Agency interview
A Collective approach
MIKAEL EK, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EMEA AT BCD MEETINGS & EVENTS TALKS CRISIS MANAGEMENT, CREATIVE SERVICES AND M & A, WHILE STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF RESILIENCE
How has the year to date been for BCD Meetings & Events in EMEA and how have its teams been dealing with the situation around Iran for its clients? We are off to another strong year despite all the challenges happening in the region and around the world in general.
After navigating the end of the pandemic in 2022, followed by the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, shifting tariffs, and now renewed tensions in the Middle East, the meetings and events industry continues to prove its extraordinary resilience.
The situation in the Middle East remains a challenge but our clients and employees’ safety remain our top priority.
Our clients are asking for support in cancelling or relocating events scheduled in the region, but they also need help with urgent evacuations or the mid to long-term relocation of their employees. Since logistics is just
Mikael Ek
“ Crisis management needs to be clear in objective and ready for immediate action. When we deal with clients in situations like the Middle East, we can sometimes find ourselves in between their HR department and security department”
Above left: Wide view of dining room set up
Left: 2016 Goodyear Danube Cruise one of the many services we offer at BCD M & E, we are doing everything we can to support them.
Our crisis teams have been on high alert and there is plenty of recent experience that we can apply to developments.
Crisis management needs to be clear in objective and ready for immediate action. When we deal with clients in situations like the Middle East, we can sometimes find ourselves in between their HR department and security department. That is not a favourable position for us to be in as different stakeholders sometimes provide an inconsistent direction. In situations like these, where we are faced with indecisive directions, we advise our clients to please align internally first before going external.
Tell us about BCD’ s external creative services( The Collective) which I gather is already launched in the UK. Which other countries / markets will be involved in the roll out? Over the past five years, the demand for production and content driven events has increased, which has hit the sweet spot of The Collective. The idea behind The Collective being launched in other markets outside the US and the UK is that we want to differentiate our services but also meet our clients in key markets where we currently aren’ t able to provide this today. For the EMEA region, we will launch at least one new market in 2026 – potentially more.
How can The Collective support customers at scale and help elevate event experiences? The Collective helps organisations deliver with confidence at defining moments. Whether navigating change, driving growth, or delivering consistently where it matters most, we use behavioural insight, experience design, technology, and creative precision to move people, deepen knowledge, and elevate every outcome.
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