• June 15, 2026

Agency leaders discuss strategic briefs, AI and the growing value of live events

Agency leaders discuss strategic briefs, AI and the growing value of live events

Agency leaders discuss strategic briefs, AI and the growing value of live events 1024 572 micebook.

Agency leaders from micebook’s Nineteen community discussed whether clients are truly moving beyond tactical event briefs, the growing role of live experiences within the marketing mix, and how AI could strengthen the value of face-to-face engagement.

The conversation was sparked during the latest virtual monthly call by a question from a new member with a background in marketing and brand experience, who asked whether the industry was seeing a shift from tactical event delivery towards more strategic marketing partnerships.

While there was broad agreement that live experiences are securing a larger share of marketing budgets, participants were less convinced that client buying behaviour has evolved at the same pace.

One agency leader noted that many event teams continue to work to highly compressed timelines, making it difficult to have deeper strategic conversations.

“The challenge for the industry generally speaking is the tactical RFP more than a strategic comms request,” they said. Another suggested many events are still commissioned as standalone projects rather than as part of a broader communications strategy.

“If it ends up with the events department, the marketing plan happened ages ago,” they said. “You can’t have those conversations in two weeks.”

However, several participants argued the industry is undoubtedly moving in a more strategic direction. “It is getting more sophisticated and you need to embrace that part of the cycle with clients,” said one leader. “I would say it is harder to get a new client unless you’re talking like that now.”

Others pointed to increasing demand for insight, measurement and consultancy, as well as greater recognition of the role live experiences play within the wider marketing mix.

“We’re all saying the same thing,” one participant observed. “The live experience piece is getting a bigger piece of the market.”

The discussion also highlighted the strong market conditions many agencies are currently experiencing, with several reporting healthy pipelines and increased client enquiries despite ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

“There is a lot of work out there,” said one agency leader. “It is relatively booming at the moment.”

The role of AI was another major talking point. While participants discussed the growing use of AI for workflow automation, insight gathering and measurement, several argued that the technology could ultimately enhance the value proposition of live experiences rather than diminish it.

One agency leader suggested brands are increasingly seeking authentic human connection at a time when AI-generated content is becoming more widespread.

“There’s a lot of marketing content being generated now that doesn’t feel entirely real,” they said. “What we do is real. You can’t fake being in a room.”

The group also explored how AI could eventually help agencies better measure audience engagement and emotional response, with examples shared of emerging technologies using sentiment analysis and facial recognition to assess attendee reactions in real time.

While opinions differed on how quickly these tools will become mainstream, there was broad agreement that better measurement remains one of the sector’s biggest opportunities.

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