I’m not one to succumb to existential dread or worry about a quarantined, dystopian planet, but it’s a scary time in the world right now. It’s clear that based on fear, fact, or a combination of both, things are going to change for a while.One of the primary areas of impact will be large social gatherings. There are increasing calls for the NCAA to host March Madness in empty arenas, while mammoth sponsors such as Twitter, Facebook, and Intel have announced they’re dropping out of SXSW. The assumption is that other companies and individuals will follow suit, and that countless events will be cancelled.Given the current state of affairs, our main topic of conversation with clients and colleagues has become the reconfiguration of spring and summer culture strategies. Peloton, Netflix, and Zoom Video Communication stocks are soaring in response to the idea of an isolated lifestyle, and our guess is the same will be true for music content. Without the direct access provided by live events and festivals, how are brands going to super-serve their music-loving consumers?
As we wait to see how things unfold, I want to open this forum up and ask Beats & Bytes readers what they think. Are you still comfortable attending events? If so, what would need to happen to make you change your perspective? Lastly, how would you like to see live event marketing dollars reallocated in the foreseeable future?
The latter might seem cavalier, but it is not intended as such. A new, hopefully short-term reality is setting in and we want to address it head on by meaningfully engaging with the brilliant and undoubtedly anxious minds in our community. Let’s all stay safe and in tune with what’s going on, and keep those already impacted or lacking the resources to stay out of harm’s way in our thoughts.