Visualizing the impact of event experiences. Initiatives to understand user psychology and behavioral changes, and translate them into profit.

Exhibition-based promotions, exemplified by events, are extremely important measures for creating and strengthening engagement with fans. By delivering messages directly to valued customers and providing experiences only possible on-site, strong bonds with fans are formed.

However, from a business perspective, it's also true that there are concerns about whether events truly deliver results relative to the investment. Therefore, this time, we introduce initiatives to visualize event effectiveness from a marketing perspective.

Challenges of In-Person Events and the Value of Online Events Revealed During the Pandemic

Events have always been a key strategy for nurturing fans and strengthening engagement. While their reach is limited compared to mass marketing like TV commercials, the unique experiences created by real-world events can have a profound impact on people's hearts, significantly increasing their affection for brands, products, and services. It's no exaggeration to say that combining marketing strategies—broadly disseminating messages through media power and then providing deep, targeted experiences at events—had become established as a "standard approach."

However, the challenge of visualizing and verifying the "depth" of these experiences and their effectiveness has long persisted. Many have voiced concerns: "We held an event, XX people attended, and the atmosphere was great, but it's unclear if it truly translated into business benefits." Furthermore, the desire to "properly visualize event effectiveness" and "obtain reference data for evaluating cost-effectiveness" is likely shared by many marketing professionals.

Online events: highly convenient and promising marketing benefits

Amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many events were canceled, and online events began proliferating as a compensatory measure. Initially, skepticism was widespread regarding their effectiveness, with many questioning whether online could truly replicate the core value of events: direct communication with users. Nevertheless, with in-person events difficult to execute, many companies likely embraced online events as a "challenge," adopting a trial-and-error mindset.

However, once implemented, it became clear that online events offer distinct advantages over physical ones: participants can join from anywhere, at their convenience, without enduring long queues in crowded spaces, and content is immediately accessible. Furthermore, leveraging digital technology has enabled participants to interact online, recreate the excitement of in-person events through staging, and develop initiatives that compensate for online events' weaknesses. Additionally, the marketing benefit of being able to track access numbers and easily utilize the acquired user data post-event has become apparent.

As the advantages of online events become clearer, more marketing professionals are likely reevaluating the purpose of in-person events, perhaps even thinking, "Wouldn't online events be better?"

On the other hand, some have also rediscovered the unique appeal of the "psychological impact on participants" that only real-world events can provide through their online event efforts. While online events are good, there's a gut feeling that real-world events are more effective in terms of engagement. However, visualizing the actual impact real-world events have on participants is difficult. Many managers likely feel this frustration.

Facial Expression Analysis Technology Expands Event Effect Measurement Possibilities

Amidst this, efforts are emerging to quantitatively grasp the impact of in-person events using technology. Traditionally, the standard method for quantifying event effectiveness has been attendee surveys. These surveys measure satisfaction levels and psychological changes, then combine that data with estimated attendance figures to perform "quantity × quality" impact measurement. However, accurately determining attendance numbers can be difficult for some events. Furthermore, satisfaction surveys often fail to delve into deeper analysis, such as identifying which specific event elements satisfied attendees or which elements were most effective. Consequently, these methods frequently prove somewhat insufficient for truly "quantifying event effectiveness."

AI Facial Expression Analysis Reveals Attendee Psychological Changes

One initiative addressing these challenges is "AI Facial Expression Analysis for Satisfaction Surveys." Cameras installed at the event venue recognize attendees' faces. While maintaining attendee anonymity, AI analyzes their expressions to measure satisfaction. Proof-of-concept testing has already begun. This method allows detailed understanding of where attendees experienced what within the event space and what emotions they felt. For example, during presentations or shows on stage, AI-analyzing the expressions of the audience watching the stage allows measurement of when their emotions are stirred. This confirms that during flashy stage effects, for instance, the audience's positive emotions surge significantly. While this might seem obvious for entertainment, what's intriguing is that even brief transitional video segments during show intervals were found to elevate audience positivity. This proves that such previously overlooked "subtle production elements" effectively influence human emotions.

Previously, such transitional elements were often seen as "the meticulous attention to detail based on the experience and dedication of event producers or directors." Now, this demonstrates that "meticulously directing even these small details effectively enhances engagement with attendees." Initiatives like this, which empirically prove event effectiveness, are beginning to emerge.

However, many technical challenges remain, and the precision of effect measurement will need to be further improved. For example, in the field of "AI facial expression analysis," it is said that facial expression changes in Asians, such as Japanese people, are harder to discern compared to Westerners. The accumulation of data for "facial expression analysis optimized for Japanese people" is only just beginning. Challenges also exist depending on the event content. What about events like art exhibitions, where attendees are meant to thoroughly enjoy content in genres they are interested in? When people are seriously appreciating artworks, they tend to have a serious expression. From an expression analysis perspective, this state is judged as a "neutral" expression, making it difficult to decipher emotional movements.

While many challenges remain, grasping "which moments and areas trigger emotional responses" is crucial for scientifically analyzing event effectiveness and obtaining key insights to shape the narrative.

Quantifying psychological transformation into behavioral change leads to improved marketing precision

The approach of "quantifying effectiveness through facial expression analysis at physical events" holds potential to expand into various fields in the future. While originating from the challenge of measuring effectiveness at physical events, this approach can also be applied to online events. Since online participants join via computers or smartphones, analyzing the expressions visible to their cameras could measure how they enjoyed the content and gauge its effectiveness. Understanding this should allow for more thoughtful content creation.

For example, what is the optimal length for video content? In many cases, it might have been set based on experience, such as "roughly 3 minutes." Many of us have likely had conversations like, "Three minutes is good for videos, anything longer feels too long." However, the optimal length actually varies depending on the situation and target audience. Therefore, by analyzing psychological changes based on factors like the time until viewers leave the video or their facial expressions while watching, we could determine the "length best suited to the specific moment and situation."

Furthermore, by linking with devices like smartphones and applications, we can track the subsequent actions of event attendees. Of course, due to personal information concerns, this must be operated with technology that ensures robust anonymity. Building on that, the trend of analyzing the effects of events from a longer-term perspective, based on attendee data, is likely to accelerate significantly.

The impact of the pandemic has served as a valuable opportunity to re-evaluate the effectiveness and appeal of events, driving their evolution into forms suited to the modern era. While events are often treated as a quintessential example of analog marketing tactics, they are actually an area where integration with digital opens up vast possibilities. The inherent strength of events – delivering deep experiences with a sense of exclusivity and specialness – will become even more pronounced and refined through this digital fusion. Why not take this opportunity to explore the new potential of events?