Seventy-five percent of senior decision-makers in the UK events industry say the absence of live events and experiences since the start of the pandemic had a detrimental impact on the marketing of their business. The finding comes from a survey conducted by the campaign #WeCreateExperiences, which is set to launch on 7 December.
As part of the campaign’s launch, the survey also revealed that 96% of UK business leaders say events and experiences add value to their business, while 93% of UK businesses say the absence of live events and experiences since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on their staff engagement and internal communications.
The survey results also revealed the strategy that would give businesses the most confidence in the safety of live events is on-site testing, with over 36% saying it would encourage them to run events in the short term.
The survey results show an increase in appetite from brands for events and experiences, and as such the campaign’s organisers are calling on the industry to engage with #WeCreateExperiences socially to maximise the reach and noise ahead of the 7 December launch date.
Since late November, the campaign has pushed out a series of clips of support from high-profile personalities who champion the power of experiences, including events promoter Harvey Goldsmith, sports stars, as well as John Dutton, CEO of the Rugby League World Cup and Claire Rowney, executive director of Macmillan Cancer Support.
“This is a crucial moment in the campaign’s lifecycle,” said Simon Hughes, chair of the UK's Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP), the organisation fronting the campaign. “We have had overwhelming support from the industry, and to date our social media clips from our high-profile personalities have seen more than 12,000 views. But we need everyone on side to push these messages as far as they can on 7 December.
“We need to remind decision-makers who book events of the importance of live event experiences and the value they bring to their businesses, encouraging them to look ahead to 2021 and commit budget to events.”
The #WeCreateExperiences team is calling on everyone in the UK event industry to get involved in sharing a short video or image of their proudest event experience.
What to do on 7 December
- Find an image or a short video clip (max 60 seconds & landscape sized) of your favourite and proudest event experiences that you have helped to create (Please ensure you have the rights to share this content on your own social media accounts or you credit the relevant source).
- Create a post that includes your image and/or video, as well as the #WeCreateExperiences hashtag and a tag to the relevant One Industry One Voice channel linked below.
- Share your posts on any or all of your social media channels: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
One Industry One Voice is a UK coalition of industry campaigns, including #WeMakeEvents, #LetTheMusicPlay, #WhatAboutWeddings, #SaveNightlife, #SaveLiveComedy, #ProjectRecovery and #WeCreateExperiences.
