Nic Cooper, head of strategy at, live brand experience agency, Wave, shares strategies that support a more inclusive approach to events, creating a brand experience your audience can feel part of.
While we know that virtue signalling should effectively be cancelled, too often we see examples of it in the workplace, in marketing, in our politics. The live events industry too can still fall short when it comes to these token gestures of support – be it a superficially thought-out panel or questionable charity sponsorship.
Build in purpose-driven messaging
Live events need to prioritise authenticity and purpose-driven messaging. From a brand perspective, this means carefully considering how your core values are integrated into your event. This means going beyond the event’s immediate marketing objectives, into your organisational mission, vision and core principles. Create your content from this point so that it resonates with event attendees, rather than comes across as contrived, out of place, or indeed, jumping on the hottest bandwagon of the moment.
Speak with actions, not words
Empty speeches and vacuous platitudes will lose your audience fast.
Live events should be used as an opportunity to emphasise tangible actions and communicate behaviours that reflect the brand’s commitment to social, community, and environmental responsibility. This could involve showcasing concrete initiatives, partnerships, or ESG projects that demonstrate real impact. You only have to look at the current interrogation into greenwashing to understand how essential actions need to be evidenced, rather than stated.
By highlighting genuine actions, you’ll inspire a greater sense of empathy and understanding in your audience, fostering increased connection with your brand’s values.
Collaboration and stakeholder engagement
Including stakeholders in the event planning process helps cultivate authenticity from the inside out. Involve your employees, customers, and community stakeholders to ensure diverse perspectives and genuine engagement. This collaborative approach fosters transparency, accountability, and a shared sense of purpose, steering the event away from those performative gestures and towards meaningful connections.
Align your guest speakers and hosts
Guest presenters and hosts can make or break an event. We see many brands go wrong when selecting their event talent, prioritising virtue signalling over genuinely aligned collaborations.
How do your talent’s values mirror those of your brand? Could their reputation impact your brand reputation? Similarly, if you engage with the circuit’s guest presenter of the moment, simply to benefit from their halo effect, could this backfire?
Engaging with poorly matched talent runs the risk of a huge credibility gap for your brand. Go for like-minded talent that also reflects and speaks to your audience to help maintain your event’s authenticity and ensure that their messages are truly aligned – and evidenced – with their intended purpose.
Prioritising inclusivity requires a deliberate focus on authenticity, purpose-driven messaging, tangible actions, collaboration and thoughtful evaluation of partnerships. By integrating these principles, brands can create meaningful experiences that genuinely reflect organisational values, foster genuine engagement, and leave your attendees with that vital sense of being seen, and part of your event.
