Working with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development was one of the highlights of the last 12 months. With their global events programme put on hold, we were invited to design and host the virtual launch of Vision 2050 and in turn, learn about the amazing work WBCSD has been doing in business transformation for a healthier future.

One of these key events drew together global CEO’s of over 200 international blue-chip companies to discuss and debate the relaunch of Vision 2050 for WBCSD, a conference that introduced us all to this important framework; one that we feel all companies should be aware of.

The Vision 2050 goal

In their own words, Vision 2050 aims to ‘provide the business community with comprehensive, reliable and ambitious guidance on how it can lead the transformations the world urgently needs. Exploring new thinking and diagnosing past failures, Vision 2050 offers a framework for action in the decade ahead that is practical, grounded in reality, and designed to help companies drive change in their sustainability planning and business strategies.’

Download the report here

Why does it matter?

With a world in facing increasing challenges; from the climate crisis, to the lost of habitats and the rise in social inequality, people look to business to lead the way. From small to large, we can all make a change by adapting the way we work. The WBCSD agenda is radically needed and more and more businesses are looking to transform in readiness for future change. We see not only as important to our social conscience but prudent business management too.

Are you interested? Please contact the WBCSD for more information and insight into their membership here.

Launching a new product or campaign? Looking for a virtual solution? EventHive VX hosted the WBCSD keynote events of 2021. Learn more here.

Good Design is Obvious. Great Design is Transparent

Joe Sparano | School of Art & Design, Washington

The popularity of agnostic design is on the rise, from architecture to technology development, and as the events industry enters a new era of required flexibility, we review the best practice tips we are using when planning brand experiences for 2022.

The principle of good agnostic design is ‘designing for everything will lead to better design for everyone.’ In the events world, we see this as designing an event that offers a seamless experience across many formats, be it live, virtual and hybrid without the need for special adaptations.

Here are our go to tips when designing events agnostically:

1. Audience 

• Knowledge is power my friend, and the best design starts with really drilling down your event demographics. Who is attending, from where and why will they be there? Once you know what a) your visitors want from attendance and b) what your brand wants to tell them, you can start designing how and where you provide that info.
• Key areas of research such as geography and guest profiling should be backed up by actual advanced dialogue with guests in advance to see what works for them

2. Build on Key Principles

• What are the core features of the event. Ensure they are replicated in all formats.
• What are the constraints? If something can’t be designed virtually, can the live version be changed up?
• What issues could guests face accessing the content they need? This relates more to live now as navigating virtual info has become increasing streamlined.

3. Review Efficiencies

• Agree the key elements and layouts that you cannot be without. The messages that must be imparted. How can those elements be repurposed across any event; live, virtual, hybrid.
• How can those elements be successfully told. Like us, are you seeing a rise in video content? What interactions are needed between brand and guest for the event to be a success – focus on generating those.

4. Consider Experience Translation

• How will the experience translate across different formats? Some ideas may work brilliantly for a live event, others for virtual. Focus on those experiences that translate for both.
• Drill down the consumer experience journey, keep it simple and effective. Go back to those key elements, how can you make them stand out?
• Keep your messaging, visuals and interactives coherent. Make sure you consider the overarching experience a guest will have regardless of what format they are using.

 5. Challenge your Thinking

• The process above of progressive enhancement within event design is evolving all the time as event strategists apply a consultative approach to building next gen experiences.
• But there also needs to be a little fun. As with everything new, excitement and energy can flip the process.
• A agnostic design framework is there to help us break from restrictive thought patterns and the pre-conceived ideas we may have. It is is based on an problem-solving first approach which means getting creative. And that’s why we love it so much.

We hope you find our top tips useful. Planning brand experiences using agnostic design is a complex process so if you have any questions , please just drop us a line.

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

Steve Jobs | Apple Inc

2Heads Global Design has been recognized as one of LA’s top 30 digital marketing companies in 2021 by DesignRush.

DesignRush is a B2B marketplace that connects brands with professional full-service agencies, web design companies, digital marketing firms, and top technology companies. Their platform lists over 9,300 agencies from over 50 different countries and is consulted by thousands of decision-makers looking to start a project.

‘As a creative agency well known for our brand experience design, the move over the last five years into key aspects of digital marketing has been a natural progression, even without the event of the pandemic. It’s genuinely an honor for our agency to be acknowledged for their digital marketing skills, especially in the world of online marcomm and virtual platforms, said Sara Lilley, Head of Marketing at 2Heads.

With a steady expansion of digital and hybrid marketing services to bolster 2Heads long held reputation in live events, the international agency is supporting a range of blue-chip brands and institutions including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as they increasingly pivoting to digital channels to future proof their events. The launch of EventHive VX, our seamless hybrid digital platform has only strengthened our offering in this area.

The well-known game engines ‘Unity’ and ‘Unreal Engine’ are moving out of their heartland and beginning to open up incredible opportunities in a vast array of industries from automotive and construction to animation and architecture. The opportunities this technology presents really are limitless.

So why is that important to you?

Once the province of open world AAA video games, 3D worlds are fast becoming the backdrop for virtual and digital experiences. With increased digital product sales developing out of recent lockdown, could virtual environments be a long term B2B solution?

Brands have upgraded their online infrastructure and now regularly communicate virtually to their customers. This method of interaction is here to stay and the next evolution of this medium will be to curate virtual worlds that fully immerse the customer in the sales narrative.

The New Medium for Business

We have investigated at length the application of game engine technology in the B2B world for our technology clients – most of whom do not sell a physical product. For them, the real opportunity lies in virtual product experience and demonstration.

Most brands exhibit at tradeshows to showcase their latest products, all of which have had millions if not billions of R&D invested in their development. Despite this investment, when it comes to demonstrating them to customers they are a reverting to traditional demo kiosks, explainer videos and even scale models for salespeople to talk around.  Customer expectations are changing and building immersive demos in game engine technology can help meet the increased demand for experience.

A game changer for B2B experiences?

• True engagement – immerse customers in photo-realistic brand worlds that they control
• Limitless potential – bring to life aspects of products or solutions that can’t be shown in real life
• Multiple applications – high value tools that can be used online, at events, in meetings
• Guided or self-explore – host customers in these worlds via video call or give them control of the experience
• Updatable – evolve and iterate the virtual tools as products and solutions develop
• Sustainable – creativity and imagination leave less impact on the environment

So, how do I make game engines work for me?

• Brand Immersion – explorable 3D worlds that immerse visitors in a company’s brand messaging
• Product Demonstration – fully interactive and ‘expandable’ virtual product demos that allow users to interact with key sales feature
• Virtual Customer Experience Centre’s – Global CEC tools that replicate physical environments allowing for hybrid guest experiences

If you would like to know more than have a chat with us. Our Game Engine Demos are up and waiting for you to explore.