Current state of the European Live Communication Industry

The annual LiveCom Alliance (LCA) European Industry Survey reveals valuable information about the current state of the live communication industry. It captures the major trends, challenges and economic impact drivers in the industry. The 2019 edition surveyed 212 agencies (companies) in eight European countries.

We have summarized the results that we think you might be interested in.

Who participated in this survey? 
Agencies from eight (of the nine) LiveCom Alliance member countries participated in the online survey (autumn 2019). The participating member countries are Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland. These 212 surveyed agencies represent a sample of a total of 700 member agencies. You’ll find more details on LiveCom Alliance in the box below.
The study identifies three types of agencies according to focus of activity and sales: generalists with no dominant activity focus (35%), corporate and in-house specialists (41.5%) and fairs and exhibition experts (24.5%).

Key findings – figures

Economic impact. The 700 national member agencies’ economic contribution is impressive: the extrapolated survey results show an expected economic impact of € 8.2bn (sector turnover) and an impressive workforce of 55,000 employees.

Budget trend (customers’ figures). For 2019/2020, the growth of customers’ live communication budgets is in slight decline compared to the two previous years (see graphic below). Since this is in line with the possibility of a downward trend of the European and global economy, the result does not seem surprising. It indicates an increasingly challenging business environment.

According to the survey results, the downward trend is …

• …more prominent in countries with higher GDP (such as Germany, France, Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland).
• …less prominent with the corporate and internal specialists. One out of three respondents even expect growing budgets for the next year.

For us as corporate event specialists, this is an interesting result to observe.

Turnover. The size of the agencies differ significantly. It’s turnover is widely spread – between less than € 1 million to more than € 50 millions. On average, the turnover amounts to € 11.7 million.

Key findings – trends and challenges

Trends. The results highlighted three dominant trending topics:

• emotionalization
• digitalization
• sustainability

Further key trends are “experience orientation” and “personalization”, which are closely connected to “digitalization” and “emotionalization”. The important topic of sustainability is described as an “overarching” future trend. It radiates into “all activities in the sector” (see press release). In contrast to this, the survey revealed that “sustainability”  still plays a minor role for companies (customers) when they choose an agency to work with.

Challenges. Most of the participating agencies expect the following challenges in the next two years:

• sustainability
• shortage of qualified personnel
• demands of personnel (work-life-balance)

Furthermore, customer demands are increasing (external) while agencies are growing (internal).  These factors can create tension; turning into stress that has to be “managed effectively” (see press release).

To stay competitive, we as an agency must continue to tackle those challenges that are ahead and partake in the trends. It is now particularly crucial that we take an active role in it, as the survey results point towards an increasingly challenging business environment.

 

What is LiveCom Alliance?
LiveCom Alliance (LCA) is the pan-European authority representing the live communication industry. At the start of 2020, nine national European associations in the live communication and event domain are members of LiveCom Alliance, including the Swiss LiveCom association EXPO EVENT. You will find all other national association here.
LiveCom Alliance’s main goal is to “create a stronger, more sustainable and more interesting playing field”. In addition to the annual European Industry Survey, LiveCom Alliance has also issued a Code of Ethics and Pitch Guidelines as well. The non-profit was established in 2016 and operates independently.

 

 

Full report and validity

LCA prepared this fourth edition with the R.I.F.E.L.-Institute. The renowned institute used valid data analysis methods (such as cluster analysis, extrapolation etc.).

LiveCom Alliance will continue to regularly produce future editions of this survey, providing a valuable long-term overview of the live communication industry. The full report is available through this link.

 

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