It’s been almost 13 years since we launched our connect events business back in 2009; back when Apple’s latest product was the iPhone 4, Wikipedia had only half of their 6.5 million article bank and only a ¼ of 2023’s 4.66 billion digital natives were using the internet.  

Born as an idea which allowed 5 brands to easily access, free of charge, shit hot agency talent to put their marketing challenges to the test, and 5 agencies to get a foot in the door with brands and marketing teams that they’d previously struggled to gain access to, we now run over 15 annual events that see us host over 4000 chemistry sessions every year.  

It’s been 2 years since we ran an in-person event, how scary is that?  

13 years and a 2-year global pandemic later, our business looks a lot different. Pre-coronavirus we were running 20 annual events at sporting stadiums such as Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge in which we hired a series of private, exclusive meeting rooms to run speed date-esque meetings for some of the biggest household name brands across the UK.  

Travel and human connection were the beating heart of these events that ultimately, went into cardiac arrest during the last two years due to covid restrictions; but, thanks to our bespoke digital platform, built in what felt like record time, we could replicate the foundation in which our events were built on – exclusive private chemistry meetings with brands and agencies who we think, if paired correctly, can create marketing magic.  

It’s worked well for all parties over the past 18 months, so well in fact we’re going to continue with the platform this year, even with the return of in person events (finally!) 

So what’s new for 2022? The return of in person, monthly digital matchmaking sessions and The Agency Growth Club. 

Now that restrictions are being lifted on the 26th and we’re seeing more headlines that cite, fingers crossed, the pandemic is moving towards ‘endgame’ in Europe. We, and a huge number of agencies and brands we’re talking to, are excited to get back in the room, read body language and create that in-person connection we’ve all been missing.  

Our events schedule (below) consists of 7 in-person events in 2022 and after a two-year hiatus, we’re selfishly excited for the return of networking and nice-to-meet-you celebratory drinks. 

2 of these events will focus on the PR and Communications sector and the live marketing challenges/briefs that live within that space (calling all PR and comms agencies), 2 events will focus on digital, so that’s anything performance or tech focused, one is specific to Marketing Directors, a new event for us this year – more details to follow! 

The final 2 events will be held up north in Leeds and Manchester in typical Ingenuity Connect fashion. Here, we’ll bring together brands actively looking for agencies across multiple marketing challenges and agencies looking to get their hands on a new project.  

We’ll be heading back to Stamford Bridge in Chelsea for the majority except for our Manchester and Leeds events which we’re hoping to run at Old Trafford and Elland Road. It’s very much back to the good old days of hiring a string of private exclusive meeting rooms for brands to own and agencies to step in and out of, with the added complexity of following venue and safety protocols to ensure, despite restrictions being dropped, clients feel safe. 

121 Content and Social matchmaking sessions, brands meet agencies online every 4-6 weeks. 

Social and content marketing challenges have gone through the roof over the past few years thanks to the rise of Social Commerce, Influencer Marketing and Tik Tok. It’s a rapidly changing market and brands increasingly trust us to have two fingers on the pulse in terms of agency partners that are going to help them create that next killer brand moment or campaign.  

For those accustomed to from-the-comfort-of-your-own-home-events, we’ll be haloing our in-person events with a series of digital matchmaking sessions with specific focus on Social and Content – an area we received a huge influx of briefs in, in 2021. 

Our 121 matchmaking sessions are a chance for brands to log on from home and meet pre-qualified agencies who, we know, fit the brief when it comes to best-in-class creativity and marketing in the social and content space every 4-6 weeks. 

The agency growth club  

We’ve launched another new product for 2022 titled: The Agency Growth club. Agencies across social, content, digital or integrated full-service agencies have seen value in virtual events over the last 18 months but often want to, or already work with us across our various services: Agency PR, Agency Content Marketing or Business Development. This new offer helps agencies reap the benefits of the wider ingenuity ecosystem.

Let’s wrap it up. What are we most looking forward to? 

Meeting people face to face, networking, the buzz, the word of mouth! Most conversations we’re having tell us everyone in ad land is itching to get back in the room to avoid the awkward ‘are they listening?’, ‘am I on mute’, ‘are they paused for everyone or just me?’ internal thought pattern. Let us know how you feel about returning to in person in the comments.

If you want to figure out if our events are right for you or if you have any questions on the above, get in touch with the Events team at events@ingenuitylondon.com, check out the events calendar and if you don’t already, follow us on LinkedIn for updates.