Arena Events is a division of Arena Holdings, the largest national English publishing group and the second largest digital publisher in South Africa.

The division manages client events aligned to the group's stable of leading news titles including:

  • Business Day
  • Financial Mail
  • Sowetan, and
  • Sunday Times.
The division caters to clients in the Business, Leadership, Finance and Investment, Media and Marketing and Lifestyle sectors.

"One of our greatest responsibilities is to do what we can to keep businesses buoyant during this challenging time and help with innovative ways of enhancing brand communication," says Taryn Westoby, head of Arena Events.

"Businesses realise that, even post-lockdown, there will most likely be significant restrictions on the number of people that can come together at a public gathering. But, their messages need to continue being disseminated and our job is to support them in reaching their audiences wherever they are based," adds Westoby.

By taking bespoke client events like the Business Day Dialogues, Sowetan Dialogues and Financial Mail Private Lounge online, clients will continue to benefit from the same extensive marketing campaigns (pre-, post- and during an event) through the reach provided by the froup's news titles.

The three 'must-haves' for online event success

"The key to hosting successful online events depends on three key factors:
  • the quality of content and speakers
  • the ability to match these with a high-quality target audience, and
  • utilising the right technology and suppliers," says Westoby.
"We already have an established reputation as a result of the close working relationship with our news titles and their respective editors. We have now created a digital event solution to make streaming easy and accessible to clients who want to communicate their content online to viewers nationwide in a professionally executed manner," Westoby says.

Maintaining a position of thought leadership during times of crisis is essential, says the team at Arena Holdings. Being able to continue engagement with key target audiences, irrespective of where they may be based, is fundamental in ensuring brands remain trusted and cognisant of the pressures their clients are under.

Arena Holding's digitised events aim to:
  • create multiple opportunities to build brand awareness and remain top of mind long after the digitised event has taken place
  • be an opportunity for lead generation as a result of the online subscription process
  • provide content that can be replayed and repurposed for future marketing material
  • ensure broad exposure to a wide audience pre, during and post-event, and
  • allow participants to engage and ask questions in a professionally moderated conversation, so it remains on track and interesting.
For more information visit www.arenaevents.africa or contact [email protected]. You can also follow Arena Events on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.