Social distancing is the order of the day and entire countries are essentially on lock-down. But that doesn’t mean the world has stopped in tracks – particularly for brands who had major launches, announcements and conferences in the works.
Instead, live-streaming and virtual gatherings have been the solution, with invited guests receiving URL links to follow so they can join in on the action.
While it may not provide the networking opportunities and innovative IRL activations that companies had in store, it certainly is a crowd-puller in terms of drawing visitors to their websites and digital platform – a most valuable metric in today’s digital marketing realm.
Last week Nokia and HMD Global got it right when they held a virtual event, live-streamed on YouTube, where they announced their new range of smartphones, including the Nokia 8.3 5G – the first smartphone from the company to support 5G connectivity with dual-mode SA and NSA support.
This week, their are more exciting events on the horizon. Chinese technlogy conglomerate Huawei are following suit with their own virtual event for the release of their much anticipated P40 Pro smartphone. Initially set to be released in Paris on 26 March, the launch will now take place online amid growing public health concerns. In France, the number of coronavirus cases continues to escalate, with approximately 10 995 cases confirmed currently and 372 deaths.
Then there is the annual DevCon – a professional, one-day software developer conference held in Cape Town and Johannesburg. DevCon allows professional software developers the opportunity to learn, network and be inspired. It provides a buffet of tools, practices and principles applicable to tackling current and future challenges in the current and future South African software development environment. The event will take place on 2 April and will be live-streamed to all ticket-holders.
