Cameron Roberts, editor, Conference News, chats with Andrew Orr, managing director, TRO, about challenges in the experiential sector and the importance of physical interaction for brands.
Cameron Roberts (CR): So, you’ve been in your new role for some time now, what are the key challenges you’re seeing in the industry?
Andrew Orr (AO): “I think the supply chain is under some challenges, because of Ukraine there are obviously rising prices, which compounds some issues from previous years which has meant some agencies haven’t
even managed to get through post-pandemic successfully. So, I would say that the marketplace, the supply chain, they are all not as buoyant and structured as they have been in the past. Our big focus is building back stronger and overcoming these issues.
“I think there is a real desire for consumers to be able to physically connect with brands in real life. I don’t just meaning about experiences, I mean physically touching brands. We’re really trying to drive that as our purpose at TRO, all we know is that we exist to bring brands to life in the real world, that it’s going to really create that connection with their audience. Again, in a world where digital is overtaking everything, we want to create that opportunity for brands.”
CR: These are some very high level challenges, what are the practical steps organisers can take to mitigate these roadblock?
AO: “I think having longer planning times with clients is obviously where it starts. If you’re not having positive conversations with your clients as early as possible you might not be on the best path to success. You want to be making sure that you can lock down that central idea as soon as possible, to allow the development of the overall project to evolve along the way.
“I think a good conversation we can have our clients is talking about reusability of assets. So, if you’re going to be investing in assets, we’ll think about maybe how there could be you reutilised next year, how could they transformed for application at other event scenarios over and above maybe what you’ve been briefed, to maximise that investment. I think longer-term planning is critical, but when that event asset investment has been made, think about how you can really maximise it as best as possible over the longer-term.”
CR: We talk a lot about ‘experiential’ events, what would you define it as and why is it so important for event planners to focus on?
AO: “I think the reality is what underpins experiential across everything is the fact that it is bringing that physical connection to a brand and to a product, but experiential is so diverse.
“I believe in technology, I love the innovations that are happening within the experiential landscape. But to me, they’re very much complementary tools to the physical component, which really sits at the heart of everything. We’ve got the ability to utilise different technologies as required, to join hands to support whatever we do, but the core of everything is very much about bringing brands come to life physically. “We try to be understanding of the industry context but also the cultural context, which is very much centralised around a fatigue with digital. Because of this, there’s a real opportunity for brands to have that moment in time with consumers in the real world.”
CR: You’ve been in the role for a few months now, if we had this conversation in a year’s time, what would you like to say differently and what would you like to have achieved?
AO: “We’ve got a big, big focus on trying to win more awards this year, that’s going to tee us up for maybe agency of the year type of award next year. We’re also looking to be one of the best places to work, we’re looking to receive a whole lot of those credentials.
“I think I wanted to be back in that sort of place again, you know, if we are doing that, that means we’re doing well as a business from a financial point of view, it means that we’re winning new work, it means that we’ve got happy motivated people, it means that we are delivering work that performs for our clients and we’re retaining them
In a year’s time, I want to tell you that we are making significant inroads with the work that we’ve done, our awareness is great within the marketplace, we’re diversifying our client base over and above, we’re moving into conferences and exhibitions and that we’re winning awards.”
