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SPAIN – READINGS FROM THE VERDICT OF THE EVENTOPLUS AWARDS
The Eventoplus Awards are not only a moment of recognition and dissemination of best practices, strategies, creativity, and experiences in our sector, but also a barometer of trends, of what clients and agencies are doing, and of what the jury values. Eventoplus does not vote, does not influence, but sets the rules and brings together a jury of outstanding professionals who analyze and debate. So, we do not vote… but as a media platform, we draw learnings from this key moment for the industry. Here they are.
You can see the verdict and the winners among the 261 projects submitted here.
Collaboration Works. Events are often collective creations, where talents from different companies come together to make something unique. It is gratifying to see more joint applications growing. The best example is this year’s big winner, Experientia: only 3 of its 11 winning entries were “solo”; the others were collaborations with different types of companies, with Sr Goldwind as the main “partner in crime.” We also see joint entries from Mediapro, beon.worldwide and Ab So Lu Te, Last Lap, Somos Experiences, or Ki Wi partnering with AV Medios (finally acknowledging the value of audiovisual partners – a long-standing and probably justified demand from this sector).
A Market Less Concentrated. It often seems that “the same ones always win,” but I am not so sure. This year clearly belongs to Experientia, with 11 winning projects (a record in these Awards’ history). But beyond that, other big agencies had a limited number of wins: beon.worldwide had five, Somos Experiences and Mediapro had four each, and then it drops to two. We have a diversified market.
The World Outside Corporate Events Enters in Full Force. The King’s League winning gold is recognition of an event created by an actor outside our usual sector. This is good news: our industry, born from corporate events, must broaden to include cultural and sports players. There is much we can contribute there (as beon.worldwide has shown by revolutionizing musicals); there are big opportunities for brands, and a significant market since culture and sports are thriving.
Success of the Strategic Use of Events Category. This was a new category, and it worked perfectly, with three brilliant strategies awarded and six very relevant entries. It will remain and grow, recognizing something essential: strategies developed over time, not just one-off events. This is also the category that most directly rewards clients – brands that implement complete event programs as strategic tools.
Castilla y León Shines, Andalucía Too in a Different Way. From a geographical perspective, Castilla y León stands out with 4 golds (best conference, best cultural event, best animation/show, best venue) plus the Grand Prix. Andalucía, on the other hand, shines for the variety of its winners: from creating a congress from scratch (Sun & Blue), to best event strategy (very interesting for a regional government), from best trade show booth to being the first international agency to occupy The Sphere in Las Vegas (beon.worldwide).
Legacy is Valued. Social and environmental impact, legacy, are criteria in the Awards, but this year the jury especially valued the ability of events to extend beyond seasonality, decentralize, and involve local communities. This notion was highlighted by Noelia Gómez (Telefónica) on behalf of the jury at the gala when speaking about the Grand Prix. In several other projects, having a positive impact was recognized as well.
The Challenge of Scientific Congresses. Medical or scientific congresses are among the most important events in our market, yet they struggle to be recognized, often losing to other congresses less constrained by compliance codes. This is something we may need to reconsider to ensure proper recognition – perhaps by creating a dedicated scientific congress category.
Communication and Travel Agencies Less Present. Our market includes pure event agencies, travel agencies that entered events, and communication agencies that also entered. This year, communication, PR, and travel agencies had less prominence than pure event agencies. This should change, as experiential marketing is becoming increasingly important for these other types of agencies’ strategies.
We Have Very High Production Standards… But Should We Focus More on Creativity and Strategy? International observers are impressed by what we do in Spain. Without a doubt, the level of our industry is extremely high. This year produced an impressive harvest of beautiful projects. If I had to highlight one area to improve (as an observer, easier said than done), I think our next frontier is to embrace bolder creativity. This requires questioning standard formats (ah, the risk of following formulas too strictly – a real danger for the sector’s future relevance); it requires clients to be braver (no pain, no gain); it requires better pay for creativity; it requires more time to develop proposals; it requires integrating more talents and ways of thinking from the worlds of creativity and communication. We are VERY GOOD, but perhaps we can be even better.
The Challenge. Maybe an event should be able to convince just by explaining a creative concept in three lines, without any visuals. Then production and visuals complete the proposal. A good example was the Grand Prix two years ago: the YouTube Awards (Sr Goldwind + Experientia + Nonna Studio). They transformed an award ceremony (the classic event format) into a creative spectacle, staging live scenes and simultaneously broadcasting them, edited in film style, on screen – thus mirroring how YouTube represents life and video creation in real time. The audience was deeply impressed by this parallel. You can add images later… but the idea itself, simply expressed, already had immense value. Perhaps this is what we should aim for.
Congratulations to all the winners. This sector is strong, increasingly creative, competent, and impactful. And it will only grow stronger tomorrow!