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Delight Your Audience With a Multi-Sensory Event

As a tike, did you own a book that had (in addition to brightly colored images) little patches of wool-like fabric incorporated into the animal images, images that you could scratch and sniff, and buttons that made squeak or chime sounds when pressed?  If so, the author/publisher of that book was on to something.  They knew that if you used your senses of touch, smell, and sound in addition to your sense of sight, you would enjoy reading that book more than a book with only words and pictures. They offered you a multi-sensory experience. 

Children aren’t the only ones who find multi-sensory experiences more enjoyable. Adults (consumers) also appreciate them, and brands would be wise to keep this in mind when planning marketing campaigns and trade shows. As your clients, these brands will rely on you, the event manager, to ensure attendees have the most pleasurable experience possible. Therefore, the more senses your attendees can engage during your events; the more positive and memorable their experience will be.  Your objective should be to design your events in emotion- and thought-provoking way.  

1.  Benefits of Multi-Sensory Events

Not only do our senses affect mood and influence activity, but it’s a scientific fact that the senses of smell, sight, and sound tend to store memories in the brain when engaged. This means that the likelihood of attendees thinking about your event in the future increases if you incorporate elements that tap into one or more of these senses.  And, of course, you want them to remember your event and your brand message, and that’s the reason you’re holding the event in the first place.

Here’s how you can create a multi-sensory experience and increase engagement at your events:

 2.  How to Host a Multi-Sensory Event

Depending on your budget, there are two ways to create a multi-sensory experience for your event attendees. If you’re working with a limited budget (or don’t want to overstimulate attendees), you can create focal points by adding small elements of sensory interest to your event. If done right, these small moments of delight can make a significant impact. Think stimulating fragrances, stunning table décor, and upbeat music between speakers.

If your budget is less constrained, you may want to immerse your attendees in a multi-sensory experience fully. Attendees will use multiple senses throughout the event, not just at focal points. This approach provides a more significant impact on memory and will engage attendees on a much larger scale. They’re more likely to remember and share details of the event for years to come. If you’re considering this approach, take a page from Essence and Toyota’s playbook.

3.  Essence & Toyota Show How It’s Done

In December 2017, ESSENCE magazine partnered with Toyota to create #SensoryWonderland, a multi-sensory event that celebrated Afrofuturism while simultaneously generating buzz for the new 2018 Toyota Camry. The event brought attention to Toyota’s Sensations campaign, which focused on drivers’ emotions and sensations when driving.

The event offered six spaces that represented buzzwords from the campaign and was designed to stimulate multiple senses: Lust, Hunger, Throb, Boom, Pulse, and Drool. Afrofuturistic imagery from the magazine was placed throughout the event, as well as performers that fit the concept.

In the Lust space, attendees were instructed to feel around the velvet-draped environment with their hands.  The Drool room offered a virtual reality experience from inside the new Camry, and the Pulse room contained a representation of the inside of a car engine that revved at full speed. In each room, there was a placard that described the experience that attendees could expect to have.

Toyota aimed to show that they valued multicultural consumers and, along with Essence (a publication with a predominantly African American readership), created a multi-sensory experience that did just that.

4.  Know Your Audience

In addition to your working budget, your decision to either implement the focal point approach or fully immerse attendees in a multi-sensory experience should depend on their needs and interests. Will they respond to an immersive, multi-sensory approach, or would they prefer something more sedate.  Are you catering to a younger demographic who are used to lively, trendy events?  If yes, they would likely appreciate the fully immersed approach. If your demographic is older and prefers more calm experiences, engage their senses on a smaller scale. Here’s where doing your research and knowing your audience pays off.

Final Thoughts

In the world of corporate events, there’s a growing trend toward full-scale immersive experiences, and audiences have come to expect that.  If you’re not meeting those expectations, you’re likely to receive less than favorable feedback and see a decrease in registrations for future events.

But, creating an event with high production quality can be challenging. Among the most common reasons for event managers to forgo making immersive, multi-sensory events are the lack of budget and time. Although an immersive experience may require a heftier budget, budget constraints shouldn’t stop you from giving your attendees what they’re looking for. 

If you’re working with a smaller budget, take the focal point approach and pepper small points of interest throughout the event. If (after doing your research) you find that your audience would prefer an experience that tantalizes the senses but your budget can’t keep up, consider sponsorship. Companies with interests and a target market similar to yours may welcome the opportunity to help cover the costs of your multi-sensory production in exchange for promotion.

However you decide to engage your audience’s senses, you’ll need a partner to help you deliver a memorable experience.  Make your role as an event manager easier by partnering with eShow. We keep our finger on the pulse of the event industry and offer clients creative and innovative ways to bring their ideas to fruition – all within budget. With our fully comprehensive event platform, we can help you not only delight your audience through multi-sensory events but also manage all aspects of your event, from vendor management to data collection and analysis.

Contact us today for a no-obligation demo.

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Boost Event Engagement through Gamification

Thinking outside the box and keeping your audience engaged are two critical keys to any successful event. Now that virtual and hybrid events have become the norm, organizers must work even harder to keep energy high and hold their attendees’ attention.

Integrating games and competitions into events, also called “gamification,” is one of the hottest trends right now. Adding gamification to your event is one of the best ways to increase engagement, heighten brand awareness, and drive attendees to perform desired actions.

What is Gamification? The Basics

Despite its recent rise in popularity, there’s still some confusion about gamification and what it isn’t. It’s important to note that it’s not about turning your event into a big competition or creating something that resembles a fair; instead, event gamification is simply the process of incorporating game mechanics into the overall event experience. 

It works because humans, by nature, like to compete; they also feel a strong sense of satisfaction when rewarded for their efforts. Gamification taps into this psychology to drive desired behaviors in a fun and exciting way. 

Using Gamification to Drive Action

Defining your desired outcome is the first step to successfully incorporating gamification into your events. Whether you’re trying to build your prospect list, upsell to current customers, or increase brand awareness, it’s essential to know how you’ll measure your success.

While gamification can add a significant amount of entertainment to your event, this shouldn’t be the only purpose. Instead, it should always be linked to a specific goal that directly relates to the success of your event. For example, you may aim for a 30% increase in exhibitor interactions or a 25% increase in attendee referrals.

Once you’re clear on your goals, choosing the best gamification format for your event is much easier. For example, if you want to ensure your sponsors and exhibitors get plenty of traffic, you may offer points for each display they visit.

Some other ways to use gamification to drive action include:

  • Awarding points for correctly answering trivia questions during the event
  • Checking off boxes on BINGO cards for completing specific tasks
  • Hiding secret codes at various locations throughout the event space
  • Creating a scavenger hunt and awarding clues for taking particular actions
  • Offering the ability to earn titles and “level up” for completing several tasks
  • Giving points or rewards for inviting others to attend the event

Using a mobile app with gaming capabilities will help you design and launch your gamification plan. While it’s critical to have the right technology in place, simply providing access to an app isn’t enough. You’ll also need to motivate your attendees to participate in the games and make it worth their while. Do it right, and you’ll create loyal brand advocates who will be talking about your event long after it’s over.

Motivating Attendees

Since most people enjoy a bit of friendly competition, providing visual incentives like leaderboards, notifications, and personal scorecards can help keep your attendees motivated.

For in-person meetings, you may also consider giving out color-coded lanyards or badges for reaching certain levels. This will keep your gamification top-of-mind and encourage a competitive spirit.

Make sure your games are challenging enough to give participants a sense of achievement, but not so difficult or complex that attendees get frustrated or lose interest. It’s also essential to monitor your gamification in real-time. Keep an eye on how close participants are to earning awards and how engaged they are. If enthusiasm seems to be waning, make sure to send notifications reminding them how close they are to receiving a reward.

Choosing Rewards and Prizes

If you want people to get excited about your games, you’ll need prizes or rewards they want. While there are many options, ultimately, you’ll want to make sure the rewards you choose surprise and delight your guests.

For multi-day events, you may consider awarding experiences such as a VIP happy hour, a special dinner, a massage at the hotel spa, or an exclusive outing for those who reach certain levels.

Some organizations offer to donate to a charity of the winner’s choice, while others stick to traditional prizes, like a t-shirt and a coffee mug. As you choose the awards for your event, it’s crucial to think about what the prize says about your organization and the lasting impression you want to make.

Benefits of Gamification

Adding gamification to your event is an excellent way to guide your attendees to the actions you want them to take. It also makes them more comfortable, because they’ll know exactly what’s expected of them. In addition, when attendees are fully engaged, they’re more aware of their surroundings, allowing for deeper interaction with presenters and exhibitors.

Properly implemented, gamification converts “attendees” into “participants.” It helps them become fully immersed in the moment, learn new things, and get more out of the event than they otherwise would.

Gamification can create a fun and relaxed atmosphere and ensure a positive and rewarding experience. It can also significantly increase your return on investment by helping you to reach your predefined goals.

Add Gamification to Your Next Event

While the concept of gamification has created a lot of buzz lately, only a small number of organizers are currently using it to its full potential. By using gamification to upgrade your event experience now, you can ensure your events will stand out from the crowd. It will also allow you to increase both participants and sponsor engagement, encourage deeper connections, increase your session attendance, and improve the overall experience.

To learn more about how eShow can help you add gamification to your next event, request a personal demo. We’re happy to show you exactly how our mobile app works and help you choose the perfect line-up of products to ensure your next event is a stellar success.

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