NEW YORK – Emerald’s new brand development division, Xcelerator, takes an immersive approach to creating and building brands, with the ultimate goal of building year-round communities in emerging and high-growth markets through face-to-face events and digital experiences.
“We use the word brand deliberately,” said Issa Jouaneh, executive vice president of Emerald Xcelerator. “Our approach goes beyond trade shows. We create and build communities and, in doing so, engage them in ways that are most effective for them at different stages of their development. Initially, this may mean smaller regional workshops, then executive events, then larger trade shows and activations.”
In 2022, Xcelerator will immediately focus on three areas: Mental Health (as applied in the enterprise), Decentralized Finance (Web 3.0), and Revolutionary Medicine.
Digital engagement will be important initially, Jouaneh said. “We have a digital-first launch mentality because it allows us to immediately engage with these communities through content, before moving from one or two touchpoints to 365-degree engagement.”
For example, in the area of mental health, a major issue facing businesses since the COVID-19 pandemic, Xcelerator started by building an advisory board of experts, with plans to launch webinars, seminars and small workshops before launching a larger event in early 2023. “We see ourselves as enablers and facilitators, helping to develop and advance these communities,” Jouaneh said. “We’ve brought in experts and industry leaders in the segments we’re launching and are building a team with deep industry knowledge to focus on the specific needs of their community.”
Emerald Xcelerator will leverage the company’s broader capabilities across a diverse portfolio of brands and services, including more than 150 events, media, content, market insights, lead generation and digital transactional solutions. In March, Emerald launched SIAL America, the first multi-category food and beverage trade show in the United States, and also recently acquired MJBiz and Elastic Suite.
Contact Issa Jouaneh at Issa.Jouaneh@emeraldx.com
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