Those of us in the live event industry had no idea how deeply – or for how long – the pandemic would impact our livelihoods. But despite the disruption, finding new customers, maintaining brand visibility, and driving revenue remained vital corporate goals no matter the business. Almost immediately, two camps emerged: 1) marketers who employed hybrid strategies to maintain an "experiential baseline" before eventually getting back to face-to-face, and 2) marketers who stopped events cold turkey while waiting for the dust to settle. If you're in the latter camp and still waiting, it's past time to restart your experiential efforts.

The challenge for many is that there is still a nagging degree of uncertainty when it comes to committing to traditional, large-footprint live gatherings. The very thought of earmarking valuable dollars on traditional build-and-burn events at a time when uncertain attendance could still impact results continues to freeze plenty of brand decision-makers. Enter mobile event environments (MEEs).

MEEs have enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity, and for good reason. Creating self-contained, mobile environments give brands the flexibility to curate immersive experiences tailored to their audiences wherever they are – or need to be – without compromise or much of the risk and uncertainty associated with large-attendance events.

If a major roadblock in launching a smart mobile event strategy is convincing your C-suite to invest, here are four conversation starters that can turn hesitation into activation.

They're Flexible and Multiuse
Typical brand buildouts are often disposable. When you invest in a booth space at a traditional trade show, you frequently build or rent a unique exhibit based on those specifications, and it sits on the show floor for a week and may never see the light of day again. With an MEE, you can design a reusable event space that extends its value and cost effectiveness over time. Creating your own progressive environment that is quick to set, strike, sanitize, and move on to the next location is a far superior option than a typical show or campus setup. Tours can and do shift every day, so having a display that is just as flexible is a bonus. This is especially ideal for large companies that have the ability to amortize the build cost across departments and use it throughout the year for training sessions, marketing activations, product launches, hospitality events, and more.

Design is Practically Limitless
Once upon a time, mobile environments were restricted by limited trailer sizes and a lack of creative vision. Today's 53-foot double-expandable options and other over-road designs offer unlimited possibilities to create immersive experiences that rival any brick-and-mortar concept. Not only is space no longer a restriction, but building in functionality, technology, comfort, and unique user experiences is now easier than ever. With more than 1,500 square feet of interior space, modern expandable trailers allow designers to go up and out for additional space and seating. This expandability allows for unique and customizable configurations that further increase square footage.

Today's MEEs also offer unprecedented "quick-change" capabilities with wall and interior panel solutions that simply pop in and out, enabling day-to-day or even session-to-session environment changes for multi-brand events. Climate-controlled and secure, these custom environments also allow for the safe install, shipping, and storage of valuable and sometimes costly features like audio and projection equipment, prototype technologies, pre-launch property exhibits, and mobile retail concepts.

Improved ROI and Flexible Investment Models
Some companies balk at the idea of mobile environments because of the perceived high cost of design and fabrication, but a closer look reveals the merits of investing in mobile concepts from both an event efficiency and financial perspective.

For example, the typical multicity road show has a wide range of costs and complexities. By building its own mobile environment, a company could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by eliminating the need to hire construction contractors or union labor at each event site. Additionally, dual purpose event staff can be trained from day one on setting up, tearing down, demonstrating products, and managing event details; by traveling as product experts and logistics managers, this approach can minimize or eliminate the need for additional, site-specific staff to help set up or strike an event campus.

The efficiency of MEEs is even more compelling when you consider lease versus purchase options. For some applications, the design, build, and ownership of a mobile environment is not the best option. For those clients, the right vendor can design and fabricate the experience; lease it for the required period of time; and then store, maintain, and move it as required – a total turnkey experience. Just like when leasing an automobile, a company has choices on the backend when the program or event has concluded.

They're an Industry-Inclusive Solution
Mobile environments work for just about any industry and location. In addition to road shows, expo halls, training programs, marketing activations, and hospitality applications, think about the possibilities for mobile testing centers or ambulatory clinics that can deliver critical care and diagnostics in an HVAC climate-controlled environment in any location, or the ease and efficiency with which one could create a pop-up retail store, extend brick-and-mortar brand presence, introduce e-commerce to a new audience, or launch new concepts, all while collecting customer data and telling brand stories in myriad immersive ways.

No matter how large or small your business, mobile event solutions may be the on-time answer to how to engage your customers and prospects in meaningful and effective ways. For companies ready to create and host events across their organizations and customer bases, MEEs represent the latest technology and infrastructure that makes the most sense by providing an effective way to maximize budget spend, deliver powerful brand experiences, and generate ROI across business units, no matter what the future holds.E