MEETING NEEDS THROUGH THE USE OF EVENT TRENDS

Human behavior is based on needs. The satisfaction of one need generates the appearance of another. Purposeful consumer behavior consists of actions taken to meet existing needs. Human needs have been studied by many scientists for a long time. For example, the most famous classification is Maslow's pyramid. According to Maslow's teaching, a person has many different needs, which can be divided into five main categories: physiological needs, needs for security and confidence in the future, social, prestigious and spiritual needs. Abraham Maslow believed that when simpler needs are met, a person begins to reach for a higher-order need. These high needs are partially met by the products and services of the hospitality industry, namely the industry of special events.

Recent theoretical developments have revealed that customers’ behavior and their expectations about what the event ought to offer go beyond the standard and regular event plan. To remain competitive in a changing industry, event planners should adapt, evolve their concepts and follow the up-and-coming trends. Each client is positively evaluated when the event organizers take care of the guest, take into account all interests and learn all preferences. Providing an individual experience and paying more attention to the details can make events more effective and engaging. New trends in the Events Industry have been emerging for the last three years and they often stem from customers’ needs.

In the modern event market customers tend to demand personalized and customized services and products. Providing an individual experience and paying more attention to the details can make events more effective and engaging. New trends in the Events Industry have been emerging for the last three years and they often stem from customers’ needs.

In this respect it is highly important to consider the factors which affect the consumers’ needs. One of the key factor is the generation that a guest belongs to. According to generation theory (Бочагов, 2020), modern guests can be classified into Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials or Generation Z. People of different ages have various requirements and necessities, they grew up in different conditions and are used to various tools in their life. Thus, it is very important to consider each generation separately.

Generation Z is considered to be one of the main target groups nowadays. It is a community of people born after 2003. (Ногалес, 2015). First of all, at events arranged for generation Z, the ambience should be more energetic and lively. Secondly, the event for a young audience needs to be not only impressive, but also equipped with technology because Gen Z documents literally their entire lives. Finally, Gen Z is more likely to attend an event where the organizers are responsible for the use of natural resources and care about reducing and recycling waste, as well as strive to make the world better.

Millennials as a target group have different preferences in the subject of events compared to generation Z. Millennials or generation Y are people who were born between 1983 and 2003. (Ногалес, 2015). Millennial purchasing behavior includes quality and diversity, convenience, history, authenticity, and personalization. Deloitte's "winning the race for guest loyalty" study found that Millennials value an exclusive experience more than other groups. Finally, for Millennials communication is essential, thus, it is necessary to allocate special areas for meetings. It seems to be important that the comfort zone is supposed to have background music and a DJ. Moreover, this group is looking for such event manager that the customer can always rely on and not worry about how the preparation for the event is going. (Hoydysh, 2019)

Another major target group of customers is generation Xers, which can be defined as a group of people born between about 1965 and 1984 (Ногалес, 2015). As a generation that depends heavily on modern technology, Gen X customers value rather a mobile experience, that is based on convenience and self-service. They are marked as the generation that reads most reviews and thoroughly examines brands or services before making a purchase decision. People of generation X tend to have an established opinion, knowledge, their own particular taste, they are already experts themselves, so they are ready to listen only to real professionals. To meet this need, people responsible for the event should not forget about logistics and the quality of the site.

While Generation X have consumed much attention from brands over the past few years, Baby boomers should also be taken into consideration. The Baby boomers are people born between 1943 and 1963. (Hoydysh, 2019). They are quite reserved and distrustful, so the organizer should make an effort to find a contact and learn all the necessary information from them. Boomers almost do not tend to use various messengers and modern gadgets. They are likely to be constant and prefer options that do not cause difficulties. (Мирзаханова, 2019). This is also a generation of workaholics who work 50 hours a week and rarely take time off. Therefore, the work of the event organizer should be independent and timely, without unnecessary questions and constant clarifications.

It can be concluded that to meet the customers’ need for personalization it is essential for organizers to take into consideration the format of events, the concept and approach to communication, depending on the values of generations. Consequently, it seems to be fundamental to develop an approach to each customer category in order to avoid conventional and standardized events and celebrations.

To be able to meet all the needs of customers, the event planners are supposed to be technically savvy in the majority of cases. With the expansion of the event industry, there is also a growing need to use modern technologies at events, which not only simplify the life of the organizers, but also allow participants to fully feel pleasure from the event (Демидова, 2016). The first trend on the list is face recognition. Obviously, facial recognition can speed up the registration process and make it more secure and accurate. The second modern technological trend in the Event Industry to consider is Virtual reality (VR). VR is used to create virtual tours that can direct visitors to the event venue and either as an integral part of events which take place in a live and virtual format simultaneously to make them more interactive. One more technology is chatbot. The chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversations.

It can be concluded that in the recent years significant number of representatives of the event industry trust technologies and use them in their working process. Using latest technological trends as effective tools can contribute significantly to the success of companies on the event market.

In addition to personalization and technological trends, a unique location is another tendency that is becoming increasingly popular among event planners. Currently,
the client is already aware of the standard options. For instance, if an event manager making a commercial offer along with the conventional location also provides a non-standard option, for example, abandoned castle, a clock tower, or an old bunker, the client is likely to notice that this offer is the result of hard individual work. (Баженова, 2015) An additional benefit is that the use of outstanding places creates a multifunctional space. There is an opportunity to implement unusual formats of events and bold solutions for the implementation of ambitious tasks, performances. Consequently, it can be concluded that it is fundamental for any event organizer to understand the needs of the guest and assess their readiness for the unusual experience. It is necessary to understand the relevance of the offer of non-standard sites, to weigh the advantages and disadvantages separately in each case.

To sum up, it is necessary to note, that any trend followed by event planners is important to use correctly and present it to the client in time. It seems to be essential to remember that each client has their own requests for holding an event in accordance with their needs and capabilities. A competent event manager is likely to keep track of updates and know how to hold an event at the highest level.

Trends appear and develop depending on changes in the needs and preferences of consumers, as well as under the influence of external factors. The use of trends allows event organizers to be more modern and customer - oriented. However, this is still not enough. Therefore, in order to work ahead of the curve, an event manager must always be aware of all events, be able to predict their consequences and quickly adapt to new realities. A good example was the situation with COVID-19. Firstly, all participants of the events take care of their health and safety, much more than before. Therefore, in addition to observing the distance, it will be necessary to provide the sites with thermal imagers, antiseptics, personal protective equipment and a ventilation system with air disinfection.

Secondly, the consumer values environmental friendliness and respect for nature on the part of the organizers. Therefore, it is necessary to take care in advance of separate garbage collection, use only easily recyclable and eco-friendly materials in the decor and demonstrate the position of rational and thoughtful consumption.

And finally, in a competitive environment, the winner is the one who knows how to combine online and offerline formats for an event and make it convenient and flexible. The hybrid model will retain everything that is valued in face-to-face events, and the virtual add-on will only expand the audience and add impressions thanks to a rich set of tools. An online mirror of the program with interactive functionality will become a mandatory part of any professional conference. (Гвоздовская, 2020)

Generally, tendencies can decently improve the event. Such trend as personalization helps to better understand target customers, identify their needs and desires, so that the event can be held in accordance with all their expectations and make it not standard. The use of generational theory can enable event organizers to find an approach to each client of different ages, to offer a concept that will take into account all their interests and values in relation to the event.

To be able to meet all the needs of customers, the event planners are also supposed to track technical updates, implement all technological tools in the work and be able to use them correctly. In addition, competent and experienced event organizer should know how to provide convenience and comfort on the site, which client can agree to hold an event in unusual place and each time consider the advantages and disadvantages of using such locations. These three groups of event trends seem to be interesting to apply and develop them in the organization, to use the findings and insights that follow from them, in order to meet the needs of customers.

The world is changing rapidly. The question of how to work ahead of the curve can be answered that an event manager needs to always be in the trend, be aware of what is happening and not be afraid of changes. In a competitive struggle, the strongest survives. The first one will be a professional who knows how to adapt to conditions and thinks two steps ahead.