This post features insights from Karl Siegert, vice president and COO at MVP Collaborative—experts in creating experiences that bring brands to life. We’re excited to highlight their impactful work and share how they help organizations connect with audiences in meaningful ways. 
 
Here we are in 2025—five years after shutting down the world in 2020. I remember talking with clients and partners back then as organizations scrambled to keep their teams engaged and maintain client relationships. It was a huge problem.   

There were clunky Zoom calls just to see each other’s faces, as well as highly produced “TV shows” through the web to share what was going on with the business. We produced more virtual events that year than I can count! 

Then, restrictions were lifted. We could be back together again. But many organizations had their budgets cut dramatically and either canceled those events or substantially reduced them. 

There was “quiet quitting”, work-from-home challenges, and debates over return-to-office policies.   

So, it's 2025. Have we figured it all out? Maybe not. 
 
The 2025 Gallup “State of the Global Workplace” Report leads off with this quote from its CEO Jon Clifton, “We are witnessing a pivotal moment in the global workplace — one where engagement is faltering at the exact time artificial intelligence is transforming every industry in its path.”   

The current state of employee engagement is not great. 

Only 31% are extremely satisfied with their job (a 10-year low), and 51% are actively looking to leave.  Couple that with 17% describing themselves as “actively disengaged” and that figure has steadily increased from 14% to 17% over the last 5 years. 

And chances are, if your employees are not very engaged, your customers feel it. Therefore, they are likely not very engaged either. And for B2B businesses, this can be deadly. Relationships are their lifeblood. 

So, what do you do about it? Let’s first consider an obvious fact. Employees and customers are both people! We all are! We’re not robots, AI, inboxes or dashboards. We are emotion-driven just as much as we’re driven by reason. Information alone cannot drive change. 

Before we change, we first need to believe. And before we believe, we need to be “moved." We need emotion. 

With emotion, information has power. It sticks. It’s real. It’s meaningful.   

To us, the model is more like this: Information + Emotion  ->  Belief  ->  Change 

So, can an email, a Teams call or a PDF “move” us through this? I’d argue no. 

And at MVP Collaborative, this is where we get excited! Because we believe one of the strongest tools for creating change is the power of a live experience. Think customer events, product launch events, leadership meetings, national sales meetings, store/branch manager meetings, etc. All with lights, sound, imagery, storytelling, networking events, conversations, and most importantly – emotion. 

These are powerful moments. These are moments that change mindsets and infuse belief in an audience that can truly last.   

And yes, aside from the “touchy-feely, emotional” stuff, they can also lower turnover, attract new employees, increase productivity, increase customer loyalty, improve sales, and more.   

But it does take commitment and sustainment. One-off experiences may not have lasting results, but a smart, consistent approach that integrates with PR, social media, and brand marketing can drive better human engagement and meaningful business impact. We’re here to help. Contact us today to learn how Airfoil and MVP Collaborative can help improve engagement with both your team and customers.