CASE: BRANDED VIRTUAL EVENT

When we were approached by Mpac Group to help them think about their stand at Interpack, to produce video content and create shows for it, no one had heard of ‘COVID’. After this event was cancelled we took matters into our own hands, and together with Mpac we changed course. To come up with the best possible alternative, we started brainstorming. The request from Mpac Group was to reach (potential) customers, despite the pandemic, in order to show new innovations within packaging automation. A high-end virtual event, fully branded Mpac, with multiple table guests, live demos and a professional host, that’s what we came up with after a joint brainstorm.

After having made the choice to go for an online event, all preparations could begin. To kick off, it was important to find out the exact purpose of Mpac: What is the purpose of this event? What items are we missing compared to the usual physical event? What value can we add through the virtual nature of this event? Fortunately, this was clear pretty quickly. It was important to show the target group how Mpac, despite the changing market, can continue to fulfill the needs of its customers. Although often Mpac is already known to existing customers as an innovative and reliable organization, this was still difficult to convey to customers when a physical meeting was not possible at that time.

From this question, we started brainstorming… How were we going to ensure that the message was conveyed in the best possible way to the (potential) customers? With this in mind, we decided on a number of themes that were important to the customers. These themes formed the structure of the virtual event, where after an intro video about the theme, there was a conversation led by the host of this event, Mark Wijsman. Roughly five themes were covered, with each theme having different employees at the table who knew all about it.

When, as an agency, you organize an event for one of your clients, you basically have one main goal, which is to ensure that the client is relieved and that we arrange everything down to the last detail. We have really thought of everything, think for example of the catering, call sheets, timetables, table, the lights, the ‘on-brand’ factory hall, the sound, the light and so on.

To make sure that all (potentially) interested people were aware of this event, a short-term campaign was launched, consisting of video teasers, social posts and emails. All those means ended up at a conversion moment: the registration page of the Adapt & Grow 2020 event.

Then it could finally begin, after making sure everyone was comfortable in front of and behind the camera, we were sure… This had to go smoothly. We had kicked off and began covering the themes. Since Mpac would actually be at the trade show, where customers could ask questions directly, we wanted to include this aspect. So, this was the reason why the event ended with a live Q&A, where everyone who was present online could ask questions. It was nice to see that there was quite some engagement.

In the end we went live with Mpac four times for an hour, this was spread over two days. This way everyone could free up a spot in his/her agenda for this and different time zones were taken into consideration.

After these two days, we immediately started the dismantling. Despite the fact that it had been 30 degrees all week, we wanted to continue and we certainly did. In no time the entire factory was empty, only they had forgotten 1 thing… Jos was still alone in the factory, he had been left behind. After a few calls to security, Jos could also enjoy his well-earned weekend!

The advantage of a virtual event over a physical trade show is the high degree of measurability. Here, the client had direct insight into the results. For example, we had insight into many metrics such as how long people watched on average, the level of engagement, and the conversion rate. The latest came down to how many people left their details or request to engage with the Mpac sales team.

From Mpac themselves, we received feedback that we had completely unburdened them and that they didn’t have to worry about anything. This is of course the best compliment you can get during such an event. The visitors of the event were very positive about the organization and the content. Mpac received a number of nice responses such as the ones below:

• “WOW – The webinar this morning was fantastic!!! I thought it was a super professional production, which really got the message across brilliantly that Mpac builds top of the range machines, but almost more importantly you will build them as the customer wants them, and you have lots of very clever, experienced people to enable that.”

• “I just wanted to say the virtual event looked great today. From a viewer’s perspective it ran very smoothly and was full of useful info. You’ve really set a benchmark for the future.”

As a creative agency, to be able to create an (online) event for Mpac, completely on-branded with enormous marketing value, is something we are proud of. One thing we know for sure, the bar for the competition is high!