Step into the future of brand experiences

As we reminisce about celebrating our 10th birthday, we thought we should look ahead at the next 10 years and what’s on our radar for the events industry. What’s changing? What might these changes mean for brand events, and what might the industry look like in 2034? From sustainability to technology and heightened escapism, step ahead as we look into the future of brand experiences…

Consumers are beginning to hold brands accountable for their impact on the environment, and this will only continue as global changes increase. The baseline expectation for brands will be to ensure they are reducing, reusing, and recycling, and we’re already seeing a rapid increase in these applied values. Eco-friendly innovations such as biodegradable name badges, digital displays, reusable stands, and on-site recycling stations will all be the norm in the future.

Instead of brands being championed for their sustainability efforts, they’ll get their consumers involved and champion them for sharing values. Practice and reward schemes will be introduced, expecting attendees to take sustainable transport and recycle properly to gain free lunches, exclusive access or discounts.

In 2034, sustainability will be so ingrained into experience design that we won’t be praising brands for being carbon-neutral or off-setting emissions - this will be the industry standard.

Ethics won’t be the only way to relate to your audience - community building and nurturing an emotional connection will be essential for brands to prevail. Creating empathy, nostalgia and attachments are already methods that brands take to differentiate themselves. In the future, events and experiences will become the key drivers in reaching and applying those methods.

After COVID, we thought hybrid would become the norm. However, the lack of social interaction only heightened our need for in-person experiences. To reach audiences, brands need to create the right environment to nurture self-expression. What better way to bring together your audience community than designing a brand experience? Experiential will transform the opportunities for physical spaces that drive a sense of belonging.

Communities like Swifties, Nike Run Club, and Disney D23 Club will be able to safely interact and grow with the help of brands that relate to their shared interests. In the future, events and experiences will empower brand audiences, making them feel united and active in co-creating campaigns and products.

This idea of precise experiences will become even more granular in the future with the help of emerging technologies. As we know, AI and VR are already growing at a rapid rate. In the future, we’ll see that technology utilised to streamline and enrich the attendee experience even further with personalised touchpoints.

Data will be used to analyse, learn, and ultimately tailor audience behaviours and preferences at events. Using AI and innovations, we’ll closely monitor an individual’s engagement levels, map audience movements to see what’s most popular at what time and provide assistance to see what sessions best suit an individual.

AI will streamline mundane tasks like planning, registration, feedback collection, and organising meetings between attendees. This precision and focus will make every attendee feel relevant and unique.

Venues are also embracing this adoption of technological advancements. The next 10 years will see more and more venues offering a heightened sense of escapism and the unknown, with technologically-centred arenas, such as The Sphere in Las Vegas and Adele’s pop-up stadium, allowing more intimacy and possibilities. According to Mintel's 2025 Global Consumer Trends Report, younger consumers aged 16-34 are even more likely to be motivated by novelty and variation.

Curved LED walls and projection mapping can allow closer proximity between the audience and the performer. This heightened atmosphere allows audiences to feel connected to the brand and to forget their original surroundings. Brands should utilise these technological changes and create immersive experiences with less environmental impact (but a big cultural one).

It won’t just be in-person live experiences that become more immersive, but virtual events too. While the pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual, it's nowhere near as dominating as we first predicted. People missed in-person gatherings and collective unity, so much so that live events have thrived. But virtual events won’t be disappearing anytime soon - in the future, they’ll evolve.

Virtual events will become an experience within their own lane through new technologies encouraging interaction. In the future, instead of passively viewing a screen, attendees will be transported into explorable 3D environments. They’ll be able to explore and interact with the content, picking different rooms and listening to speakers who share models and 3D visuals instead of slides.

Soon the technology we use to attend these virtual events will evolve too - including sensory enhancements that allow for spatial audio, live vibrations from music, or even haptic feedback to simulate the sense of touch. In the future virtual events won’t involve staring at a screen, but participation and complete immersion.