2020: The Return Of Events

Jill Dow

CEO

Let’s get right to the point. Things are weird right now.

At Y&C, we’ve evolved from creating fully immersive and hands-on customer experiences to creating low- and no-touch experiences that need to have the same emotional impact on the consumer. 

Our dedicated experiential agency division, Mash+Studio, has been on the front lines of ensuring safety and compliance when getting teams back in the field. The concept of an event or person-to-person program has shifted. 

In the past, the majority of brand activations have been focused on brand awareness and conversions. With the current limits on capacities, we’ve worked with our clients to evolve brand interactions from straightforward sales funnel conversions to giving back. 

We know now we need to be agile. We know now we need to be supportive. We’ve evolved.

Our clients are taking it in stride and the challenges that these past months have thrown at us have allowed us to be as creative as ever. Surprise and delight has taken on a new meaning as we give back to healthcare workers, first responders, and our communities. 

Some events and adaptations to note:

• Local Community Sponsorships: Donating food, time, premiums and subsidizing family activities.

• Drive Through Events: Pre-promoted store or location-driven events to celebrate back-to-school. These festivals and events allow greater interaction time and dedicated attention as they flow through in their vehicles.

• Custom PPE Kits: We’ve partnered with a supplier to create custom PPE kits for as low as $8 USD per packaged kit which includes a custom mask, hand sanitizer, wipes, and instruction card. These include shipping and handling in the US as well as tax.
• First Responder & Teacher Appreciation Events: Various strategies have been employed to help those on the front lines and support them with supplies, food, and snacks in small ways to brighten their days.  

• Celebration Parades: Costumes? Check! Partner collaborations? Check! Celebrating contest winners in a unique and unforgettable way? Definitely. 
• 6’ Safe Sampling: As states and provinces begin to lift bans, we work with our health and safety partner to assess risk and collaborate on product sampling strategies and executions.

• No-Touch Events: Utilizing our tech teams, we have several platforms that range from low-touch events to no-touch digital experiences.

We love solving unique challenges and this time is no exception. Reach out to see if we have some concepts you could adapt or if you just want to speak about COVID-19 sentiment from the field.

Your team at Mash+Studio