In a world where technology can make almost anything faster and more beautiful, real encounters become more valuable: Research shows that 95% of people trust a brand more after a physical encounter. Kim de Ridder and Nancy Ceulemans talk about the future of live communication and the choices needed to make real impact.
Live offers something AI cannot copy
AI can create a convincing concept image in seconds. Technology helps us to develop ideas faster, to make stories more personal and to organize productions smarter. The European Experience Index 2025 shows that 97% of the researched creative teams at European live-experience agencies indicate that they use AI. That's not a threat to creativity, it's a new tool. Only: an image can suggest a lot, but not replace what happens when people actually get together.
That difference is measurable: in a poll commissioned by Freeman among 1,824 working professionals 95% say to trust a brand more after a live meeting; 89% feel more connected.
Live is not the nostalgic counterpart to digital. It offers something digitally difficult to copy: direct interaction, joint attention and the possibility to ask for immediate information. Just as communication gets faster and easier, real presence consequently gets more weight.
Beautiful is no longer a final result
The increasing value of live comes with a higher bar. Visitors see daily perfectly stylized images and endless content. A setting that looks good on image can still leave little behind. The new measure is not whether an event looks polished, but what moves it: Curiosity, connection, pride, understanding or action.
Do not create an extra screen live
Information alone is rarely a good reason to travel anywhere physically; You can also share it online. The power of live is in what visitors can do:
- hold a product;
- question an expert;
- try something together;
- meet a new person;
- or become part of a story.
A room full of chairs and a large screen does not use that power by itself. Sometimes a live event turns into a digital broadcast for which everyone has come to the same place.
Design the behavior you want to see
For Kim, therefore, a design does not start with a trend color or material list, but with humans, the purpose and the context. "What should someone have felt, understood or done afterwards? In an internal event, that can be either proud or interconnected. With product introduction curiosity and trust. At a conference an insight that is already being applied the next working day. Only when the desired change is sharp will choices about the decoration follow. A bar can trigger calls and a route can build up curiosity. Eventdesign is not a layer of decor, but a means to control behavior and meaning."
Four questions for live impact
1. Who do you really want to reach?
2. What should that person feel, understand or do?
3. What live moment can do better than any other channel?
4. What can we reuse and what should we focus on creating?
The cheese dish is not a strategy
Nancy: "Budget remains of course part of the conversation. But on every budget line a little deletion often takes exactly the strength out of the concept. More impact arises when the client, design, production, technology and location sit together early at the table. Then you can decide together which parts really make a difference and invest consciously in them, while other elements have a supporting role."
That live can also render commercial, according to Splash research under 1,058 American marketers: of marketers using multiple event forms, 66% say physical events produce the most revenue. That figure is not a guarantee for any event, but an incentive not to treat live as a cost item without setting a pre-target, target group and method.
"A bit of deletion on each budget line often takes exactly the strength out of the concept." Nancy Ceulemans
Rent where you can, build where you have to
Targeted investment also means looking at what already exists. With a clever combination of rental materials, light, styling and targeted customisation can create a completely unique world. Existing materials save production, modular elements are more often used and customization gets real value only if it does something that is not possible with available items. That's more efficient. More sustainable and often gives more creative space.
