‘Storytelling, humour and emotion are the basis of a good live event’

The merger between FX Agency and D&B Eventmarketing is still fresh. At the end of March, both agencies announced that they would merge into one company. It is a special fusion between a digital event specialist and an acclaimed agency in the field of in-person events. Niels Janssen founded FX Agency 14 years ago. Today, the Utrecht agency has 45 full-time employees and all disciplines in-house to devise and create completely independent digital formats. “Events are no longer just live and in person, but also online and virtual”, says Janssen about the merger with D&B Eventmarketing. “At the same time, we see that there’s a digital mindset in the market, especially among the younger generation. People expect to be able to absorb stories in a hybrid way, as there’s an increasing demand for this variant. Thanks to the merger, we can focus on that even better.”

Corporations and universities

FX Agency works for many large corporations, such as ING, Friesland Campina, Heineken, and Ahold Delhaize, as well as universities. “We use digital means, content, animation, and virtual productions for live events as well as interaction with mobile phones and all related communication via digital channels.” There is an increasing demand for both online and virtual events. “Yes, but they are two different things”, Janssen insists, seeing that they are often conflated. “Online events include everything that you can simply follow, such as an accessible stream.”

Digital world

At a virtual event, you enter a digital world created specially for that event as an avatar, from a location on Mars to a fictional world that perfectly matches your brand values. “Interactive and AI are the key words. There’s a lot of technical innovation involved. A bigger advantage of this is that, as a visitor, with your avatar or digital personality, you’re actually in that world. It’s not so much about walking around in a computer game. For example, we have stands where the entire audience visiting a virtual event can ask questions or interact using their avatar. This gives them the feeling that they’re in a room together.”

Do’s and don’ts

Back to online events. What should you do and not do? “One obvious thing is the duration of an online event. People are quickly distracted, and surveys say as much as well: 70 percent of the people are doing other things,” says Janssen. “In addition, offering a dynamic and varied programme is important. We’ve organised an eight-hour online event, but we generally don’t recommend it.” We are increasingly more selective with mass information, says Janssen. “As consumers, we’re naturally spoiled when it comes to receiving information. We wake up, scroll through Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn. In three minutes’ time, you’ve already consumed 30 things. We can process that because we have taught ourselves to do so. You’re constantly being taken through fast algorithms. You get exactly what is relevant to you, and it’s getting more and more advanced. Then, we attend a company’s online event, and we have to stare at a dull PowerPoint presentation for an hour.”

Snackable content

Do it differently. Offer more snackable content, says Janssen. “Small snacks at different times instead of throwing everything at a wall for an hour.” An online event also doesn’t have to always be from a single location. “Be sure to use a base studio from where you can tell your story, just like on television. From there, you can show your content using pre-recorded videos. Or work with several locations and a live reporter, switching back to them once in a while.”

‘Small snacks at different times instead of throwing everything at a wall for an hour’

FX Agency also considers visitors’ attention spans. “As soon as the CEO is telling a story for half an hour, even if they’re doing their best, we can assume that the whole room is slouching in their seats. That’s why it’s important to offer interactivity or gamification. We would rather get started with the story itself and the related experience. Storytelling, humour and emotion work really well together, as they draw people into a story by touching them emotionally and creating a memory. This way, it ensures that the target group will also actually remember what was said.”

Fictional commercial break

As an example, Janssen gives a fictional commercial break during an event for a large FMCG group. “Well-known commercials were amusingly parodied but also contained a message about a part of the strategy. Thinking about fun formats or telling your story in a different way makes a difference.

‘It’s important to offer interactivity or gamification’

Applying gamification, where participants always have to actively answer questions or even contribute something and score points, can also have a simulating effect. Participants get the feeling that they’re winning or doing it right.” [caption id="attachment_103990" align="alignnone" width="750"] ‘Technology and innovation are indeed fantastic, but when the target group is not ready for them, it’s no use’
photo: Thomas Fasting[/caption]  

Latest techniques

FX Agency tries to be a leader in the latest techniques and innovations available on the market. “We’re also looking at how we can use them in corporate settings as quickly as possible. Technology and innovation are indeed fantastic, but when the target group is not ready for them, it’s no use.” Since Janssen expects virtual events to develop rapidly, his agency is keen on innovation. “There are five people in that department, and we give them time every week to work on non-client projects. This way we can see what is available and how we can apply this to our client’s demands.” That’s also where the idea came from: letting people communicate with their mobile phone as a digital character in a virtual environment. “We didn’t know exactly when to make use of this because we may have been too early. It had been on the shelf for a while until the health crisis came. Then we thought, it’s time. Our phone blew up, as clients were extremely interested.”

Unreal Engine

The techniques are there to further develop virtual events. Janssen names Unreal as an important software package behind the technique. Almost all major games are built using Unreal Engine, and Hollywood uses it as well. “You can generate live graphics and create live virtual environments, which is relevant for events, of course. The same goes for all developments around AI, VR and AR, for example. We’re constantly working on that.”

More experience

Janssen expects the frequency of live moments to decrease. “The mix of live and online will decrease somewhat, but when we do go live, there’ll be much more happening. There’s still much more focus on the experience and immersing people in an adventure”, he predicts. He refers to an event where a thousand people came together that linked the FX Agency to a fictional mission to Mars. “The visitors had to compete to be able to go on the mission. The entrance to the event was like walking into a space shuttle. We even had a launch take place in the room with a thousand people.”

More campaign-oriented

Another trend Janssen sees is that brands and companies are going to focus on the long term and think more campaign-oriented about using their fans. “One story, one experience, of which your event is a part. From in-person to online and back: mixed reality. It all blends together seamlessly.” He also mentions data as an important aspect. “The interesting thing about using smart data is that you can communicate much more personally with individuals and keep track of their interests, which works very well with digital channels. We can immediately see who is looking at what and what choices they make.”  

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Online location was the most visited

During the health crisis, FX Agency organised an online variant of the open day for the InHolland University of Applied Sciences. It also stayed open once people could come to the physical locations. The online location was the most visited, and the interaction with the target group was also bigger. “Visitors thought it was a more comfortable way to come into contact with a teacher or a student, making it more accessible”, says Niels Janssen.