IS DIGITAL GREEN?:
Technological innovation for Sustainable Events

In the event industry, a sector that has always walked hand in hand with technological innovations, with the proliferation of many opportunities and the birth of new digital worlds – such as metaverse – companies and communication and event agencies are constantly looking for new strategies to offer their customers and partners the much coveted “Wow effect” .

And what if the key to attracting our attention with astonishment was, again, creativity ? We are used to the latest technology and devices, but it is the way we use them that makes the difference. Exactly for this reason and following a successful collaboration for the ” Pink Motor Day ” we met Marco Barozzi , Sales Manager of Archè Touch The Future , a creative agency that supports companies in organizing unique events through the use of innovative and absolutely not a foregone conclusion of technology.

The interview

1 – Hi Marco, on the occasion of Pink Motor Day we had the opportunity to understand how it is possible to exploit the great communicative power of holograms to help enrich the experience on location. First of all, why did you immediately propose the use of the holographic fan?

Hi 10 Watt Team, thank you for this space you offer to our company. The hologram is a much sought after wow effect and the holographic fan is a very complex technology, yet extremely simple to use , which produces impressive 3D effects without requiring important structures or spaces. The holographic fan is composed of four rotating arms on which LEDs are installed that turn on, turn off and change color at very high speed, managed by proprietary software. Speed is the key to everything, because at that point the blades become invisible to the human eye and the “transparent” disk they form becomes a flat surface where images and videos are reproduced with an illusion of depth. As soon as the fan begins to reproduce a content, in fact, one has the perception that the hologram is floating in mid-air. Your splendid location combined with the particularity of the Pink Motor Day event have simplified the choice of the product. We wanted to create a memorable emotional experience without “affecting” the style of the location or shifting attention from the content of the event.

2 – This is certainly not the only news we should expect from your team. How was Archè Touch The Future born and what are the aspects that make you a precious partner for the creation of events with a strong visual impact?

Archè was born in 2014, almost by chance, in those years we mainly operated in the IT world and one of our customers asked us to supply projectors for the Milan office. It seemed like the supply of simple hardware and instead, thanks to the installer to whom we contracted the installation, we discovered an incredible world, where the combination of technology and creativity are essential . A perfect axiom in which we immediately recognized ourselves. We are good with technology and software, but lacking creativity, we threw ourselves body and soul to make up for this gap and month after month we were so fascinated by it that we moved our core business towards this sector.

We have worked hard and with a lot of passion to arrive in the shortest possible time to propose ourselves to the market in an appropriate way, respecting our quality and professional standards. The results arrived immediately confirming the goodness of the choice. We consider ourselves stylists who make unique garments suited to the personality and mentality of the Client and for this reason we consider ourselves a creative tailoring rather than a creative agency . I always use this analogy: just as stylists know and use fabrics, we know technology; what makes the difference is how it is used to give space to creativity that transforms this “fabric” into an emotional product.

We meet the customer to get to know him and understand his communicative characteristics; we listen to him and together we come to define a solution suited to his expectations and needs. This solution must take into account the location, the message to be transmitted, the purpose to be achieved and the budget. Once this screening work is done, let’s start creating.

3 – Your ability to reinterpret and allocate more or less common technological devices such as projectors, screens, video cameras, proximity boxes and kiosk totems to a whole new use, allows you to considerably contain budgets while still offering creative solutions with surprising effects. Which of these are the projects and ideas that have been most successful in terms of yield and user involvement?

Up to now we have had the luck and the ability to always offer products that have excited and satisfied our customers. From the implementation of mapping in the world of basketball and volleyball , which allowed us to entertain and excite sports halls full of spectators, passing from Mipel 109 for which we have proposed a spectacular and classy product – a Videomapping on a 20 meter wall – managing to amaze 150 carefully selected guests in the splendid setting ofBrera Academy .

A very famous footwear brand, on the occasion of the inauguration of a boutique in Japan, asked us to create an avatar of the Country Manager making her suddenly appear during the event because she was unable to be present.

Another example we can make concerns the Grand Gala of the Palio in Legnano : during the dinner we chose to project emotional images relating to their annual event on the tables. Furthermore, for each table, made up of 20 diners, we have drawn images and logos of the district to which they belong to the plates

4 – For companies that are willing to invest more important budgets for their events, what are the alternatives that guarantee a unique and memorable experience, not only in an indoor location, but also in outdoor spaces?

When there are adequate budgets then creativity moves without barriers. Drawing in the sky , once impossible, has now become a reality thanks to the use of hundreds of drones equipped with lights which, controlled by specific software, create an incredibly exciting light show . If, on the other hand, a body of water is made available to us, thanks to its nebulization, we can create large vertical water screens on which we make the video projectors interact with laser cannons and smoke machines, offering a suggestive show.

We animate the surfaces of buildings or churches by making evolutions with a great visual impact. For some creations we have taken on challenges judged technically or economically impossible by our competitors, obtaining instead results that have met with great satisfaction from the customers. Creating emotional solutions is not always synonymous with important investments.

5 – Environmental sustainability is a very recurring theme in recent years and companies are increasingly willing to push their events in a green direction as well. Those in streaming certainly represent an excellent zero-impact solution, but what are the creative possibilities – technological and otherwise – that Archè offers to help make even a physical event greener?

Archè has always been attentive to environmental sustainability and all the equipment used does not cause any damage to the environment. The products used range from architectural lights to lasers, from projectors to drones up to projection screens, in complete respect for the environment. The smoke machines we use, for example, make use of green liquids that dissolve in the air without causing even the slightest pollution .

During the lockdown we finalized an app that using augmented reality – instead of the usual QR code – is able to animate any object, animal or person by simply framing its image wherever it is and on any surface. We have used it for corporate marketing activities , to animate famous paintings, to create wow invitations to events or to make the waiting for football matches in stadiums spectacular. In any case, the only limit is the imagination!

6 – After 3D holograms, sustainable invitations, use of LED lights, drones and projections on the water or even on the body, even when it is time to leave the location, guests will expect to be discharged in a way that is perfectly in line with the mood of the event. The gadget is always an excellent opportunity to reward your guests, create memorability of the event and strengthen its message and values, so what are the Archè-style gift proposals that we should expect?

Saying goodbye to guests with an original gift is the perfect end to a perfect evening. We recommend giving away a video brochure with customized packaging , with a 7 ”screen inside that plays a video created ad hoc to match the mood of the event. The video brochure is an elegant and refined product – totally green – which allows the company to stand out, leaving a truly memorable memory.

7 – We liked the Albert Einstein quote that you placed on your website: “Creativity is nothing more than an intelligence that has fun” and having known closely the passion with which you carry out your project, the question that arises spontaneously is: what else are you having fun creating to surprise the event industry more and more?

Fun combined with passion and competence are our DNA. We are always attentive to the technologies that are proposed to us because we like to continuously innovate our production, offering customers always different and cutting-edge solutions. However, many innovative technologies are still in an experimental phase, so they are not yet completely reliable. We are also entering the world of the Metaverse because it represents a new communicative frontier. We believe that the final result, therefore the emotional wow effect, always remains the thing that most interests companies and agencies and this is achieved regardless of whether the technologies used are recent or a little older.

Archè ‘s proposals undoubtedly project this sector towards the future, allowing the packaging of events with a whole new appeal. So if you already have in mind what your next step in the future will be, write a comment to this article to receive an effective creative idea from their team of experts.