Following on from Chambers Chief Executive, Chris Sargisson’s call for member input into a now shared column of the EDP, and the thoughtful ‘change’ themed response from Dave Wilson at Tiger Eye, we were left with plenty to think about. Moreover we were energised into sharing some of our own thoughts about change within business, especially in our field, event marketing.
For many in the business community, ‘change’ is often synonymous with themes of modernity and progress as well as perhaps disruption and challenge. Take the events industry for example, all too often the demise of live events has been touted by those riding the crest of a wave of ‘change’. The internet, digital marketing, social media, viral marketing…all examples of when a change and indeed evolution in the approach to marketing, was thought to have put a final nail in the coffin of live events. Yet events and exhibitions remain a crucial and undeniably valuable part of the modern marketing mix. So was the ‘change’ wrong? Well no, but perhaps just badly marketed (ironic eh)?
When change is spoken of in industry, all too often it can been deemed ‘disruptive’. A term regularly used by the tech industry in particular, with technological advancements ready to disrupt industries and shake up the established order. Whilst we don’t disagree with the need to disrupt some industries, businesses and practices, it would be myopic to assume that such disruption has a place across all of them. Heading back to our events example, arguably this idea of disruption is nothing new. There was a time when the internet was seen as the great disruptor, why would people waste their time on events when they could video conference and email? Indeed for a while people believed this, live events saw a downturn…in fact so radical was the perception that the internet would reign supreme, that cinema and theatre were also impacted. But it didn’t last.
Yes the internet and video conferencing and social media and digital marketing and influencers and content and all that incredible ever-evolving change in how we market and communicate our business and brand, remain pivotal to our success. Yet so do events. Why? Because they have not been disrupted by change, they have been augmented by it. Far from being the butt of a digital joke that only the most ‘modern’ of brands can giggle at, events more than ever are being included and augmented into this change. Where else can you shake an entrepreneur’s hand and see in their eyes the passion they have for that product that your business needs? Far from being left guessing how to pitch or tone your communications to serve your audience, you can respond in real time to the human being standing in front of you, laughing, smiling…doing business the ‘old fashioned way’. But then again you’re not, you’re at a modern event. You’re at an event that you’ve spent time promoting digitally, pre-arranging appointments via email, engaging with live via social media, an event that has been enriched by change, an event that embodies change.
Some may say it’s purely semantics whether change is ‘disruptive’ or ‘augmentative’, perhaps so, but it’s the attitude behind that’s what we really want to get at. We revelled in Dave Wilson’s person-centric and value led attitude to change, it’s this same attitude that we apply to our own work. When change is led by values and purpose it not only leads to improvements, but the protection of those core components that already provide value to us. It’s an important reminder that whilst ideologies like ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it‘ are insidious for business, so too are those that blindly embrace a disruptive approach to change without considering value, or purpose or people. It’s those reasons that keep events relevant in the modern marketing mix and why we are so passionate about every business having opportunity to use this unique and very personal platform. Even if it means changing, how they think about events in this ever evolving, ever more digital business landscape.