Commitment from clients 'increasing at an exponential rate' – GPJ

Big questions are being asked around events, meetings and work - as clients make commitments towards economic recovery, says the managing director, vice president at George P. Johnson Experience Marketing.

The last year has reinforced the desire for experiences beyond zoom meetings, screens and four walls of our homes, according to GPJ's Jason Megson.

Most people are looking at how they can improve the way we work, meet and consume, Megson says, as he talks about how we shift back to some sort of normality.

He said: “There are lots of big questions being asked, and linked to those big questions, there has been an acceleration, perhaps, in areas around how people work, how they meet - linked to our industry, and also - maybe in a wider context - how they spend their time and consume products.”

“Brands will be spending more time looking inwards as well as outwards, looking at how their audiences are going to interact with their brand. But they have got to focus on - will their audience have that appetite - in the short term - to be comfortable with risk

Megson also talks about how the pandemic has changed events, what societal shifts mean for brands and agencies, and how brands can tap into consumers’ restored freedom in the coming months.

“The conversations that we are having with current clients and future clients are increasing at an exponential rate, and that’s been nothing but positive in terms of what that recovery looks like.

"There are now commitments being made, which is always important in terms of confidence turning. There are still some unknowns around what the Autumn of this year will look like for business events. There are certainly some good signs about consumer events outdoors, but obviously from a pandemic perspective that comes with less risk, albeit there is still some. I am heartened to see some of the commitments being made in the outdoor events space, and I think that bodes well for us.”

Megson also discusses how brands and consumers will need to get comfortable with managing risk and reward in a uniquely balanced set of circumstances.

He added: “I think there are still some bumpy times ahead and even - being very honest -for any agency such as ours. But it is certainly a completely different conversation, and we are cautiously optimistic that these conversations are converting into great work for the agency as we move into the back end of 2021.”

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