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The business news publisher Forbes has seen revenue from its events division rise significantly this year after it transitioned most of its portfolio from a virtual to a hybrid model, according to the publisher.
The privately held property, which in July scuttled its plan to go public via a special acquisition company, is on pace to increase its events revenue by 60%, according to chief sales and marketing officer Sherry Phillips. Event partnerships now represent 35% of Forbes’ total advertising revenue.
The publisher is on pace to host close to 90 events this year, split almost evenly between editorial tentpoles and custom activations for clients. The number represents a slight decline from the 97 events it hosted in 2021, but the discrepancy between volume and revenue reflects the high earning potential of hybrid events compared to virtual ones.
“We’ve been able to build on the legacy of our tentpole events and events that ladder back to our communities at Forbes, as well as really grow out our custom business,” Phillips said.
Forbes’ success with the hybrid model offers a compelling data point in publishers’ ongoing efforts to determine how best to balance their experiential portfolio in the wake of the pandemic. Some publishers have opted to nix hybrid entirely, while others have increased their number of in-person offerings in response to demand.
Forbes’ newly refurbished custom New York space, Forbes on Fifth, provides it with several logistical advantages that simplify the economic calculus of hybrid events. Like Time, which treats the video component of its hybrid events akin to a televised program, Forbes has benefitted, in part, from owning its own customizable events infrastructure.
Forbes’ custom space, plus an updated portfolio, new touchpoints offer
In a trend consistent across the industry, brands and agencies continue to prefer striking larger advertising deals with fewer partners.
In response, publishers, including Forbes, have increasingly used their events portfolio to offer a brand more exposure to its audience, increasing total deal size in the process.
At Forbes, 70% of its top 100 accounts now buy media across at least two of its platforms, according to Phillips.
As part of its transition to hybrid, Forbes also made several key upgrades to its Forbes on Fifth space, unveiled last September.
The 7,500-square-foot venue received a new studio installation, including a new content set, programming stage and multi-camera video control system. This year, Forbes will host roughly 50 events in the space, according to Phillips.
The enhancements let the publisher capture its events on camera and audio, letting it repackage those moments as branded social content and on-demand video. In doing so, Forbes creates further opportunities to cross-sell or up-sell its sponsors.
The publisher can also easily tailor the space to accommodate the brand palette of its clients and sponsors, including a recent soiree sponsored by Moët Hennessy, called Kings of Culture, which celebrated Black entrepreneurs.
For the event, Forbes hired a Black chef who had previously received a 30 Under 30 nod, as well as incorporated Moët Hennessy product and branding throughout the evening. Forbes’ ownership of the space lets it attend to these small but critical details with total control.
Forbes finds new life for existing franchises
In addition to upgrading Forbes on Fifth, Forbes has also expanded several of its popular franchises and used them as bases for new offerings. The practice, like other extensions of intellectual property, lets the publisher grow its business without the risk posed by entirely new concepts.
In October, Forbes announced that, for the next three years, its 30 Under 30 franchise will take place in Ohio––in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus. But it is also taking the iconic event outside the U.S., with 30 Under 30 events in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Botswana and Israel.
In another extension, this year Forbes debuted its inaugural Forbes 30/50 Summit, an event that brings together winners of its 30 Under 30 franchise with honorees of another event, 50 Over 50. The multi-day gathering, held in Abu Dhabi, pairs older mentors with younger mentees and furthers the Forbes vision of turning its list-makers into an international community.
The publisher has also introduced entirely new concepts, such as its Sustainability Leaders Summit and Iconoclast Summit, while its tentpole events, such as its Women’s Summit and CEO Summit, mark their 10th and 20th anniversaries, respectively.
The strategy reflects how the publisher has incorporated its post-pandemic learnings into its portfolio, using its custom space to reap the benefits of both live and virtual events.
“A few years back, we really ran events as a siloed operation,” Phillips said. “Now, we integrate it more holistically into the overall business, alongside branded content, direct digital or print.”
