Conference News April 2020 | Page 29

he events industry has evolved so much over the last decade that having a thorough events strategy is as important as having a good communications strategy. So much so, that we will soon see a new era of agencies offering a more cohesive offering. Pure Events has repositioned itself as Pure Communications Group. CEO Charlotte Gentry answers our questions. Tell us about the repositioning of Pure. Pure Events is expanding its offering, becoming the Pure Communications Group, which is a natural progression for the growing industry demand for an integrated service offering. We have become well known in the industry for being experts in execution and delivery. What a lot of people don’t know is that there are a lot of other elements which are incorporated in the overall events strategy which involves strategic questioning and thinking. It is not just about the execution and the production. By altering our positioning, we are showcasing more of what we actually do. Why did you decide that now is the right time to do this? We have always planned to confirm this in March, and work on this project began last year. We initially decided we were going to have a good look at our website and move that forwards because it was static in the way it was projecting itself. We needed the site to be much more visual and incorporate video content to really showcase the expanse of what we do and where the industry IT’S A COMMS GAME EVCOM chair and Pure Communications Group CEO Charlotte Gentry has repositioned her agency to encompass more thorough communications strategies for brands is moving. The industry is moving in a more content-led direction and as much as we are producing content for our client base, a lot of people didn’t know that is what we have been doing, and our website wasn’t presenting that message. What extra services can your existing clients look forward to and what will new clients be interested to learn about this? A lot of what we are doing is based around content production through live streaming, video and digital messaging, and creative design of the event. The content design is working with the client to understand their messaging internally and being able to project that to an audience, internal or external. We work with the client to www.conference-news.co.uk 29 Agency Eye deliver this message through means such as video, live streaming, presentation skills etc. It is looking at the objectives from the very beginning. We have often ended up obtaining the event brief but have not necessarily always been involved in the strategic conversation from the very beginning. So, we are asking ‘why’, ‘why are you planning on doing this?’ Should brands seriously consider a joined-up communications and events strategy; are they linked? They are intrinsically linked, there are a number of agencies that have been discussing and producing this with their clients. As have we, for the past 18 months, because it is a strategy that has become increasingly more important. The value add to the client needs is now based on executing the strategy of what they’re trying to achieve, not just looking at the event execution and design. The event is really the end product of the overall strategy. This is becoming more important, as is communication in the wider sense. Live events will always be important and how you execute, and deliver is paramount to its success, however, the creativity around the engagement, creativity and the content is a fundamental part of that success.