Killer Ideas for the week of 5/18

Creative inspiration for a new (virtual) reality

Last week, some of you received the first in what I hope to make a weekly post providing links to cool, smart, intriguing, interesting, thought-provoking, and just plain killer work and ideas that take our current situation and make some sweet lemonade. They’re links I’ve found online during the past week and pass on in the spirit of inspiring all of us to think bigger despite the challenges we currently face.

If I may opine for just a minute, I cut my teeth in advertising back in the first dot-com land grab (I’m old), and the vibe I’m getting from what we’re all rather nebulously calling “virtual events” feels an awful lot like that, in terms of the opportunities I see to redefine how things are done across all sorts of areas. And if that doesn’t inspire you, well, I’m not sure what will ;-)

OK, seatbelts must now be on ’cause we’re about to get all inspired up in here, yo:

• Post-COVID Trends Ad agency Wunderman Thompson’s Intelligence group has revised its 2020 Trends report to account for everything that’s happened since Jan 2020. While it’s a bit marketing-centric, it does describe some overarching trends that are applicable to the world of events.
• Virtual Events get the Hollywood treatment Warner Bros. has taken what could have been a couple of run-of-the-mill virtual events and turned them into experiences that immerse attendees in carefully crafted worlds based on new WB programming. What’s important here is how they’ve 1) richly designed the sites sitting atop the virtual platform, and 2) considered the attendee’s experience beyond the virtual connection (or, put another way, what’s better, experiencing Paul Fieg in a Zoom window, or as a virtual bartender?) As some of you have heard me say, interface, design, and UX all matter when it comes to virtual because they are what create the intimate, tactile connection between an attendee and the content. If a virtual event’s UX is clunky, ugly, unintuitive, confusing, or just plain bad, people aren’t going to have a positive opinion of the event, and might possibly just up and leave altogether. The designs for these WB events are beautifully suited for their purpose, and while we might not need to create anything as immersive for our clients, it doesn’t mean that we can’t follow their lead in terms of thoughtful UX.
• Forget “Netflix and Chill” You don’t turn a Virtual Event into an EXPERIENCE by simply streaming presenters on Zoom. You do it by carefully creating and cultivating community, engagement, and interaction around and between those Zoom windows. While this experience from HBO isn’t intended for virtual meetings or conferences, it does show how bringing people together around a shared interest (in this case, watching a movie on HBO) can turn a Zoom call into something a bit more interesting.
• Time to look at the bigger picture A lot of us have been wondering how we can create virtual equivalents of trade booths/product demos/etc., and I think this example by agency RESN and Dutch bike company VanMoof is a fantastic take. Read the full story, as it explains how they created a seamless experience that evolved from countdown to launch, through streamed live product demo, to its transformation into a permanent e-commerce portal. A key takeaway is that virtual events don’t have to standalone — they can instead be critical components of a client’s full purchase funnel when integrated properly.
• Here comes the 800-pound gorilla Is anybody really surprised that Facebook has added Zoom-like functionality to their suite of social engagement tools? Either way, it’s certainly indicative to me that virtual connectivity and engagement aren’t going back to wallflower status post-pandemic.
• Speaking of hybrid experiences With the focus on virtual, Augmented Reality (AR) has taken a bit of a back seat. But that’s doing the tech a disservice, as AR functionality can be a great way to add a “WOW!” moment to a virtual event. Imagine a presenter talking about a new product that has been drastically decreased in size from previous models. To really drive her point home, she might invite users to point their smartphone cameras at a QR code on the screen, which in turn could open a mobile-based AR experience that places the new, smaller redesigned product right in front of them, enabling them to explore it in 360°. If you’d like to see more examples of how AR can add value, the link above has some great ones.

• Wanna have your mind blown? Just watch the video. And be amazed, because what you’re seeing is not a video that was rendered out and then had VO recorded over it. That footage is being created in real-time as those guys are talking, as they use a controller to move through the environment. It is, in a sense, real. And my mind is blown all over again.

Finally, for your reference, here are 3 informative articles on virtual events from behind the paywall at Quartz in PDF format (as an aside, Quartz is a great resource, and I highly recommend their Daily Brief, which you don’t need a paid subscription to receive.)

• The new experimental landscape of virtual conferences
• There’s no reason to use Zoom for everything — a primer on Zoom alternatives
• How to set the stage for a professional teleconference

If you made it here, thanks for sticking around! I hope you found some inspiration in these links. Have something you think should be on this list in the future? Hit me up a mpotter@psav.com. Thanks :)