How to build your event into a commercial platform
Most events, even the biggest, most successful ones, are a single-product business.
Tickets are sold , sponsors are acquired, but it all happens once a year and the revenue exists around one date on a calendar.
Striking the right balance is tricky - an underperforming edition, whether due to a shift in business strategy or an economic downturn, can jeopardise the whole brand.
A platform is different. TED, Comic-Con, World Health Expo and Gulfood are great examples of events that have grown out from a single ticketed weekend. The live event becomes an anchor for a much wider commercial structure with media, licensing, data, community and multiple revenue lines that don’t depend on a room full of people.
So how do you attempt to turn your event into a platform?
Is your event platform-ready?
There are three key questions you need to ask yourself:
1. Is your format replicable, or is it tied to one place or moment? A platform needs a format that can travel, scale or be licensed.
2. Is there a community, not just an annual audience? Do your attendees disappear until next year’s ticket comes on sale? Or are they active in a community, consuming content or interacting with each other year-round?
3. Do you really want to run a bigger, more complex business? Platforms need legal structure, specialised staff and higher overheads. Some founders are happier and more profitable sticking with one event a year.
The answer’s yes? Here’s what to do next.
Firstly, you need to separate your format from your event. Define, on paper, what your event actually is as a reusable asset, independent of a date or venue. Document the rules, the structure, the brand guidelines, the audience experience that makes your event recognisable.
Secondly, build what can exist between event editions. This might be content – recorded talks, interviews; community – membership tiers, a digital community space, mini regional meetups; data and connections – buyer-seller matching, investor-founder matching or talent-employer matching; or publications – an annual report or a regular newsletter that ties to your area of authority. Pick two or three things to build, giving your audience more reasons to engage with you during the rest of the year.
Next, build your revenue lines. These might be new software or community tools that enable matchmaking within your audience; membership subscriptions or licensing your content for media partners. Once your revenue mix is sufficiently diverse, one bad edition of your event should no longer be a crisis.
Decide how to scale geographically
There are a few different ways of doing this.
You can own and operate. Run a new edition in a new place with the same team and your existing capital. You keep control, but this is hard to do if you’re in a new market that you don’t understand.
You can license the format. This is where a local operator pays you a fee to run an event under your brand and guidelines. This is often a quick way to scale geographically, but it is risky, especially if licensees aren’t well chosen or well managed. The quality of your brand can be negatively impacted if it goes badly.
You can start a joint venture or a franchise with equity. This is more of a hybrid option – you take an equity stake in a locally operating entity, sharing the risks and the profits. This is a great way to gain a partner who understands the local culture and sponsorship market.
Reshape your business into what your platform really needs
Look carefully at your team and work out where the gaps are. A single event can often be run by a small generalist team, a platform cannot.
A platform may need:
A department to handle brand and format, ensuring that your brand is protected across every market and channel, especially if you’re licensing.
A partnerships or licensing function who negotiates and manages local operator relationships.
Technical staff who can handle data and insights if you’re monetising your data or matchmaking capabilities.
Appropriate due diligence and on-ground research to understand the local ecosystem including endorsements, partnerships and ensuring the brand is constructively localised to the environment and culture, not just a simple copy/paste.
Don’t forget legal protection
If you’re going to license your event or take on partners, you need to properly protect your IP – branding, format and rules on how the event works. Get trademarks and clear licensing agreements that cover quality control and termination rights.
A word of warning
Building a platform is exciting and energising but it will change your business. Running one brilliant, successful event is creative and operationally focused. Running a platform will be more of a strategic oversight role. Some people love the transition, others discover that they love beingintheir event, rather than overseeing it from above. Neither is better than the other, but it pays to think carefully about what truly makes you happy.