart their virtual concert that got 12.3 million people to tune in. Those numbers are astronomical.
It is worth pointing out that Fortnite and Travis Scott are big names in their respective industries, and were able to pull in large crowds because of their notoriety. However, their success perfectly demonstrates that virtual events can be just as successful as regular events, as long as they are driven by strong incentivization and engagement.
If Fortnite could get their audiences to switch over to a virtual platform, there’s no reason you can’t.
Heineken’s Champions League Kick-Off
The sports industry has been heavily hit by the pandemic but they are slowly turning things around by pivoting to virtual events. Case in point: Heineken. They created a virtual event for fans of the game to celebrate the start of the UEFA Champions League, which the brand sponsors. The virtual event lasted a whopping 8 hours – a brave move given they were experimenting with uncharted territory.
Heineken added more flair to their event by featuring 8 different DJs who live stream from around the world, including Amsterdam and Lisbon. Not only was Heineken able to demonstrate the power of virtual events, but it also managed to merge the worlds of music and football together. This allowed them to capture audiences from both areas.
Ravinia Festival
Ravinia Festival planned to organize a live concert series throughout the summer of 2020. These plans came to a grinding halt due to the pandemic, forcing the organizers to become creative. Instead of throwing in the towel, Ravinia Festival took the fun to virtual events with their “Living Room Lawn Part”. They live-streamed their virtual event and got many attendees to tune in.
They also managed to turn the event into a fundraiser that will benefit the nonprofit, including its educational programs that serve over 85,000 people in Lake and Cook counties.
Broadway Goes Online
Broadway was also forced to shut their live events down because of the pandemic. But instead of completely closing down, they set the stage online with a virtual concert. Broadway was able to organize concert series, plays, exercise lessons, and even dance classes, from experts and professionals in the community.
Renaissance Goes Virtual
Renaissance is Ireland’s leading value-added distributor and has been supporting vendors for over 30 years, developing tailor-made security improve their cyber ecosystems. They would often rely on roadshows as part of their brand outreach strategy; however, 2020 forced them to react differently.
Renaissance was one of the first companies to realize that virtual events were the way forward. This led them to host a virtual event – complete with trade booths, information desk, lounge area, and presentations. This not only eliminated long queues that we often see in live conferences but also made the event far more accessible for attendees. It was a definite win-win for everyone involved.
Are You Ready to Make the Switch to Virtual Events Online?
Virtual events have become more mainstream as big brands hop on board. This isn’t to say that there aren’t any drawbacks, but you can still create meaningful connections on the cloud. The prior examples of 8 prominent brands demonstrate the benefits of tuning in virtually instead of having to travel to a live event.
Author Bio
Sarah Hill is a content writer at Seven Events Ltd, leading event planner in Birmingham offering virtual events, corporate event management and venue finding services. She started her career in the events industry almost a decade ago as time progressed she became an avid event blogger sharing her insight on corporate event planning.