The future of our industry lies in the magic of Live Experiences multiplied by the ‘Always on’ digital experience writes Tarun Aggarwal.

The year 2020 was earmarked as a milestone year, at least that’s what the indications were during discussions, strategy meetings and leadership presentations in the last four to five years. The year was meant to be dotted with stellar performances, both at individual and organizational levels.

Well. God had other plans and we find ourselves in one of the biggest humanitarian crisis of all times. Individuals, economies and companies are now fighting to keep their heads above the water.

At the same time, it has been heartening to see everyone rapidly adapting, both individually and collectively, to overcome the pandemic challenges.

Though the crisis of 2020 in the form of Covid-19 continues to leave deep scars and adversely affects us in several ways, many have seized the opportunities to reinvent and reset their business models to differentiate themselves and stand out as beacon lights.

Thinking and working in such troubled and stressful times is not easy, but for a select few, the transition to business as usual lies in seizing the opportunities amidst the adversities of 2020.

In the experiential marketing industry, one of the key desires expressed by clients over the years has been the need to improve ROI and gainfully utilize the impact of live events and experiences. Today, navigating through a new landscape, we must strive to innovate.

Though the industry has pivoted to Virtual Events and Experiences, however, Live Events and Activations should make a quick return. As humans craving in-person connections, Virtual cannot replace the real entirely. The social distancing might be temporary but some of these habits formed today will have a lasting and enduring impact.

Looking at some of the virtual initiatives, there are interesting learnings and opportunities to be leveraged and gear up for the future.

Sustained conversation with audiences online without any limitation of geography and the ability to engage with audiences on-demand leads to both a wider reach and an ‘always on’ brand experience.

The magic of Live Experiences is irreplaceable but looking ahead, the experiential industry would have transitioned into a new normal. The future of our industry lies in the magic of Live Experiences multiplied by the ‘Always on’ digital experience.

In this fine balance lies the opportunity for a seamless experiential journey of audiences from online to offline to online and/or vice versa.

Let us all embrace the new normal. The ‘O’ in 2O2O is ‘O’pportunity 2020.