Rethinking Events in a Virtual World: Gifting as a Competitive Differentiator

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Rethinking Events in a Virtual World: Gifting as a Competitive Differentiator

2/22/2021
The Coronavirus pandemic has brought more disruption to the trade show and events industry than the last three decades combined, and all bets are that events will look drastically different for the foreseeable future. Even when physical events can be held again in a safe and compliant way, their formats and experiences will not mirror what we were all used to prior to the pandemic. But this does not equate to a long-term negative outlook for events, rather quite the contrary.

The industry has an opportunity to completely transform the event experience, to create a stronger, more lasting impression and cultivate more meaningful relationships with attendees and participants.

A key element of building a relationship at an event is the gifting experience. Be it corporate logoed swag or some other item, event managers and marketing teams strive to provide great gifts for people who visit their trade show booth or attend their events. But their effort doesn't always pay off because gifting for events has not kept up with the times, and the gifting journey can be fraught with challenges that we've come to accept as the norm.

Event and conference organizers want to make gifting a memorable experience, but many believe that budget is what dictates the level of fun, value, and purpose they're able to provide. While budget obviously plays a role, it should not cause event and conference organizers to limit their gifting to generic items or options that don't connect with the majority of attendees.There are gifting options out there that enable organizations to provide high-quality gifts at competitive price points.

Inventory Headaches? We've All Been There
Does the following situation sound familiar? It is time for the biggest trade show of the year, the event that gathers all the key prospects, customers and partners. It is a great moment in time to provide everyone with something that will make you stand out and create a stronger brand connection in people's minds -- maybe the event t-shirt with your new logo and clever design. This event is your company's biggest marketing investment of the year.

Event and marketing managers head to the site with limited insights on attendees' preferred t-shirt sizes and hope that everyone wants to get one of these great t-shirts in the size that fits them best. What's the problem? First, the event team has to order a bunch of inventory, guessing at sizes, colors, and more. Next, there's managing a physical inventory of the t-shirts on-site and schlepping the boxes to the booth, or expensive on-floor storage. Maybe all the popular sizes are covered or maybe you go with medium and XL. But what about stocking men's and women's versions? What happens when a key prospect comes by and you've run out of the right size, style, or color?

It can be a major headache and an opportunity lost.

So why do we still run event gifting this way? This process hasn't changed or improved for decades because technology has either been absent from the equation or created limitations rather than removing them. Event and marketing managers have tried evaluating ways to curate more creative gift options or plan more personalized gift experiences - but become frustrated when they realize they need to do everything manually. That should not be the case in 2020. Gifting has an opportunity for a digital and personalized revival; if done well, it can be your company's competitive differentiator at events.

We're Starting to Turn a Corner
Prior to the pandemic, event and marketing managers were experimenting with technologies and platforms to up-level event gifting.

For example, one Fortune 500 company organized a special event for VIP customers, and wanted to enable a sports gifting experience that attendees would remember for years to come. They wanted to avoid bringing inventory to the event and instead sought to provide a gift that was customized for each attendee. Working with a leading retailer, they used a new Gift Experience Management platform to develop a gift that was tailored to each attendee's needs.

At the event, attendees used smartphones to scan a QR code found on the centerpieces of each of their tables. The scan revealed an offer to select the sports jersey of their choice for their favorite team from any of the major sports, in their size, customized with their name and favorite number and with the ability to ship the jersey directly to their homes. This process took a matter of minutes at the event and helped the company create a memorable connection with the attendees by giving them each a gift that they really wanted. It also greatly simplified logistics, because they didn't have to deal with inventory or shipping to or from the event.

We Can Embrace Digital Events and Make Gifting Matter Even More
None of us know when physical events will resume at scale - and judging by recent news about major events going entirely virtual in 2021 - it may be quite a while.

Gifting is one way teams can make any event, even a virtual one, a success. One of the big opportunities now for virtual event attendees is digital delivery.

Traditionally, delivery experiences create the possibility of a more meaningful and exciting unboxing moment that an attendee may not have been able to experience in a physical setting. This requires a lot more work on both the front- and back-ends: processes, delivery and logistics need to be seamless. Event organizers have faced issues when trying to provide gifts at scale to attendees.

Distributing personalized and unique gift card links sounds like a good alternative, but the technologies to generate those links at scale come with their own challenges, says Susan Newman, National Retail Federation's SVP of Conferences. Recently, her team utilized a gift experience management platform, powered by GiftNow's technology to exceed that goal, and streamline the gift delivery process. Because of the minimal oversight required with utilizing the platform, Newman believes this opens the door to exploring a larger variety of gift card options they can potentially provide attendees in the future.

And this approach isn't limited to gift cards. More gift choices from the most popular retailers and brands are also possible thanks to innovation and growth of ecommerce capabilities. The ability to execute both an intuitive digital delivery plus a broad selection of gift cards and gifts with customizable options from popular retailers is now a reality through gift experience management technology. This can result in a consistent, positive emotional response from recipients. "We want gifting to be extremely meaningful to our speakers and attendees, and the virtual events we've held in recent months have enabled us to create the most personalized gift experiences to date," noted CommerceNext's Scott Silverman. "The opportunity to leverage these gifts as a way to thank you for engaging with CommerceNext makes a huge difference."

Retailers and event companies are excited about the possibilities. The virtual exhibitor booth and keynote intermission experiences are ripe for transformation with the help of digital gifting. A new way to gift corporate swag or give more freedom to attendees to pick the gifts that match their interests are within reach. The events industry may be entering an era of uncertainty, but done the right way, your gifting strategy can still be what sets you apart.

Author:
Jenn Muller
Jenn Muller is the Chief Marketing Officer at Loop Commerce, a Synchrony solution where she leads all aspects of marketing for Loop Commerce, a Synchrony solution. Loop Commerce is powering the digital gifting experience for e-commerce leaders like Target, Coach, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, and others where their GiftNow solution is a leading choice for online gifting of products. Jenn moved to Loop in 2018 from her role as SVP, Digital Optimization & New Client Integration at Synchrony. Jenn spent 25 years with GE Capital and Synchrony in various sales, marketing and leadership roles. She holds a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Texas and an MBA in E-commerce from the University of Phoenix. She is a certified Six Sigma black belt.

Contact:
patrick.lange@jellyfish.com