The document outlines emerging trends and strategies in the brand experience industry, emphasizing the importance of human-to-human connections, community engagement, and personalized content in marketing. It highlights ten key trends including evolved event formats, shareworthy environmental design, and the integration of new technologies like 360-degree video. Marketers are encouraged to leverage these insights to enhance brand experiences and meet their ambitious goals.

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To help navigate this environment, agencyEA leveraged the collective knowledge
of our cross-functional team, along with insights spanning B2B and B2C, to explore
the emerging trends and cutting-edge strategies influencing the brand experience
industry. From personalized activations to shareable content to immersive technology,
we’re sharing our predictions and the ways marketers can use these trends to meet
their most challenging goals in the year ahead.
Ensure your brand thrives this year. See what’s trending >
THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE

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TREND 2:
A CONNECTED BRAND COMMUNITY
TREND 8:
NEW REALMS OF REALITY
TREND 3:
EVOLVED EVENT FORMATS
TREND 9:
THE INTERNET OF THINGS
TREND 5:
CONTENT POWERHOUSE
TREND 10:
TREND WATCH LIST: TOP 10
WRAP UP
TREND 4:
SHAREWORTHY
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
TREND 7:
TRANSFORMING SPONSORS
INTO CO-MARKETERS
TREND 1:
HUMAN-TO-HUMAN
TREND 6:
OMNICHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS04 09
10
11
12
13
14
05
06
07
08
TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Smart brands will cut through the clutter and connect with their audiences through a human-to-human
approach, building authentic, emotional ties.
The Happiness Hub at Hampton’s 2016 GM Huddle provided a tangible way for attendees to further
connect with the brand and other attendees.
HUMAN-TO-HUMAN01

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Brands will use events to create a
community of advocates — using
creative and digital activations to
engage attendees and encourage
them to network with one another.
At City Electric Supply’s American
Managers Conference, attendees
received a personalized device
during registration they could use
to exchange virtual business cards
with fellow attendees and collect
conference content.
A CONNECTED BRAND COMMUNITY02

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EVOLVED EVENT FORMATS
THE EXPLORER THE INTROVERT THE PARTICIPATORTHE LIFELONG
LEARNERINTERACTIVE LIVE PAINTING LOCAL ARTIST SHOWCASE MAKE YOUR OWN BOUQUET
MULTI-COURSE CHEF
DEMONSTRATION
Brands can no longer take a one-size-fits-all approach to events, they’re forgoing the typical
conference format and tailoring to specific audience types.
When agencyEA’s co-founders opened creative event space Savage Smyth, they hosted a series
of launch events — each unique and tailored to different audiences.
03

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SHAREWORTHY ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN04

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WHY AN
EVENT CONTENT
POWERHOUSE?
CONTENT POWERHOUSE
A carefully planned content strategy will allow brands to extend the reach of their events, connect a
brand’s digital and physical worlds, and attract and retain audiences like never before.
Say quality event content
experiences improve their
brand perception and
influence purchase.
Capture digital or social
content at events and
100% of those people share
that content.
Say that after attending
events and engaging with
content they are more
likely to buy the products.
Prefer to share their own
content at events rather than
branded content.
83% 98%
74% 46%
05

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OMNICHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS
Brands will holistically consider all the ways they interact with their audiences — from an event to a
website to social media — providing a seamless experience across all channels.
At Intuit’s 2016 QuickBooks Connect, NFC integration provided attendees with one central hub
where they could access information before, during and after the event.
06

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TRANSFORMING SPONSORS INTO CO-MARKETERS
Brands will take a more thoughtful
approach to sponsorships through
co-marketing — when two companies
with aligned brand stories
collaborate on promotional efforts.
GSV Advisors coordinated with the
ASU GSV Summit sponsors to ensure
their onsite presence represented the
event’s bigger ideas and aligned with
conference branding.
07

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NEW REALMS OF REALITY
360 VIDEO
WHAT IS IT?
360-degree video or photo
of a physical environment
Google Tour Flight Simulator Pokemon Go Tilt Brush
Enhancing visual experiences
cost-effectively
Educating and informing the
audience
User interaction within a
created environment
Heightening audience
engagement
Enhancing experiences within
the current environment
Adding a digital layer on top
of the physical
Providing the user with a
tangible experience
Integrating virtual objects
into a real-life environment
Simulated or computer
-generated environment in
which a user can interact
Computer-generated
overlay of content (sound,
video, graphics, or GPS data)
in a real-life environment
Merging of real and virtual
worlds to produce new
environments where physical
and digital objects co-exist
BEST FOR
IN ACTION
VR
Virtual Reality Augmented Reality Mixed Reality
AR MR
Emerging technologies will help brands tell their stories like never before, transforming events as we
know them.
08

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YOU’RE
REGISTERED!
“Know Before You Go!”
CONFERENCE
MICROSITE
ENGAGEMENTTOUCHPOINT
JOIN THE
CONVERSATION:
#CONF2017
SPONSOR SPONSOR SPONSOR
SP...
SP...
THE INTERNET OF THINGS
DIGITAL
BACKPACK
CRM
EMAIL
COMMUNICATIONS
NEAR FIELD
COMMUNICATIONS
WEARABLE
RFID
LIFE STREAMING
SOCIAL MEDIA
BEACON
PUSHNOTIFICATIONS
BEACON
NFC NFC NFC
LEAD CAPTURE/
RETRIEVAL
Events will leverage the interaction of the digital and physical worlds to deliver meaningful,
customized experiences.
09

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TREND WATCH LIST: TOP 10
LIVE STREAMING
INFLUENCER
MARKETING
COGNITIVE
EXPERIENCES
USER-GENERATED
CONTENT
ARTRAGEOUS
EXPERIENCES
BEHAVIORAL
TARGETING
WEARABLE
TECHNOLOGY
BEACON
TECHNOLOGY
A.I. CHATBOTS ROBOTICS
1010

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Read the full Trend Report here
and discover how to make these
trends work for you.
Connect with
Lucy Stratton...
Lucy Stratton
Director of Business
Development, agencyEA
311 W Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60610
312-445-9353
lstratton@agencyea.com
agencyEA.com
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