As brands struggle to break through digital noise and AI-generated content, many are relying on live events as the best way to deliver high-touch experiences that deliver results.
At Skift Meetings Forum 2025 Brendan Brown, senior vice president and global head of strategy at George P. Johnson (GPJ), described today’s internet as a “spammy or sloppier, noisier web than ever.” As a result, live events must now “do a lot more heavy lifting than in the past.”
But brands are not looking for standard booth packages or basic sponsorships. According to Brown there’s an “unwillingness to invest in something that’s cookie cutter.” Many clients now prioritize branded content or what GPJ calls native sponsorships, which he described as “less like logo slapping, and more intentional integration into the content, the story, or the actual experience.”
Sponsored education sessions are a popular approach but Brown encourages clients to look “outside of the event, the broader experience, the anticipation, and the reflection afterwards.”
Hubspot Takes San Francisco in Salesforce’s Backyard
Hubspot’s latest moves show exactly how brands are translating this strategy into practice. Earlier this month, Hubspot held a special edition of its annual user conference in San Francisco, after holding every edition in Boston, its headquarters. The one-off move to the Bay Area was intentional; this is the home of Salesforce, Hubspot’s biggest competitor and the largest player in the CRM sector.
Before the event, Hubspot shared social posts of its brand across the city. “We decided that we were going to really kind of take over the town in orange with the lead up to it,” said Katherine Tooley, Hubspot’s vice president of global events and experiential marketing speaking at the same session. “We’re a Boston-based brand. We really wanted to show a presence there outside of just the event, and I think we accomplished it.”
Evolving the Conference Experience
Unlike tech giants like Apple and Meta that dropped their in-person events, Hubspot continues to see its live events as a key marketing and sales channel. “We all believe at HubSpot that events are going to become more important than ever,” said Tooley.
It has also looked to evolve its offering. A significant change came with capping attendance at 13,000 — half its pre-pandemic peak. Tooley said her team focuses on “customers who want to be there all three days, and creating a really well rounded experience that we were not able to do at 20,000.”
Financially the move meant that Hubspot needed to balance lower attendance numbers with higher ticket prices. But Tooley said the strategy provides “a better return on investment” ultimately “creating loyalty” by “giving the customer, the attendee more than what they’ve asked for.”
Eco-System Events and Guerrilla Marketing
While Hubspot’s San Francisco edition created an intentional statement, Tooley said the company rarely pushes back on guerrilla marketing from non-exhibiting brands at Inbound. “We welcome our solutions partners, our customers, various brands, even competitors, to an extent, to activate around our event.” In her view, these activations bring attention to the event and value to customers while requiring no additional resources from Hubspot’s team.
“You should be flattered if there’s enough energy and momentum there where someone wants to hijack the attention,” said Brown. He framed guerrilla marketing as “free R&D” that helps event owners “enable different ways of brands coming and being their authentic self in your experience.”
AI’s Supportive Role in Event Innovation
While AI may be adding noise to marketing channels, it’s also helping brands stand out through events. For example, Brown said he is using AI to create “pitch-ready concepts” to help with initial client conversations. His team is also using AI to “get to more creative work, get to bigger and better ideas faster.”
Tooley shared how Hubspot partnered with AI company Anthropic over a six-week sprint to create an AI Agenda Builder — the first of its kind — for Inbound 2025. The tool was well received. Tooley said, “It’s only going to get better. It definitely had some hiccups, but it worked really really well for what it was.” This innovative approach improved the user experience and showcased Hubspot’s partnership with Anthropic.
But AI is also helping Tooley’s team make improvements to events overnight and accelerating post-event survey assessment. “I remember in 2022 it would take us two weeks to go through the NPS information. It takes me five hours now. So it’s pretty incredible. It’s a very real use of AI.”
