What We Have In Store for 2021

You may be hard pressed to think of previous New Years Day arrival that has been packed with as much anticipation and mixed emotions than 2021. 

On the one hand, a new calendar year brings a fresh perspective and the feeling of rejuvenated commitment to our causes. On the other hand, 2020 was full of so much strife and unexpected challenges that the “once bitten” mentality might be overly cautious about doing it all over again.

The live events industry was brought to its knees in 2020, forced not only to triage businesses and entire livelihoods, but to do more with less, dive into uncharted territory with no notice, and claim fewer projects than ever before.

That said, 2021 is an opportunity. We can tap into the refreshed perspective that the new year brings, and leverage the 100s of case studies and examples of innovation and success from 2020.

With this in mind, what’s in store for Brand Alive and our clients in the new year?

Our Areas of Focus for 2021:

Enable Comfort Psychology

This year, we will of course use our strategic brains to support our clients in making smart decisions but we will lead with our hearts. While vaccinations have begun and this is starting to create optimism in certain industry sectors, we are a long way off from the pandemic being over and therefore, humans (potential event guests) are going through a lot in their psyches.

We will enable our clients to provide opportunities to break down the negative effects of isolation and utilize our full stack communications team to aid positive event attendee and executive client sentiments. Our studies will focus on the stigmas around some guests being vaccinated and others not - what psychological effects will this have and how can we support?

Lastly, we will continue to find ways to integrate the element of surprise and delight while ensuring guests feel they have all the information they need - no small task.

Create Jobs and Profit

We work in an industry that has been turned upside down by the pandemic and made nearly impossible to survive. 

We see it as our job, as a micro business, to provide opportunities for meaningful paid work and collaboration for the hardworking event producers in our collective. We will also keenly look for opportunities to open doors and get as many event profs working as we can. 

As well, our commitment is to ensure all projects are profitable and make good business sense for our partner/supplier companies. We will not ask our event partners to give more than they can give, offer discounts when it’s not financially feasible for them, or to jump into projects without certainty for fair trade. After a year of financial description, it is our duty to support the long term viability of our partners and collective.

Reinvent Everything

From the at-home experience kits to amplified ROI to digital integration, we will focus on seeing every hurdle as an opportunity to reinvent for our clients. 

The wonderful thing about having 2020 behind us is that there are 100s or examples of safe pandemic innovations and event ideas that top brands have used, like HBO Max’s transformational drive-in experience to Miller High Life’s backyard dive bar delivery. There are a thousand more possibilities within what we know to be safe and possible.

Mindset of Curiosity

We believe that in periods of change, there is finally space for new information and different opportunities. In 2021, our team will embrace change with a youthful curiosity and a strategic mindset, digging for new truths and possibilities that apply to our client projects. 

Will we miss the pre-COVID19 kinds of projects or events? Maybe. But, if we look backwards too long, we will miss the opportunities that will inevitably lie ahead. So instead, we commit to being curious about change. 

Maximize ‘On-Demand’ Client Support

Our company is built like a micro business - in structure and in mindset. This means we leverage the gig economy through long term partnerships with both hand selected contract producers and full-stack design and production firms. Our senior level, award winning group of event profs are brought together in a way that is cost and time effective for our clients.

In 2021, this business mindset and structure will be at the forefront in servicing client needs: our clients get access to our built-in agility, leveraging what we believe will be the on-demand nature of the event industry in 2021.

With a curious mindset about change, a desire to reinvent, and with our focus on creating jobs and digging deep to provide comfort to our guests and executive clients, we remain open hearted about what is possible in 2021 and beyond. 

Take that, 2020!