Corporate events in Sweden and around the world
Corporate events can target employees, customers, partners, or consumers and take many different forms, from conferences and kickoffs to customer events and brand activations.
At Contrast, we create and produce corporate events in Sweden and internationally, from strategy and concept to planning, production, and implementation.
What is a corporate event?
A corporate event is an event that a company or organization organizes for its employees, customers, partners, or consumers. It can range from an internal kickoff for 50 people to a product launch for thousands of consumers. What distinguishes corporate events from private arrangements is the client and the purpose. It can be about training employees, bringing the organization together around a change, building relationships with customers and partners, or letting consumers experience a brand.
We divide corporate events into three main categories based on who the company wants to reach:
Employee event
Events for employees within the own organization, such as kickoffs, conferences, staff parties, training days, management meetings, and anniversaries.
Customer events
Events for customers, potential customers, resellers and other business partners, such as customer days, partner conferences, trade shows, product launches and roadshows.
Consumer events
Events where companies and brands meet the end consumer, such as brand activations, public events, store events, and product launches.
What formats are available for corporate events?
A corporate event can take almost any form. Which format is best depends on who you want to reach and what the event is intended to accomplish. Some common formats are:
- Kickoff to bring the organization together around, for example, new goals, plans, or a change.
- A conference to bring people together around knowledge, strategy or common issues.
- Roadshows to, for example, train retailers, launch products or activate a brand.
- Seminar for in-depth study of a specific subject
- Galactic evening or anniversary dinner to celebrate, commemorate or gather employees, partners and customers.
- Team building where employees get to do something together outside of their usual roles.
- Product launch to introduce a new product or service to the market.
- Customer day to develop relationships with existing customers.
How do you plan a successful corporate event?
Good event planning doesn’t start with the venue, the food, or the entertainment. It starts with two questions: Who should be there and what do you want to happen when they meet?
Define the purpose and goals
Start by formulating what the event is intended to achieve. Will employees understand a new strategy? Will more customers become aware of a product? Or is the goal to strengthen relationships with retailers and partners? Once the purpose is clear, it becomes easier to make the right decisions regarding everything from content and format to location and activities. Also, decide from the very beginning how you will follow up on the results. Depending on the event’s purpose, this can involve everything from the participants’ experience and knowledge to leads, sales, or NPS.
Choose the right meeting place and date
The choice of venue is about more than just liking the location. The number of participants, the program, the travel routes, and what actually happens during the event set the framework. 600 guests limit the possible venues, and an overseas corporate event places additional requirements on the planning. When participants are flown in from different locations, flight schedules, transfers, hotels, local suppliers, and programs need to work together. The date also matters. Major holidays, large industry conferences, and other popular times can affect both availability and which venues are available for booking.
Build a program that keeps the energy up
A good program needs both good content and plenty of air. The participants need to have time to listen, talk to each other, move around, have a coffee, and absorb what they have just heard. A program that looks airy on paper can easily become stressful if you don’t account for 300 people moving between different rooms or taking part in the afternoon coffee break.
Read more about event strategy and planning.
What is the real value of an event for a company?
We have an unwavering faith in the power of human encounter. When people meet, they can not only receive a message. They can talk about it, ask questions, respond to it, and share the experience with others. We have seen that power thousands of times, since 1994.
At an internal conference, an employee can hear the company's new strategy from the stage, discuss it with colleagues over lunch, and ask questions directly to the management during the break. The strategy becomes something that is experienced, created, and discussed together, not just information that has been sent out.
At a customer event, the participant can see, feel and learn more about a new product, talk to the people behind it and exchange experiences with other users during an afternoon.
Contact Contrast about your corporate event
Are you planning a corporate event? Tell us what you want to achieve, who you want to reach, and roughly when it will take place. We’ll start from there.