Planning an Inflation Busting Communication and Events Strategy

Here are some of our top tips for how to reduce your outgoings in terms of your communications and events strategy, all designed to be useful ‘inflation busters’ and long-term efficiency markers. 

1.       The Lower Season is On Trend.  Plan as much as possible to take advantage of ‘lower season’ rates.  Venues, suppliers and performers will have calendar dates that are less popular and might even be a harder sell.  If you can make these work for you, there are big savings to be made.  Also, the longer in advance you can plan the more you can make those dates work for you (and you could reap additional benefits such as cheaper transport costs).  If you leave an event till the last minute and deliver it in the highly sought after two weeks before Ramadan, you will be paying a premium. 

   2. Check the Time. It might sound simple, but carefully selecting the time of your event could reduce costs in terms of catering, lighting, venue rental and even AC. A mid-morning or mid-afternoon event won’t require as much food or lighting. An evening event in hotter months reduces the need for as much AC. As energy cost soar, these costs, which were mostly a secondary consideration, now need to be looked at with a higher level of scrutiny.

   3. Explore Business Rates Options. If your communications strategy is due to encompass multiple events in the next couple of years, then looking into a business rate arrangement with a venue or hotel chain that has multiple event spaces could be ideal.  If you can negotiate a lower fixed rate, this could reduce the risk of year-on-year cost push inflation raising prices.

   4. Collaboration is Key. Audio visual needs, stage design, set up and dismantling can take up a huge proportion of an event’s budget, but collaboration arrangements could reduce this significantly. Often the incumbent event at a venue is already using AV equipment package that could be suitable for your event, and so an opportunity to share your major AV costs exists. With so many options for digital rebranding to be utilised easily, this results in a synergy that could cut costs in technical equipment, design and manpower by almost 50%. When you are able to build your events calendar around strategic opportunities for cost-sharing collaboration, it allows you to offer both value for money and economies of scale to your audience. The earlier you plan, the more these opportunities will present themselves. If you have a long-off event in the pipeline, you could look into choosing a venue with an adjacent existing booking or historic customer open to sharing costs and thereby improving the overall experience with less investment.   

   5. Virtual is the New Black. These days no one expects every aspect of an event to be in-person or IRL from start to finish. Many times, attendees might even
   have to engage remotely, so it isn’t essential that your speakers have to be on site either. Opting to have your speakers pre-record a session or deliver their presentation through a video platform can reduce speaking fees, travel costs and planning times. 

   6. Plastic and Paperless. These changes will not only reduce costs, they will contribute to your eco-friendly goals. If you remove single-use plastic from your event and choose reusable or bio-degradable, and opt for a digital focused paperless event, you are underlining your sustainable ethos to your audience and cutting overall costs.

   7. Make it a Party Bus. Transport costs or travel reimbursement can also be a big ticket item on the events budget. An effective pre-event communications campaign, using an app or targeted email, can showcase your environment goals and encourage guests to utilise more communal forms of transport. Carpooling, group buses or shuttles could be an easy solution that allows for flexibility and efficiency in a multitude of areas.