In an increasingly competitive and customer-experience-driven market, corporate events have ceased to be merely one-off meetings and have become strategic branding platforms. This is the view of Eduardo Zech, marketing and operations director at Panda Inteligência em Eventos, a company specializing in creating corporate experiences focused on brand building.
“We work with the client’s brand objective as the main guideline, observing their attributes, values, behaviors, and key messages they wish to convey,” explains Zech. According to him, every detail of an event—from the set design to the visual language—can and should be used as an emotional point of contact with the audience, reinforcing the brand's positioning and values.
For Panda, the event planning journey begins with a deep dive into the client's identity and strategic moment. From there, sensory, visual, and interactive experiences are built that seek not only visibility but also an authentic brand experience. "The idea is always to generate relevance, differentiation, and increase impact through the generation of a positive reputation," says the executive.
From physical to digital – The company also invests in digital strategies as a way to amplify the reach of events and prolong their impact. “We plan content for before, during, and after the event, through a contact strategy. In addition, we focus on Instagrammable experiences, partnerships with influencers, hashtags, and digital activations,” says Zech.
This integration between the physical and the digital, called the phygital experience, is seen by Panda as an essential trend for the coming years. “In-person events remain irreplaceable in creating human connections. But today, digital expands the reach and longevity of the event. We believe that in-person and digital go hand in hand to create complete experiences,” they emphasize.
Branding with results – Far from being improvised, building a brand through events requires planning and measuring results. Panda uses data analysis, benchmarking, KPIs, and even local impact indicators to evaluate the success of its projects. “We measure everything from engagement, interactions at activations, and brand perception, to territorial development, such as job creation and local revenue,” says Zech.
Cases like the projects carried out for Anglo American and Localiza illustrate the power of events as a positioning tool. In the second case, according to Eduardo, the concept created for the event was so aligned with the company's purpose that it became decisive in choosing Panda as the agency responsible.
Brand culture – For companies that don't yet use events as a branding tool, Panda's message is straightforward: start with purpose. “Before thinking about the format, think about the why. What message do you want to convey? What feeling do you want to generate?” advises Zech. And he concludes: “Events are experienced with the body, with emotion, and with the senses. When a brand provides a special experience, it ceases to be just a name and begins to occupy a place in the public's emotional memory,” he assures.
