Podcast: Avantgarde’s Thom Greybe discusses experiential power for brands

On this week’s episode of the Event Industry News podcast, we welcomed Avantgarde’s digital creative director, Thom Greybe. Avantgarde is a global brand experience agency that has been designing measurable experiences for 35 years. Its 10 locations include Berlin, Cologne, Dresden, Dubai, London, Munich, São Paulo, Shanghai, Vienna and Zurich. Speaking about the power of experiential events, Thom stated people seek out places and events where they can “feel something and see something different.” He continued: “I don’t think digital necessarily relates just to screen-based content in the experience arena, I think it actually starts to become a lot more interesting, a lot more part of the story-telling.” The fast advancement of technology in recent years, such as smart devices and the internet, has made people used to digital technology: it has become a part of daily life for most people. However, technology such as an “84-inch touchscreen” isn’t a usual occurrence so it is important to observe and monitor how audiences react to such technology to determine its success. Giving an example, Thom said: “People have a much lower tolerance of getting things wrong when everyone is watching. You have to be so direct about what people need to do on that screen because, if they make a mistake, they feel silly and they leave, which is not what you want!” This creates a challenge for designers to determine the balance of finding engaging content that attracts audiences and making it easy for them to navigate and use. If you think you have a relevant topic to discuss and would like to feature on the Event Industry News podcast, please email [email protected]. Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings in the event industry and subscribe to the Event Industry News newsletter.