Coronavirus update: what big marketing events have been postponed or disrupted?
The ongoing coronavirus crisis has hit a high level of concern globally and in recent weeks has begun to impact major marketing conferences and events in APAC and now in the US and Europe.
The Drum is updating on all the major events that have been cancelled, postponed or reimagined so far:
MIP TV
MIP TV is the latest event domino to fall, with the worsening Covid-19 outbreak in France forcing the cancellation of this year’s event, which will not be rescheduled.
The sudden cancellation of the film festival, which had been planned to run between 30 March and 2 April, has thrown into question the fate of the Cannes Film Festival itself which is still expected to take place at the end of May.
The Drum Pub at Advertising Week Europe and SxSW
The Drum has taken the decision not to go ahead with its pubs at Advertising Week and SXSW this month due to the developing coronavirus situation.
But a packed programme of high-profile interviews, keynotes and panels will still be taking place – in a dynamic new format – as thedrum.com plays host to a new global online festival from March 16-20.
Digital Transformation Week will ensure The Drum’s audiences across the globe do not miss out on the inspiring talks and feisty debates scheduled to take place. Live and interactive, it will give remote attendees a chance to engage, ask questions and contribute insights in the safest manner possible.
More details about the Digital Transformation Week schedule will be released in the coming days and you can register your interest now at the dedicated website.
Fox News IAB upfront
Fox News has become a casualty of the escalating Covid-19 outbreak after being forced to cancel its annual pitch to the advertising community as a ‘precautionary’ measure.
The upfront presentation was scheduled to have taken place on 24 March but as things stand Fox News is the only media company to change its plans, with the likes of CNN, the IAB and Comcast still on track to go ahead – albeit with both monitoring the situation closely.
Adobe Summit
Covid-19 has claimed another victim with the Adobe Summit switching to become a solely online event, as organisers exert an abundance of caution in preventing the potential for cross-infection among delegates.
The gathering had been expected to take place in Las Vegas between 29 March and 2 April but will now encourage participants to log-in remotely instead.
Google Cloud Next
Google is adopting a similar digital solution for its own Cloud Next event which is to be ‘reimagined’ as Google Cloud Next’20: Digital Connect, a digital-first event comprising streamed speeches, workshops and online ‘ask an expert’ sessions.
The new format will be introduced between 6 to 8 April.
Facebook F8
Facebook’s F8 developer conference became one of the first casualties of the virus last week after shelving plans to welcome an expected 5,000 delegates to the annual convention in San Jose this May.
This followed the identification of the first Coronavirus cases in the state which fueled mounting fears over local infections.
WFA Global Marketer Week
Originally supposed to be held from 31 March to 3 April in Singapore, the WFA has decided to postpone the event. It will now be held in Singapore from April 20 to 23, 2021.
The Drum’s Predictions
The Drum’s first APAC Predictions Breakfast on 13 February, where the publication was to explore disruptions throughout business, culture and technology, has been postponed to a yet-to-be-announced date.
Speakers like Ishmit Bedi, APAC performance marketing manager at Google, Leela Nair, managing director at Ebiquity SEA, Ryan Murray, director, partnerships at White Ops, Sorcha John, managing director at Iris and Sonal Patel, managing director, SEA at Quantcast were originally scheduled to speak.
Singapore Women Entrepreneurs Development Program (WEDP)
The event which Procter & Gamble (P&G) organizes in partnership with WEConnect International was supposed to be held on 14 February.
The guest-of-honour was Dr. Lei Hsien Hsien, the first female chief executive Officer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham SG). Sam Garcia, vice president supply chain Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa at Procter & Gamble was also supposed to grace the kick-off.
Splice Beta
The conference, held in Chiang Mai, targets media startups in Asia and looks at the transformation of media. Originally supposed to be held in February, it has been moved to 22 to 24 September 2020.
Overthrow II Festival
PHD Singapore has announced the Overthrow II Festival event, which explores the 10 different challenger strategies, or narratives and scheduled for 26 February 2020, has been postponed to a later date.
IT Show
One of the largest consumer electronics exhibitions in Singapore, the annual event was supposed to take place on March 12-15 at the Suntec Convention Centre. The organiser, Sphere Exhibits, has said it is delaying the events after considering the safety and health concerns of the exhibitors, partners and the public.
Art Basel Hong Kong
The Art Basel franchise, which has fairs in Miami and Basel, Switzerland has announced its Hong Kong event, which was scheduled for 17-21 March has been postponed.
It would have been the eighth edition of one of Asia’s most prestigious art fairs. In 2019, it drew some 88,000 people, including visitors from mainland China.
(This list was last updated at 15.00 GMT on Thursday 5 March)
Source: Marketing