Experience Economy #aboutlastnight — Mechelen 19/11
We told you 100 students Tom ! … No way 250 students were present for this session of us doing our Media Fast Forward Homework. In a cool factory like hall a great vibe was blasting fromthe speakers from start till end. This school makes journalists, communication specialists & event managers in a rock ‘n roll way. Me like …
Tom Rumes mixed them together to organise this. For us … by us … these students owned the afternoon, although they weren’t obliged to attend. Good on you guys … you are the future.
Stijn Lehean & Fredo kicked off the session as usual. Welcoming & thanking everybody involved and repeating that these faces should be our colleagues of the future. Joris Vanthienen analysed briefly how the 15 VRT mediatrends applied to this session. Awkward moment when he asked the crowd who used TikTok, only me and Fredo raised our hands. Check out my dances there … :-) But seriously get an account … it’s not for little kids.
Enough VRT stuff. Time to get down … “Although ‘the experience economy’ book is 20 years old, it has never been more relevant” dixit Fredo De Smet. It’s that kind of book that keeps selling. But what does ‘The experience economy’ mean ? To explain it in a simple way: Coffee beans are the assets needed to make the product coffee. People are used to have coffee everywhere, so this has become commodity. Then we invented a cappucino or latte made with a signed cup or even barista foam artwork. Coffee became an experience. Companies providing it, like starbucks, are investing in that unique personal service. A chapter had been added that next level is the tranformational character of such an experience. This coffee will change our life or soul. Java baby ! Check this cool video on how they are using AI to even enhance that experience.
Tomorrowland is another great Belgian exampe of doing things right: From another music festival, they transformed it into being the people of tomorrow and coming back with a transformed mind & body. With a tattoo for life … savvy ?
Next up was Juriaan Van Waalwijk, talking about the importance of good imagineering at Efteling Academy. It isn’t rocket science: You need to have the correct tension build-up. You need to have implicite & explicite storytelling. Meaning that you can sometimes can tell more, by not writing about it. Finally take the listeners by the hand in a simple way and go in depth later. Try to get these 3 things right and you’re already halfway there !
After the break we had 3/5 breakout sessions for every student. In cool little box-in-box setups they could get closer to a few real life examples of the ‘experience economy’. ‘Why experience is the new normal for kids‘ by Joachim Vandoorne (Regisseur & Creative Producer KETNET ), who explained the new 360° approach at KETNET. Ending up with the fact that can’t fake it until you make it. You need to really talk to the kids. Keep it real.
At ‘How branding can’t do without user experience’ Ben Urbain (Founder & Brand Strategist Glossy.tv ) gave a 101 on branding. Emphasizing that every detail of you brand story needs to be right. Dorien Luyckx (PhD reseacher UA) explained ‘How to use the big platforms better’. Bram Willems (Hoofdredacteur STUBRU ) talked about ‘How radio has always been an experience’, but they too need to change their ways. Step 1 was creating a 360° editoral approach. Finally Sam Homblé (Manager Creative Partnerships VAR ) explained why also “Commercials need more experience” to be noticed in the growing war for attention.
Fredo wrapped up the day with Tom Rumes (Organiser & lector @ Thomas More) concluding that new opportunities are for the taking by this new generation. The kids who have had digital blood from birth. Furthermore that new gold can be found by crossmixing different departments. Which really worked out that afternoon.
Ending up with beers, wine & talks of course. We, the old farts, found ourselves in the company of some young lady students. When asked, they replied that although some of the stuff they already knew, but putting it all together like this, really gave a new perspective on things.
By the way was listening to this cool song when writing this. Put on your dancing shoes on for #partyfastforward 12/12 @ the EGG . This guy had the coolest trolley GOPRO thing going on. If you read this, can you share the images please !!! Thanks ;-)
