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The event kicked off with breakfast, before guests were invited into the venue’s 47-capacity cinema room where GPJ’s vice president of sales and marketing, EMEA, Kevin Jackson, kicked off proceedings. He highlighted ten trends for increasing ROI on event spend.
He said: "It’s all about enlightenment, because it is through measurement and data that we get to understand what we’ve done and where we want to go." Jackson added organisers need to forget everything they know about the audience every single time you approach an event.
Jackson also explained ROI is not just about money: "There are so many other things that we do in the event space that aren't just about cash. It is important, but the investment isn't just the money - the return on investment is much bigger than that."
Secret Cinema's partnership with Warner Bros on new film releases was highlighted by Jackson, who said: "The experience of the film is so powerful it's driving massive amounts of buzz on social media, which is driving ticket sales. However, with these events there isn't a significant amount of return. These events feature quite a small audience, but it's driving huge amounts of return in the way of ticket sales."
, VP, Europe, discussed the ways in which event professionals could create shareable online content and experiences through social media.
"There are 40% of UK adults who look at Facebook each day," he said: "So you have to think of the social web as a party. If you say that you are amazing, people will walk away from you. Brands need to understand what’s the appropriate way to behave."
The event was rounded off with a presentation from Gareth Dimelow, head of strategy and planning at GPJ, who stood in for Bonny Shapira, EMEA leader of Cisco Live! - an IT telecoms thought-leadership event. GPJ has been working with Cisco for 20 years, with the Cisco Live! concept being conceived five years ago, operating in the US and EMEA.
He outlined how the brand is implementing some of the social media content and ROI strategies that had been previously discussed. "Our entire world is changing, from thinking different ways about ROI, to what a meaningful experience constitutes from the view of delegates. We need to look at how social is changing the world we operate in and the ways consumers are not only engaging with brands, but each other."
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