Always-on, ‘phygital’ event models are set to become the norm as brands learn from the experiences of 2020 and re-evaluate their approach to client engagement long-term, Infosys VP global marketing, Navin Rammohan, claims.

Highly engaged local and international audiences and influencers, strategic marketing content and an appreciation for the power of online engagement are just a few legacies La Trobe City Council has secured after delivering its annual rose festival virtually.

Having had to rethink its marketing plan to suit the COVID-19 climate and build engagement outside of physical events, Fever-Tree has kicked off its largest advertising campaign to date to woo Australian consumers.

Brands spent somewhere well above $750 million sponsoring sporting events and clubs in Australia in 2019. That number was on track to be bettered in 2020 thanks to the benign economic climate and the Tokyo Olympics.

SAP’s head of marketing A/NZ, Rushenka Perera, is a big believer in brand building in a time of downturn and crisis. Why is why she’s committed to brand-led activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands of WW’s (formerly Weight Watchers) A/NZ members have made the switch from face-to-face studio engagement to virtual workshops after the company translated its physical engagement offering to digital globally in just five days.

Patreon’s original event was scheduled to happen in a house on Rainey Street during the South by Southwest (SXSW) event over three days, but was cancelled when everything shut down due to the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus.

The long-term impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the Australian events industry won’t be known for some time, but one immediate outcome is the rapid rise in interest in virtual conferences.

All the latest martech and adtech news this week from Lotame, InSites, Twilio, Lunar, Zoho, Squelch, Integrate and DoubleVerify.

Few sports let you get just meters from Olympic athletes while standing with sand between your toes. So when surfing makes its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo games, it will be an important milestone for a sport that has steadfastly refused to bend to the kind of corporatisation that has beset many others.

It’s been said Formula 1 racing is not something a spectator watches, but something that they feel, as 1000 horsepower thunders past them at more than 350 Kmph.