How to monetise hybrid events
Matthias Tesi Baur , CEO MBB-Consulting Group , shares a 75 / 25 onsite / online definition and much more of his thinking on the future shape of events
or months , the entire industry has been talking about hybrid events and we have progressed greatly in defining and also offering first , good , hybrid best practice cases to our exhibitors and visitors . Every crisis comes with an opportunity and finally pushing digital solutions to a level that provides value to our customer is the direction we should take in the current situation .
We from MBB-Consulting have worked intensively in the last months to provide a report that contains a clear definition of a hybrid event and to create a framework that allows us to measure the depth of a hybrid event and , therefore , be in the position to rate the quality as well . Finally , we have just added a concept of how to monetise a hybrid event .
We placed the definition of a hybrid event on three pillars :
1 . The change in utilising digital functions Developing digital functions and services is not new in our industry . However , the nature of a hybrid tradeshow is different to the way we worked with digital tools before . A hybrid tradeshow should fulfil the following criteria :
• The USP of the tradeshow can be realised if a customer does not physically attend
• The benefit of a digital tool can be utilised even when a customer does not physically attend a tradeshow
However , attending a tradeshow should always be the ultimate goal for a customer to receive the full benefit .
2 . The change in the meaning of the term ‘ tradeshow ’ So far , when we talked about a tradeshow , we meant the live show and particularly the days when a show is open for visitors .
The hybrid tradeshow describes all aspects of a platform , enabling business between exhibitors and visitors . This platform can come to life through the open days ( old definition ) but also through online formats such
Left : Matthias Tesi Baur as online product tours , video on demand of conference content , digital matchmaking , online panel discussion , and so on .
In other words : We need to extend the word ‘ tradeshow ’ from the pure show to all formats that enable business , independently of these formats being online or offline .
3 . The balance between onsite and online aspects of a tradeshow We define this balance with a 75 % focus on the onsite aspect and 25 % on the online aspect . We have chosen this balance based on the strategic thought that the onsite aspect needs to be the main part of the USP and benefit and we believe that the face to face momentum is irreplaceable . However , having a 25 % balance on the online aspects means that customers are able to enjoy a benefit even if they do not join the tradeshow onsite .
Based on this model the goal of a hybrid strategy is to strengthen the onsite aspect as well as provide benefit through the online aspects .
Using this definition , we developed a framework to enable exhibition organisers , show teams and also exhibitors and visitors to measure the depth of a hybrid tradeshow .
The framework first lists all available online channels such as blogs , webinars , 1-2-1 meetings , online networking lounges , etc . divided into the main online categories : Content & Resources , Networking & Communication and Brand & Product Awareness that can be used by hybrid events to provide value for exhibitors and visitors . In a second step we listed all possible exhibitor motivations in the framework such as brand building , lead generation , customer relationship management and many more . Finally , we rated every single online channel against every single exhibitor motivation on a scale from 1 ( bad ) to 5 ( very good ).
We worked with this hybrid framework and scanned more than 60 different tradeshow websites to date . The results are remarkable . At
32 Issue 6 2020 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk