Live Finds a Way

Emotions are running high at the moment, in the events sector

There’s often debate over how we should silo and define emotions, and how many there are. But if you start to think about them…there are dozens. The primary ones are basically hard-wired into us. You can look at your friends face and instantly see sadness. Or look at your boss and see fear. Or look at your accountant and see happiness. 

Also step forward and take a bow - disgust, anger, contempt, surprise, jealousy and trust.

In the world of face to face events; emotion rules.  I have spoken about this subject quite a few times in presentations over the years; but how will post-Covid events feed off our core human emotions?

Social media has created a primary buying trigger

Very few people buy something from eBay because they need it. It’s normally because they want it. And we want it because we’ve seen somebody else with it (jealousy), or we don’t think we can possibly live without it (fear), we’ve never seen it before (surprise) or we associate ourselves with the brand (trust).

There are exhibitions which always feature the same stands and faces. Some of them attend because they ‘can’t risk customers thinking we’ve gone bust’ (that’s a quote). Is that exhibiting out of a sense of fear? Or ‘because all our competitors will be there’. Maybe that’s a bit of jealousy mixed in? 

Making Sense of it all

We have 5 senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. (7 if you include ‘achievement’ and ‘direction’. 8 if you include ‘humour’).

But we’ll stick to the 5 I think.

They’re intrinsically linked to our emotions – our emotions are guided by sensory input. Love at first sight. The sweet smell of success. A taste of paradise. The Sound of Da Police.

So what happens when we return to live events? We’re unlikely to be able to touch or taste, for social distancing/interaction reasons. Tactile interactives and bowls of nibbles are not likely. So will that mean that sight, sound and smell will be pushed harder?

• Maybe colour emotion will be more considered, or better use of texture and form. Enhancing the subconscious association with brand values. Think living-walls and home-style up-cycled elements. 
• Maybe the power of aroma will be enhanced. Smell can be a very powerful trigger, especially when knitted into post event follow-ups. I suspect we have forged new bonds throughout lockdown and furlough. The smell of Nespresso, cut grass, hand sanitizer.
• Given 2m+ distancing, and likely wider aisles, will use of graphics and imagery need to be throttled up? Will we see a resurgence of typeface clarity, and a real less-is-more approach to visual content?
• Audio. Have we forgotten about the power of sound and music…will events soon re-discover it? What’s the sound of trust?
• Will exhibitors and organisers work differently to get key information pushed to visitors ahead of the show…maximising the chance of recognition and engagement on the day. Expectation and anticipation are two powerful emotions.

Free Gifts

Maybe a new range of give-aways will emerge, bold and relevant.

• Bye-bye mouse mats – hello branded face masks.
• Bye-bye USB sticks – hello branded hand-wipes.
• Bye-bye powerbank chargers – hello free antibody test.

Sales without Smiles?

If one-way systems around the show-floor are enforced, will that mean that exhibitors are more aggressive with their approach, whether visual or verbal?  Maybe your grandad used to tell you that ‘you only get one chance to make a first impression’. It looks like he may have been right…and if visitor flow is controlled and managed in this way, the 30 second rule will definitely apply, because there might not be a 2nd chance anyway. No pressure then.

Given that the face is the primary indicator of emotion, it also follows that it’s also the trigger for trust and recognition. So will face masks destroy the sales process as a visitor approaches, possibly for the first and only time? How will sales training need to be changed – will we need to use body language and meaningful physical gestures in a long-forgotten way? Will we finally see exhibitors learning how to disqualify leads quickly, to increase foot flow?

And the visitor – as a mask wearer too he’s not very likely to be recognised on approach, so will that make loyal customers feel less loved?  No smile or wave, no welcoming handshake or hug? Maybe there’ll be a new vocabulary. ‘Oh, he’s got a lovely nod’, or ‘ah, he’s seen me…his left eyebrow went up’.

If you take that point forward, maybe much larger visitor name badges will be required. Or possibly the standard use of positional tracking via the show app will be able to warn exhibitors who’s ‘on the way’.

So much to think of (or maybe it’s just me).

Much of this article raises questions, as we’re at such an interesting point and should be flushing out these thoughts. I’m not sure there is a right and wrong yet…time will tell.

So #eventprofs – (especially my designer, sales trainer and account manager friends) - what do you think?

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