The evolution of event agencies

The rapid switch to virtual events during the global pandemic demonstrated the remarkable resilience of event agencies, marking a defining moment in the evolution of the industry.

There is no sugar-coating the fact that Covid-19 has been incredibly tough on event agencies, with revenue streams from live events disappearing almost overnight, and yet to return for many due to ongoing restrictions and lockdowns. But with change comes opportunity, and the pandemic has given agencies the chance to seek out new revenue streams, offer new products and services, and adopt new ways of working to future-proof their business models.

UK-based OrangeDoor was among the many agencies that had to restructure due to the impact of the pandemic. “We don’t want to be in that position as a business again and have to go through redundancies. Although it was tough, the last year has given us a phenomenal opportunity to reassess who we are as an agency, where we want to be at the table, and what sort of clients we want to work with,” comments CEO & Founder Elizabeth Heron.

“We have scaled up and improved a lot of our processes. So, it’s been a good opportunity, not one that I would have wished for but in retrospect, to change who we are when we come out of this.”

Digital transformation

Our survey of event agencies revealed that 85 per cent of respondents have introduced new services during the pandemic, with digital solutions unsurprisingly being the biggest focus for many. More than three-quarters (77 per cent) said they had adapted to provide virtual events, with 62 per cent adding hybrid event capabilities and 21 per cent adding digital marketing services to their portfolio.

With issues such as climate change and flexible working coming to the fore and pressurising the world of live events to adapt, the growth of virtual and hybrid events was inevitable. But with live events unable to take place at all, this digital transformation was dramatically accelerated by Covid.

Agencies that already had in-house production and digital departments or some experience delivering virtual events were generally better positioned to transition, but they still had to considerably ramp up their resources and expertise. “We already had communications and content expertise, AV, technical production and broadcast and video teams inhouse,” says Rick Stainton, Founder & Group Executive Director at creative agency Smyle. “We were already doing virtual events, but probably barely 5 per cent compared to 95 per cent live. Obviously it completely flipped the other way, so we’ve accelerated and invested more in that area.”

Sophie Morris, Managing Director at Worldspan, agrees that the pandemic accelerated the transformation that had already started within the agency. “In 2019, we launched our own in-house production department, and we were in the process of expanding that. Then Covid happened and we had to change our plans considerably,” she explains. “We also had inhouse creative and digital development teams, so we used their expertise to develop our own virtual events platform. We were really fortunate that we already had those skills, so we were able to turn it around very quickly.”

A seat at the strategic table 

In addition to ramping up tech and digital expertise, many agencies have also seen increased demand for a more strategic approach. Our survey revealed that 21 per cent of agencies have adapted to offer strategic consultancy during the pandemic, while 15 per cent added PR and strategic communications services.

Event agencies have often complained about their inability to consistently gain or hold a seat at their client’s ‘strategic table’. But OrangeDoor believes that has changed over the past year with many agencies witnessing a shift with clients not just asking them ‘to do’ - to deliver an event, but also asking ‘what to do’. Dina Green, the agency’s managing director explains: “Many companies had no experience in the virtual arena, so they turned to us for advice. The strategic nature of our work in the eyes of our clients accelerated and we have become more of a trusted partner than a supplier.”

Rick Stainton, Smyle

Stainton argues that the event agency model was already moving in that direction, but what would have taken five years of evolution took place in five months. “There was already a growing amount of success for the strategic content led model. We had gone from being an event management company, to a live production company, to a live communications agency to a creative agency. Most of our clients now see us a creative agency that delivers experiences, whether that is in the digital or physical form,” he says.

“This gives us a seat at the top table, working on projects alongside the marketing agency, brand agency, social media or PR agency. That means that the vast majority of the briefs you get, the vast majority of responses you give are consultative, they are not reactive tactical solutions. It’s about strategic insight and understanding the audience.” He added that the brand experience sector adopted this approach years ago, and the corporate events sector is now catching up.

Recruitment versus training

Unsurprisingly, this evolution to offer more digital and strategic solutions requires different skill sets. While 40 per cent of the agencies we surveyed said they had to recruit new skills into their business over the past year, 60 per cent haven’t. Many used the pandemic as an opportunity to upskill their existing team members in virtual and tech solutions.

Ian Cummings, Global VP, Commercial at CWT M&E, says the agency’s primary focus has been trying to protect its existing teams rather than recruiting. “We have had to reduce costs, cutting back on external freelancers and contractors in preference for our internal teams, and then training them up. That has been tough in many ways, as it would be great to just go out and find the most relevant skills in the marketplace,” he comments.

“It was a case of identifying those within the business who had a good handle on virtual and hybrid and bringing them to the forefront. And it’s been great as we had all these people coming at us with skills we didn’t know they had.” 

At OrangeDoor, everyone has had to change their skillsets slightly, according to Green. “Our receptionist is now a Covid health and safety expert. Abbie, who was all about live and venues and accommodation, is now our star digital producer, and Chris who was in charge of exhibitions is now in charge of ethernet and digital platforms. But the core skills are all still there,” she says.

Many traditional event managers have had to become all-rounders over the past year, diversifying their skill sets and learning how to manage digital event platforms and engage virtual audiences. But what happens when live events return? Will there still be a need for event managers with purely live skills or will agencies expect staff to be multi-skilled?

Creative Group Inc, based in the US and Canada, believes there will be a strong need for both live and digital skill sets. “We were thrown into the virtual world and our operations team stepped up and learned a lot very quickly. But we have realised there are certain specialist roles that we need to outsource, particularly digital event producers. It’s a totally different ball game when you are dealing with virtual events. I think they are very different skill sets and we will always need our core event producers – they are still the quarterback,” says Heidi Baillie-David, Product Development Manager, Team Lead.

Skilling up for the future

Colja Dams, owner of Vok Dams Agency, which is headquartered in Germany but has offices across the globe, thinks event managers in future will need to have an overall skill set and a general understanding of both digital and live. “Ultimately, it’s about understanding how to create an experience, no matter whether it’s live or digital. But once you get into the detail, there will still be a need for people specialised in live events,” he explains.

Looking ahead, the traditional skill set required within event agencies will continue to change significantly, according to 46% of the agencies we surveyed. The heavy weighting given to event managers – an over reliance on one corner of a ‘Skills Square’, will be more balanced moving forward, with communications experts, digital design and technical expertise given much greater weighting in a more digitally-led events world, according to OrangeDoor.

Cheerful Twentyfirst’s Hannah Luffman, who joined the agency as strategy director last year, says: “When interviewing, we value a solution-based mindset and the ability to think strategically over whether or not someone has been doing virtual for the past five years. Experience will always be important, but what we have seen in the last 12 months is that need for a flexible approach to all situations and that is not necessarily something you can learn in a training session.”

Skills and expertise in the sustainability field will also become increasingly important. Our survey revealed that 79 per cent of agencies expect CSR / sustainable practices to be more important in client events over the coming 12-24 months. “Right now we are in the Covid wave, but behind it is the sustainability wave. It will impact everything that we do in the future and starts with the little things,” says Dams. “We need to look at the CO2 footprint of the servers running a digital event and where are those servers are positioned. It even makes a difference to the CO2 emissions if I have a light or dark background. So, I think building knowledge and expertise in this area will be essential.”

A whole new world of opportunities

Agencies that have evolved and diversified their service offering are now in a strong position to capitalise on the economic recovery as we come out of the pandemic. “Developing our own virtual platform means we have won lots of new clients, many of whom are now talking to us about hybrid and live as well,” says Worldspan’s Morris.

Sophie Morris, Worldspan

The disruption caused by Covid inside client organisations means that some long-standing relationships have been either fractured or weakened. Clients are looking around for new solutions and are more receptive to talking to different people, giving agencies the opportunity to have conversations they may not have had otherwise.

“What we found is that procurement departments didn’t have a box to tick that covered virtual or digital events, which means that they had to go out there and look for agencies that could do it,” says OrangeDoor’s Green. “This has opened doors for us with a lot of new clients that we weren’t speaking to before, including some really big brands. Now we are a preferred supplier in virtual events, it gives us the opportunity to talk to them about all their events.”

Despite the many challenges ahead, agencies remain confident that the long-term outlook is positive. More than a year without meetings, conferences and incentives has meant that corporate businesses truly recognise the value of live events. There is a huge pent-up demand to get back to face-to-face experiences, potentially leading to a boom over the next few years. With many companies giving up offices during this pandemic, this could also drive the need for even more face-to-face meetings.

Building back better

The pandemic has closed down the world in some ways because we can’t travel physically at the moment, but in other ways it’s opened up the world. Virtual and hybrid events are more accessible and inclusive. They erase geographical constraints, enabling events that were only open to several hundred people, to be accessible to thousands. They also unlock the world for event agencies from a client and talent perspective.

“The geographic borders to new business opportunities have been removed. When you used to say to someone that you are based in London but work globally, there was scepticism. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have an office in San Francisco or Singapore, we have worked everywhere in the last year and we have proven that we can do it,” says OrangeDoor’s Heron. The same goes for talent – agencies are no longer restricted to finding talent close to their office but can now tap into the best talent around the world.

Elizabeth Heron, OrangeDoor

The pandemic has caused a huge culture shift, and event agencies will need to continue to evolve and react to market forces and trends to ensure they meet ever-changing client and audience demands. From wellbeing and sustainability to diversity and inclusion, agencies have a real opportunity to build back better.

Luffman concludes: “I am really excited about rebuilding a more sustainable and diverse industry. These will be tier one priorities in future, as they should be, and I am keen to see how that develops our people models, HR policies and sustainable policies over the next year as we return to live and champion them alongside our financial growth.”