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Singapore – Brands are now realising the importance of building communities to build greater relationships with their customers outside of the traditional way of customer retention. Communities are a helpful way for brands to get a deeper understanding of their consumer base. The question is: in a commercially-driven event, how do you monetise such a community organically?

This is what Sophie Ahmed, Senior Vice President of Market Strategy at Hubilo, discussed during her fireside chat in the recently-concluded webinar hosted by MARKETECH APAC and Hubilo.

In the conversation, Sophie explains that a 365 community is a meeting place where all of the brand’s community can come together to do business, meet, network, learn and to feel part of something bigger. Using the example of book and school clubs, she says that a community established is to belong to something, and taps into the tribal part of someone.

“Any brand that can use events to build their leads and grow their business can keep their event alive 365 days. By providing a single sign on access to this community of prospects, customers and partners, they will be able to get greater insight into their behaviours and on a deeper, more emotional level,” she explained.

Sophie noted in the chat that there are two ways to consider when monetising an event: either use it to build growth and indirect revenue, or do it under a subscription model. She notes that in executing these revenue models, brands need to ensure their customers are being offered perks and other advocacy-driven updates in order to retain them in the longer run.

“Within the community, you can have smaller meetups, focus groups, customer workshops, tier it, gate it, host on-demand content [amongst other things] and then have a larger annual event,” she added.

Furthermore, when asked about how these 365 communities allow commercially-driven events to be more personalised, Sophie explained that brands need to use insights from their customer base to decide how an event is oriented to be personalised and deemed effective for a content marketing strategy.

“So you can watch their behaviour, also temperature check their feeling towards your brand and what the market is like. You can now spot industry trends earlier and translate this into how you then personalise their experience at your master event and also pre and post-event messaging, so it resonates,” she said.

Want to learn more about what Sophie has to say in regards to kickstarting your 365 community? Explore how an event tech company can become a partner in your journey. Watch the on-demand webinar here.

The webinar, with the theme ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific’, also gathered industry leaders to deep dive into what it takes for brands to successfully plan their events. Joining the discussion were Amit Wadhwa, chief executive officer at Dentsu Creative India; Milca Javier, head of marketing at Generali Philippines; and Razlan Manjaji, director of global events at South China Morning Post.

Singapore – In the recently concluded webinar, What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific, marketing leaders from different industries came together in a panel discussion to touch base on event marketing as we move forward from pandemic-induced social restrictions. This was joined by Amit Wadhwa, CEO of Dentsu Creative India; Milca Javier, head of marketing of Generali Philippines; and Razlan Manjaji, director of global events at South China Morning Post.

Moderated by Sophie Ahmed, the SVP for market strategy at Hubilo, the panel discussion saw the industry leaders agreeing that while the innovation of digital made it possible for brands to continually serve events in the virtual form amidst the pandemic, nothing can replace the engagement brought by in-person events.

“Events were means of physically interacting with the target audience, actually making the brand [be experienced] As senior vice president of marketing, physically. And I think Covid has taught us that nothing can replace that,” said Wadhwa.

“What’s interesting in the times that we’re living in, events…of course it is about physically interacting with the brand, physically interacting with the philosophy of the brand, [and] physically living the brand, but I think, more importantly, the events actually lived much beyond the physical event, the event now can actually [move] to digital,” he added.

When virtual became the lifeline for events, everyone thought it would now be an either/or situation between virtual and physical. But the sophistication brought by the former just proved that in-person events have just gotten better through it.

“We all keep talking about how digital is booming, and how that is the new medium to be, but it’s not just creating content for digital,” said Wadhwa. “You can actually do something on-ground and then amplify it digitally.”

What events are making possible for brands

Despite the momentum of brand events held back for a period, the ‘show’ must go on for them as it serves many purposes on their engagement, brand message, and consumer retention.

For Manjaji at SCMP, it is through events that they are able to bring together their most loyal readers and subscribers.

“[Events are] a platform for us to engage our most loyal readers and most active readers…for you to be participating in an in-person event, those people are really invested in the story and journalism that you tell,” he said.

When consumers, or readers in SCMP’s case, are brought together in one shared space, it follows that the brand is able to engage and get to know its audiences better.

“If you want to think about First-party data, for example; through events, you’ll get to know readers much, much more. Which event [did] they go [to]…who did they talk to – those data [are] actually gold mine for us, and we start to realise the power of events, virtual and in-person, to collect these data. So for us, we use events for that [purpose],” said Manajaji.

In terms of events becoming a way to acquire relevant consumer data, Wadhwa agrees.

“We are getting more and more richer [with] our insights with each event because of the data we’re getting, because of the understanding that we’re getting, which wasn’t the case earlier,” said Wadhwa.

Meanwhile, for Javier that helms the marketing of insurance brand Generali, what events enable is the communication of the brand’s story and it becoming a platform to help consumers understand the brand purpose beyond the surface level.

“Insurance, per se, is seen as very serious or very stiff, but events enable us, [provide] us an opportunity to tell our story, or to tell our purpose,” said Javier.

During the pandemic, that ‘story’ changed for Generali Philippines – moving from the strong focus on the value proposition of ‘prevention’ to now strengthening the communication on ‘protection’, and Javier shared that events are what made it possible for them to transcend their initial branding.

“Through our events, we are able to transcend that purpose, to transcend that story, and with that, this creates opportunities for us to create the leads,” said Javier.

How to create events that stand out

Now that we’re seeing in-person events getting back on its feet, the more important question is, how can brands make their events stand out and resonate well with the audience?

For Manjaji, the foundation is important and that means continuing to treat content as king.

“[Connecting] the right dots is still fundamental; if you fail to do that, your event will be crap, [doesn’t] matter if you did it in a five-star hotel,” he said.

Wadhwa, meanwhile, said that most of all, the event must sit right on what the essence of the brand is.

Citing an example, he shared, “If I think music is entertaining, but music is not something that’s a pillar of my brand or is not connecting to my audience, I don’t just pick up music because it’s just getting popular.”

“I think it needs to fit the brand philosophy; it might sound fundamental, but [a lot of] times, brands lose track of it. I think we need to bring that back,” he added.

In terms of dealing with specific challenges in event marketing such as a limited budget, Javier also shared her insights.

For her, it’s all about prioritisation.

“You know what is far more important [to] you when you create [a certain] event,” she said.

Using ‘weddings’ as a microcosm for the larger event marketing organisation, she said you would need to think about which comes more important than others, whether that’s having grade A photography or whatnot. She shared that for Generali Philippines for example, they focus on the content they aim to give to the audience, which would mean the lion’s share of the budget goes to acquiring credible speakers.

Lastly, on the importance of curating attention-snaring and impactful events, Wadhwa shares that the event simply has to ‘feel real’ for the intended audience – events becoming a two-way communication.

“[You] can absolutely make it exciting, [if] it’s through a celebrity, or through [a] performance…but [unless] I see myself in it, and I see myself completely engrossed in it, and I start living the brand, it almost becomes a two-way communication,” he said.

“And the moment it becomes a two-way communication, I think we’ve hit the bull’s eye,” Wahwa added.

The webinar, What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific, also conducted a fireside chat with Ahmed, who discussed about the 365 community strategy in events. The conversation talked about how the strategy can be monetised and used for further personalisation of brands.

Singapore – Last November 3, APAC industry leaders gathered in an industry discussion that talked about the future of event marketing as brands and marketers prepare for 2023. Conducted by MARKETECH APAC, in partnership with events platform Hubilo, ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific’ roped in industry leaders from Dentsu Creative India, Generali Philippines, and South China Morning Post.

The events industry was one of the worst hit during the pandemic, and now that things are gradually getting back to normal, it’s crucial to take a look at how events have evolved and the new trends that have emerged as it rises from a prolonged halt.

Kicking off the webinar was a panel discussion graced by Amit Wadhwa, CEO of Dentsu Creative India; Milca Javier, head of marketing at Generali Philippines; and Razlan Manjaji, director of global events at South China Morning Post. Moderated by Sophie Ahmed, SVP for market strategy at Hubilo, the group of leaders talked about the importance and strategy of leveraging event-led communities. Furthermore, the panel touched on the best event engagement strategies that brands can employ.

Meanwhile, Ahmed who’s had 20 years of industry experience in events and marketing, further shared her insights into strategising events through a fireside chat with MARKETECH APAC’s Regional Editor Shaina Teope.

In the conversation, Ahmed shed light on the burgeoning strategy called ‘365 Community’, and discussed how said marketing direction can be monetised and give way for greater personalisation by brands.

The webinar drew marketing professionals hailing from the industries of media, airlines, financial services, retail, and hospitality, amongst others. Attendees come from the markets of Singapore, Australia, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Furthermore, those who took part represented brands such as ByteDance, CIMB, Crimson Hotel, Foodpanda Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines, MetroMart, Netflix, and Tickled media.

Teope commented, “We can’t just expect the growth of events to be a one-way, straightforward path. Just because it was the in-person format that we left behind, does not mean we’re simply going back to how it was. Events have been forever changed and this is what this industry discussion is for – to get us back on track and open our eyes to newer innovations and strategies.”

Singapore – Events, following the height of the pandemic, are now putting a premium on the hybrid setup. Brands and marketers alike are utilising both the genuine tangibility of physical events and the widespread accessibility of digital events. For marketers, using a hybrid event model allows them to hit ‘two birds with one stone’ in terms of reaching out to their target audiences.

There is a greater need for both brands and marketers to be equipped with the latest strategies and methodologies to effectively use their hybrid events for the success of their brand marketing.

With these in mind, MARKETECH APAC, the digital media for the marketing and advertising industry in APAC, and in partnership with Hubilo, is taking the lead to explore what makes events a commercial success: event-led communities and 365 communities. Happening on November 3, 2022, 2 PM (Singapore Time), the webinar ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific’ aims to equip event planners and marketers with the latest trends and insights on how organisations can build engaging and sustainable events.

Through this event, MARKETECH APAC has gathered industry leaders to deep dive into the ecosystem of successful event planning for brands. Joining the discussion are Amit Wadhwa, chief executive officer at Dentsu Creative India; Milca Javier, head of marketing at Generali Philippines; Sophie Ahmed, senior vice president for market strategy at Hubilo; and Razlan Manjaji, director of global events at South China Morning Post.

The panellists will be sharing their views and insights on how brands and marketers create event-led communities, and test membership models, with engaging content. In addition, they will discuss what 365 communities are and how to build them to personalise events.

“Events have been the hardest hit when the pandemic struck, and just because things are now going back to normal, we can’t expect the event marketing landscape to be just the same when it was in its ideal shape. This industry event with Hubilo is so important because we’re not only going to revisit brands’ current event strategies, but we’re now revamping our playbooks to be future-ready as we unravel the impact of the collision of physical and virtual engagements,” commented Shaina Teope, MARKETECH APAC’s regional editor.

Meanwhile, Sophie Ahmed, SVP for market strategy at Hubilo, commented, “With the digitization of events, marketers now have access to new ways to build their brand, to generate leads, to funnel these leads, to get closer to their prospects and customers and to gain deeper insight into the behaviours of their market. Events now, more than ever, can be used to drive pipelines, achieve greater insight and analytics and ultimately create more value for the customer. I’m really excited for this session where we will be covering all of this and more.”

The webinar, ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific’, will be held on November 3, 2022, 2:00 pm SGT. Secure your spot at the webinar HERE.

Malaysia – V-Cube Malaysia (VMY), a renowned business communication provider in Malaysia specialising in virtual secure annual general meetings (AGM), e-voting, conferences and learning management systems (LMS); has entered into a partnership agreement with live, virtual, and hybrid events platform Hubilo.

Under the said partnership, VMY will leverage Hubilo’s capabilities to digitally transform their secure meetings offerings in Malaysia. VMY will tap into Hubilo’s full suite of interactive, live, virtual, and hybrid conference engagement tools and immersive experiences, bundled with VMY’s local expertise in project management and on-the-ground support services.

Dato’ Loh Yuen Tuck, CEO of V-Cube Malaysia, shared that while the pandemic situation remains unpredictable despite plans for opening up borders, for many event organisers, planning a successful event must continue regardless.

“Organisers can, therefore, use hybrid formats to combine the best of both worlds while ensuring engagement remains paramount. Business continuity and immersive user experience [are] assured through a digital platform like Hubilo that is easy to use and super-rich in engagement tools.”

Meanwhile, Greg Volm, SVP of sales & success at Hubilo, commented, “As Hubilo continues to expand its global footprint, we see Malaysia as another important and exciting opportunity for further growth in the virtual and hybrid event space in Asia Pacific. We are thrilled to be partnering with a leading domestic player like VMY to deliver innovative, immersive, and engaging events on our platform, and build stronger communities with this partnership.”

Hubilo is no stranger to Malaysia’s events scene; most notably amongst its roster of clients is the MDEC Malaysia Tech Conference 2021, which featured local and international industry speakers to share about the 4IR-driven digital economy.

The world is at the tipping point of innovation – with emerging technologies and new realities changing the way people live, work, and function. However, the surplus of possibilities may prove to be confusing for some as the right path to take is not always clear. And in the events space where the playing field for old and new entrants is becoming more competitive, there is a need to push for more creative and alternative solutions to make events a more impactful marketing channel.

Event organisers and marketers are some of the world’s most creative minds, and when they are empowered by a platform that enables them to deliver their complete vision and technology that propels immersive experiences, they are powerful forces to be reckoned with.

Particularly in the hybrid and virtual arena, marketers have the ability to achieve things they have never been able to before in a much faster and more efficient manner. They can test, measure, optimise, and refine strategies to make informed and more thoughtful marketing decisions.

True enough, the pandemic has clearly shown how far the tech-savvy can push boundaries and explore infinite digital possibilities. Marketers work behind the scenes to deliver content in reimagined ways. They have the greater potential to thrive in the digital future, unlike those who refuse to innovate, opting to stick with the formulaic, overused strategies that are unadaptable towards the changing landscape.

Events as a category will continue to grow, change, and take on new forms as they become the next go-to marketing tool for engagement, experiences, and greater connections for communities. It is up to marketers to seize the potential of events and change the way they market to deliver an experience that engages in manners deserving of our new digital-first audiences.

The emergence of event technology

In 2020, many brands jumped onto the ‘virtual event’ bandwagon so as not to lose out on massive amounts of revenue, demand, and brand growth.

Yet, the early stages were an insane scramble as event organisers at first settled on the easy solution – the monotonous webinar-like ‘events’ – a poor substitute to what engagement during a live in-person event was like.

However, event tech visionaries did not confine themselves to the limits of one-to-many engagements. They came up with innovative and exciting ideas of what real virtual events should be like, and transformed these into reality.

Voila! The space was buzzing with excitement, as the emergence of exciting event tech features did wonders to the overall virtual event experience. Event platforms also took a step further to test out various formats, determine what works best for each region and segment and provided tailor-fit solutions that answer the organisers’ business goals.

Mastering the game experience of events

The transition from in-person to virtual and hybrid is uncharted territory for most, and the modern marketer needs to be armed with the proper ammunition to deliver a successful event.

Marketers have a big vision of what the virtual event should be like, and having the right platform that allows them to achieve this vision without any compromise is crucial. This platform needs to be equipped with robust technology that can power and deliver more immersive and unique experiences to the attendees.

In fact, they can even take it several steps further by working with services that can turn the virtual or hybrid event into an experience. Who says that happy hours can only happen at in-person events? The beauty of technology nowadays is there is always something for everything, and if marketers want to replicate and improve this happy hour experience, they can most definitely do so. By working with the right vendor, marketers can have champagne, cocktails, and even gourmet hors d’oeuvres delivered to the doorsteps of event attendees, enjoyed during smart match-made 1:1 meetings that deliver business solutions.

Everyone needs all the support they can get, and as many event marketers are not born digital gurus, having an ecosystem of support is crucial to running a successful event. Support can come in the form of having an in-person team in the green room with you, a virtual tech team running the backend, and a 24/7 customer success team – all of which a strong event platform can provide for, all to ensure that your vision is fulfilled, and the goals pertaining to that event are achieved from pre- to post-event.

A successful event is not a one-man show. This is why resourceful marketers must make use of the tools at their disposal to create unforgettable experiences.

Data will dictate the success of future events

The rise of data analytics works in the marketers’ favour, who can now utilize data-driven insights and ensure multiple returns on investment.

Through tests and experiments, marketers go about executing various event formats and determining what works best for each audience segment, and with a data audit at the end of an event, they can pull out relevant insights that are useful when planning for future event strategies.

Data is also a powerful tool in selling the big vision to the C-suite. While it may not be available all the time, insights from general observations and past experiences can still be considered as raw, unfiltered data that marketers can use to strengthen their case.

Chief marketing officers (CMOs) obsessed with marketing and sales performance are aware of the plethora of data available and at their disposal. Given its sheer volume, velocity, and variety, finding the right data and shaping it to fit the market needs is how growth-oriented marketers can continue improving their marketing strategy.

Data is also a great discovery tool for risks, and having a data audit trail allows marketers to identify the gaps and opportunities to take on risks and plan a strategy unlike before. The test and learn approach is becoming increasingly popular among modern marketers since it has created the culture of actively testing new strategies, learning what works and what does not, which then guides marketers to achieve the best positive results

Embracing and understanding the BIG vision

The modern marketer is unafraid to embrace their big vision. With new technologies rapidly emerging, the marketing channels and the categories offered to customers are also expanding. It is up to marketers to be more creative and reimagine things differently to capture their audience’s attention.

Great marketers own both the market and voice of the customer… and, lest we forget, happy, engaged customers drive successful marketing campaigns.

The marketer, therefore, is the happiness agent – ensuring that the experience they are trying to market is on par with the experience that the attendees will get, if not even better.

The possibilities are endless, and the modern marketer must brave the ever-changing landscape and ride on the rapidly evolving digitalisation trend to pursue new and innovative big ideas and create an outcome unimagined.

This article is written by Cathy Song Novelli, senior vice president for marketing and communications at Hubilo.

The article is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series What’s NEXT. This features marketing leaders sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year. The series aims to equip marketers with actionable insights to future-ready their marketing strategies.

If you are a marketing leader and have insights that you’d like to share with regards to the upcoming trends and practices in marketing, please reach out to [email protected] for an opportunity to have your thought-leadership published on the platform.

Bengaluru, India – Global virtual events platform Hubilo has announced the conclusion of its US$125m series B seed funding, putting the company’s total funding to US$153m to date in 18 months. Said funding will be used to develop new business functions, advance innovation of its platform, strengthen its product, engineering, and design teams in India, and go-to-market teams in the US, UK, EMEA, and APAC.

The new funding was led by Alkeon Capital and additionally, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Balderton Capital.

Hubilo, which is based in India, was founded in 2015 to build event tech that increased attendee engagement at in-person events. Currently, the company works with some of the globe’s largest brands such as Blackboard, Walmart, United Nations, Roche Pharma, Maersk Shipping, with several others.

For Vaibhav Jain, CEO and founder at Hubilo, the power to engage with massive audiences unlocks the potential for more diverse, geographically dispersed communities to come together for business and consumer events, remote workforces to stay engaged, and organizations to rethink the way they hire and train.

“The potential ahead of us with this investment is massive. But what we’ve learned over the last 6 years is that an intuitive platform is just table stakes. Our commitment to event organizers is that we will always provide a dedicated event team to ensure flawless execution of every event. This is why so many event organizers make Hubilo their platform of choice,” Jain stated.

Hubilo also plans to set up new sales offices in key regions to expand its operations and reach a greater volume of customers. In addition, Hubilo will also increase the overall employees’ count by 150% to support its rapid growth plans and to respond to the increased customer demand for virtual and hybrid events.

Despite the Asia-Pacific region accounting for 25% of Hubilo’s business, the company still plans to further grow in the APAC region, especially in India. The recent additions to Hubilo’s India clientele are Publicis Sapient (TLG India Pvt Ltd), Nivea, Reliance Jio, Schneider Electric, and George P Johnson.

“While Hubilo started as an events technology platform, its solutions go beyond special occasions. It has successfully supported 10,000 events with more than two million attendees across more than 100 countries. As the new era of events unfolds among the uncertainty, one thing remains steady: Hubilo’s innovation and commitment to foster human connection through the re-imagination of events,” the company said in a press statement.