Interview Innovation Viparis Jeanne Choffé

Jeanne Choffé, Head of the Viparis Innovation Division

“The overhaul of the innovation division at Viparis corresponds quite simply to the new transformation challenges facing our sites. In other words, developing our assets in harmony with our new lifestyles. Several uses are now intertwined to create living spaces for the whole world and the user. Flexibility, experience, modularity, diversification, digitisation and sustainability all describe how our businesses are evolving and innovation taking hold. It is up to us to breathe new life into our business, so let us test, experiment and co-create together. I strongly believe in building a partnership strategy for our industry. As the crisis has shown, remaining solely in a competitive sphere holds us back. Web 3 communities understood this long before us; I have never seen so many links between players as in this world, which continues to grow.”

“Economic constraints have forced our businesses to reinvent themselves. Today, we can no longer define ourselves as a leader renting out space for the whole world. Our role is also to provide our customers with support and advice. How can I improve energy efficiency for my event? How can we revitalise the visitor experience? How can we engage communities and acquire more visitors? How can we create grandiose immersive capsules? We can play a facilitating role in all these questions, in particular through our tool, French Event Booster, the accelerator of event innovation.

Change are also taking place in the stories we create on our sites. The content is king and we are bringing it to the fore in new immersive experiences. An example of this is Jam Capsule at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, a 360° immersive visual and sound experience. We also had Eternelle Notre Dame at Espace Grande Arche, offering a stunning virtual reality experience delving into the history of Notre Dame de Paris. A very educational and absolutely astounding experience. This new immersive content illustrates our shift and the appeal of our sites, which goes beyond simply hosting B2B events. Cultural, sporting, e-sporting, touristic and, of course, local and regional appeal. Yes, things are definitely changing at Viparis.”

“Innovation must create value for our sites, our customers and our employees; it must create a memorable and seamless experience. To do this, innovation first means capitalising on what already exists. There is no need to base ourselves solely on disruptive innovation. Incremental innovations in tirelessly improving what already exists are a great source of reinvention. Innovation in maintenance and diversification are more relevant than ever given the environmental challenges we face. Technological solutionism must not be systematic; it remains a tool for value creation.

Innovation also makes it possible to create cross-functionality between the business lines and inject content, processes and thinking mechanisms that are out of step with employees’ daily lives. It's good for everyone to step out of the box and embrace new ideas.

Indeed, having ideas is good. But having ideas and implementing them is even better. This is why innovation at Viparis is rooted in the concrete, in close collaboration with the sales department in order to be as close as possible to customer needs. The technical and logistical vision of our assets is also a source of innovation. The ROI impact of actions carried out by innovation departments is much more closely watched than it used to be in large groups. Innovation is a structuring force for companies, opening them up to new growth models.”

“Innovation at Viparis is focusing more than ever on environmental, social and societal issues. The ambition is to align business development with corporate responsibility through our networking know-how and our pool of start-ups. Viparis innovation will therefore offer concrete assistance to professionals in the sector, by supporting the players as they scale up, through pooling made possible thanks to our infrastructure. The normative aspect linked to environmental challenges is forcing players to move from diagnosis to implementation. Viparis must take the lead on these issues and bring professionals together.

The other strategic focus for us is the Web 3 strategy for our businesses and imagining uses that will bring value to our sector. In effect, the dynamics of the digital economy have changed, now tending towards a decentralised web based on blockchain technology. This new paradigm is influencing the events industry towards a more decentralised value chain, despite being known as an essentially intermediated sector. Industry players now tend to create and exchange value instantly in a secure manner, without third parties or permission. A kind of “venturisation” of models, in short. The tokenisation of the economy will gradually benefit the sector, creating new business models, sharing and distributing value differently and, of course, creating new uses. It is up to us, Viparis, to create these new uses through cooperation.”

“The Content Factory focuses on two areas of development for us. The first is the creation of a new service catalogue to support our customers in creating new immersive experiences in their event and through new engagement formats: narrative design, 360° immersion, spatialised sound, XR, creation of a virtual world, etc. All of these solutions are sourced through our network of partners at national and international level.

Our sites also provide a great playground for testing new models. The ambition of the Content Factory is also to experiment with new innovations in use, service or leisure for organisers and visitors. How? Firstly, by listing all our sites capable of hosting experiments. In line, of course, with our specific requirements as a site manager (reversibility, transferability, etc.). Then, by creating a challenge to expand our sourcing internationally, selecting and deploying the most relevant innovative solutions on our sites over a fixed period of time. Not bad!”