The cost of living crisis, a common headline these days and one that affects everyone in the UK and beyond.
With recent events across the globe, the UK is heading towards a major downturn in the economy – but what does that mean for events?
Our experience over the last 20 years has shown us how changes in the economy can affect the event industry. We’ve taken a moment to absorb the impact the current economy is having on the event industry and wanted to share our thoughts.
So what has changed?
The UK economy affects the events industry in many ways. The UK’s recession back in 2008 led to an increase in unemployment rates, house repossession rates and consumer debt and with COVID-19, the war and various global events, we’re starting to see the same trends occurring again. Whilst we can’t predict the future, we are certain, these global events have had an effect on the business world, in particular the corporate and live event industry.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, we’ve picked five key areas we want to discuss that include:
- Disposable Income -the amount of money people have left to spend.
- Fuel – fluctuating prices across the globe.
- Climate Change – saving the planet
- Technology – ever evolving tech to improve.
- Millennials – the new generation of power and thinking.
Disposable Income
The current cost of living means people are more likely to have less disposable income at their fingertips over the coming months. Whilst this may not affect corporate events, this has had an impact on entertainment which should be seeing a reduction in business.
Instead, concerts, weddings, sporting events are all going ahead with full capacity audiences, we believe this is largely due to the pandemic and people having to cut back their social lives and entertainment. The importance of personal wellbeing has become more and more important and previously whilst people may have cut down on costs for weddings, concerts, we’re seeing that they’re willing to splash out on making themselves happy.
Fantastic news for the event industry which was reduced to virtual events throughout 2020 and 2021 but is now getting back on its feet.
Fuel
From a corporate perspective, companies and employees cut the amount they spent on fuel massively throughout the pandemic and now that we’re over half way into 2022, we’re still not seeing people spending as much on travelling for work purposes.
Recent events causing the cost of fuel to rise significantly has reduced the desire to travel even further. This has meant people are actively choosing to join events virtually because travelling to corporate events in their own cars or by public transport is proving to be too expensive, especially if they are not able to claim the cost of travel back again.
For the event industry, it means providing a way to join events virtually and save on fuel costs.
Climate Change
A hot topic that all industries need to take on board. We’ve talked about the impact of climate change in the past and one of our values is to be clean, ensuring we can provide a sustainable option for all of our clients.
This could include calculating the carbon footprint of an event, using carbon pricing to make suppliers accountable or ensuring our network of suppliers work within the stringent standards that we do.
Have a read of our previous news articles to see the impact climate change is having on the industry and what we’re doing to tackle the issue:
Technology
Ever evolving and a necessity in life, we’re always keeping an eye on the latest trends and how new technology can be used to improve events and event experiences for attendees. What’s the difference? Event experiences are designed for attendees, helping them to take in and react to content in bitesize chunks throughout an event.
But events include so much more, many improvements aren’t always visible to the attendees and could include Feedback mechanisms, using AI and other technologies to measure feedback after an event helps to gauge how events are run from a different perspective. Read our news article on Measurement to find out more.
It doesn’t end there, technology can help organisers streamline ticketing processes (helping to monitor capacity), promotion of the event, health and safety information, follow up collateral and so much more.
Millennials
Millennials or Gen Y (anyone born from 1980 to 2000) are the generation of people taking over from Generation X. Whilst we’re aware every single person is different, we also understand that the majority of this generation and future generations have a different view of life. They have a stronger passion towards making the world a better place and are much smarter when it comes to finance and expenditure.
So, why does a Millennial impact the event industry right now? Millennials are making a difference in the world, forcing changes on regulation to improve climate change, spending money much more wisely and their strong views and enthusiasm needs to be reflected in the events they attend.
By being aligned to the same values, we understand their views and desires and use this information to deliver exceptional events that they can get immersed in.
Our values are our guiding principles, we call them our 4C’s – Clean, Clever, Collaborative and Community.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, when we plan events, we take time to understand the audience and their needs and motivations which helps us deliver impactful events for them. We’re specialists in healthcare and pharma events and we operate with honesty, integrity and in a way that doesn’t cost the environment.
Our values are our guiding principles, we call them our 4C’s – Clean, Clever, Collaborative and Community.
Talk to the team now to discuss your next event.
