Tony Pullen is the SVP of Sales at Brandlive.
Brandlive has been hosting virtual events for the world’s largest brands since 2010.
As younger generations begin to move into the workforce we are seeing an even greater shift towards virtual events and working formats. Many companies began by offering a virtual option for in-person events, but due to the circumstances of this year most had to either make their events completely virtual or postpone them. Luckily, with platforms like Brandlive switching to virtual doesn’t have to be a sacrifice, in fact, it can be an upgrade. As the world shifts to virtual, Brandlive empowers companies to host and produce premium, branded virtual experiences that stand out from the crowd and help the brands it partners with strike a pose, bring the pow, pop the punch and raise the bar in new and memorable ways.
SourceForge recently sat down with Tony Pullen, the SVP of sales at Brandlive, to discuss the virtual event space and how Brandlive has adjusted to the sudden increase in interest, as well as what we can expect to happen in the coming year within the market.
Q: First and foremost, can you please share with us a brief overview of your company? When was Brandlive established and what are your goals? Who are the brains behind the company?
A: Brandlive was established in 2010. The original product concept was a sort of virtual showroom where retailers could introduce their distributors to their upcoming product lines and distributors would be able to ask questions in real time, and even buy the products directly from the event page. Over the past decade, our products and services have expanded significantly. Today, Brandlive’s vision is to help the companies and organizations that are changing the world reach their audiences wherever they are, in order to deliver their most important messages in meaningful and impactful ways. We believe in the power of video to build communication, drive connection and engagement, and accelerate productivity across businesses and communities. That being said, Brandlive Events is a trusted choice for almost any kind of use case, from conferences and marketing events, to internal meetings and product launches. We haven’t lost sight of our original concept though, in fact, we are releasing three new products in the coming months, one of which is specifically designed for that virtual showroom concept with many additional features that will make the experience worthwhile for both the presenters and audience.
Q: What industries do you serve and who are your current customers?We work with any brand that has an important message meant for a large audience. Our platform is best suited for companies that have a clear brand image and want their event to feel elevated and aligned with their core identity. We work with companies like Nike, GoPro, Columbia, Meredith, Ark Investments… the list goes on.
Q: What exactly is a virtual event platform and how does it work? What makes it important for modern enterprises?
With Brandlive, anyone can host beautiful, fully-branded video events built to their custom specifications. Brandlive is designed for important, presentation-style video events like large presentations, summits, product launches, conferences, town halls and more. Along with beautiful video quality, Brandlive lets companies maximize attendee engagement and capture value with tracking capabilities and high-value analytics, as well as the ability to drive impressions for content and sponsors. Our audience feature makes it really easy to remarket to people who have attended your events in the past. Plus, our CRM integrations makes follow-up extremely easy. In the future, events are most likely going to be both online and in-person, so modern enterprises need to make sure that their events and content are high quality and appeal to people wherever they are.
Q: What are the most common use-cases for a platform like yours?
I would say our most common use-cases are product launches, conferences, company-wide meetings, and town halls. The best way to know if you’ll be a good fit is to talk to our team of experts, but two two most important criteria are a large audience (anything above 500 people) and an important message.
Q: 2020 has seen a huge shift towards virtual events, what can we expect from 2021?
We’ve been seeing for years that the event world was moving online. Video tools and virtual events were chipping away at business travel and in-person events, and COVID has accelerated that trend at a greater rate than we ever could have imagined. And like I said before, I think we are going to see events eventually turn into a hybrid of both in person and online. The risk is lower with virtual events, the experience is top shelf, and the ROI is too good for most companies to switch entirely back. There’s just too much upside to go back: virtual events are the future of business.
Q: What makes Brandlive stand-out in the virtual event space?
With more than a decade of experience and hundreds of events per week for some of the biggest companies in the world, Brandlive is the trusted platform that top brands choose to host their most important meetings. Brandlive offers a completely customizable, virtual event platform that lets anyone create an elevated, memorable experience for their audience, while maximizing the value captured from a live event. Additionally, our incredible team makes Brandlive standout. Everyone here truly loves what they do and we love our brands and will do whatever we can to give them a successful event. Given how long we’ve been in this business, we know what we’re doing and brands trust us to deliver. Additionally, our platform is built for scale and designed to host enormous audiences. We’ve had audiences pushing six-figures that run smoothly.
Q: Tell us more about Brandlive. What are its key features and capabilities? How does it compare to other event platforms available in the market?
I have to mention again our beautiful video quality– nothing compares with the CNN-like video quality brands get by hosting their events on Brandlive. Additionally, brands love that they can host polls, quizzes, and surveys alongside video sessions to drive engagement and viewer retention. Plus, companies can get attendees involved with a moderated Q&A, while also letting the audience chat and react together. Brands can even add custom embeds right alongside the primary video for everything from donation boxes to tweets. And we are platform agnostic, so attendees can join on their phone or computers. Lastly, I think the thing that really makes us unique is that we are so focused on the individual. We genuinely believe the employees make the company, so our priority is not only to ensure we hire great people who are passionate about the market, but also that we nurture our employees and make sure they have the resources they need to succeed. With that in mind, this is how we think about our customers too. We want the brands we work with to feel comfortable on the platform, to know they have our support if they need it, and to feel empowered to push the envelope and take their virtual event somewhere we haven’t gone before.