2025 Events Will Make Their Mark With Extraordinary Opening Moments
Elle Chan, Trademark
Experiential marketing is changing at lightning speed––stunning opening moments, rich multi-media experiences, captivating content, and expert production are the new bar. The first few magical moments of an event are the catalyst that sets its tone, tenor, and impact. They establish the mood, create anticipation, and motivate attendees to engage with the brand and the content. The best opening moments combine production elements that immerse and captivate people––a crucial first step to ensuring successful audience engagement, and a great event.
Opening moments are most effective when they’re tied to a company’s mission, vision of the future, or game-changing product or technology. The production must be executed with the audience in mind––who they are, what they came to see, and what they hope to accomplish by being there. The right message, produced and delivered to a well-understood audience, is a powerful business driver.
To build excitement and deliver brand messaging, opening moments should combine storytelling, film artistry, synchronized lighting, dramatic sound, and music in a precision multi-media production. We first experienced the power of opening moments in a fundraising gala we produced for charity: water. The charity’s mission is to bring clean water to Ethiopian villagers who trek miles each day to gather water for their families. We wanted to make the experience real and help donors connect with the issue. The gala opened by taking attendees on an Ethiopian woman’s daily journey for water. We delivered the story on a 360° high definition, 20’ high x 284’ “halo” screen, suspended from the ceiling of the San Francisco Armory. The film and sound production techniques brought the experience to life and inspired donations. It set the tone for the event, which raised $7M dollars for 500 clean water wells in Ethiopia, changing the lives of 100,000 people.
Since the charity: water gala, we’ve seen opening moments take hold across the industry. Earlier this year, we created an awe-inspiring cinematic opening for Appian World, the company’s annual user conference. To build excitement and deliver brand messaging, we combined storytelling, film artistry, synchronized LED lighting, dramatic sound, and live music in a powerful opening production called “Orchestration”. In social media reviews, attendees highlighted how the seamless integration of these multi-sensory elements created excitement, set a high-energy tone, communicated the event’s themes, and drove immediate interest and anticipation. So, how do you produce a stunningly effective opening moment? At Trademark, we always start with the goal and the vision. Then the fun begins: creating a story. We recommend:
- Dynamic multi-media and video: A compelling narrative tool to hook the audience and communicate objectives effectively.
- Powerful Sound and Music: How to evoke emotions, build anticipation, and maintain energy.
- Lighting: Dramatic lighting can highlight focal points on stage, build suspense, or transform the space to suit different parts of the event.
- Multi-sensory Production: Sensory elements like scents, fog, or wind can make the opening experience more immersive and impactful.
- Precision Timing and Synchronization: Choreographing all elements—lights, music, visuals, and effects—for a seamless, engaging opening to any corporate event.
And, of course, we recommend you choose an expert event production company to bring it all to life.
