Most event organizers think their show is “unique.” Few can actually prove it.

If you ask an organizer what makes their event different, you’ll often hear something vague like “it’s the largest,” “it’s the most influential,” or “it’s where the industry meets.” Those claims might have worked a decade ago. But today, they’re meaningless. Every event says the same thing. Every website looks the same. Every social post shouts the same slogans.

And that sameness is killing your event’s ability to stand out and grow.

The Problem

The events industry is drowning in copycats.

Formats, pricing, and even speaker lineups often look like clones of one another. In nearly every market, multiple organizers compete for the same attendees and sponsors, using the same tactics. That’s led to an oversaturated marketplace where audiences can’t tell the difference between one event and the next.

Worse, many organizers don’t actually know what makes their show different or who it’s truly for. They assume that “bigger” is better, that “more exhibitors” equals value, or that “everyone in the industry” is their audience. The result? Diminishing returns. Lower satisfaction. Declining loyalty.

If your event feels like it’s harder to sell every year  that marketing is working twice as hard for half the result, differentiation (or lack thereof) is the culprit.

The Insight

Here’s the hard truth: your event doesn’t have a positioning problem — it has a focus problem.

When you try to serve everyone, you serve no one well. Great events aren’t built for the average participant; they’re built for a superconsumer — the 10% of the audience who drive 80% of the value.

Superconsumers are the ones who care the most, spend the most, and influence the most. They’re the attendees who plan their year around your show, the exhibitors who renew early, the speakers who promote you unprompted. But most organizers don’t design their event around these high-value participants; they design for the generic middle.

That’s a mistake.

Superconsumers aren’t just your most valuable audience; they’re your signal. They reveal what truly matters in your market, what conversations are worth having, and where the future demand lies. When you know them deeply: their language, frustrations, and aspirations,  your event suddenly becomes magnetic. Everything from your agenda to your marketing copy to your sponsorship packages sharpens around what they value most.

This is how market leaders emerge, not through size, but through clarity.

The Solution

If you want your event to stand out in an overcrowded market, you must build it around your superconsumers. Here’s how to start:

• Identify Them
  Look at your data: Who attends year after year? Who brings colleagues? Who pays full price without complaint? Who introduces you to others? Who do sponsors always ask to meet?
  Then go deeper, call them. Ask what problem your event helps them solve, what frustrates them about other events, and what they’d do if your event disappeared tomorrow. Their answers will reveal the core job your event performs in their professional lives.
• Understand Their World
  Superconsumers are rarely motivated by surface-level perks like giveaways or celebrity speakers. They attend because your event helps them achieve something specific:  to advance their careers, make better deals, or build credibility in their field. Map out their motivations and obstacles. What do they fear? What are they trying to prove?
• Build the Experience Around Them
  Every decision, from session topics to networking design, should ladder up to your superconsumer’s goals. Trim the content that doesn’t serve them. Stop adding features just to seem bigger. Focus on what drives outcomes for that 10%. When you do that, your event starts to speak their language.
• Market Like You Mean It
  Once you’ve homed in on your superconsumers, your marketing becomes more confident , even polarizing. That’s a good thing. A differentiated event should repel the wrong audience as much as it attracts the right one. Be bold about who your event is for and who it’s not.
• Turn Them into Evangelists
  Empower your superconsumers to help shape your event. Feature them on panels, in testimonials, or in private advisory groups. When they see themselves in your brand, they’ll promote it more authentically than any ad campaign ever could.

Why Now

AI, digital platforms, and remote access have flattened differentiation. Everyone has access to the same tools, speakers, and marketing channels. The competitive edge no longer comes from logistics; it comes from clarity of purpose.

The events that will thrive in the next five years aren’t necessarily the biggest or the flashiest. They’re the ones who know exactly who they serve and deliver unmatched value to that audience.

In a market where attention is scarce, your event must stand for something specific. You don’t need everyone to love it,  just the right people to care deeply.

So ask yourself: if I removed my event from the calendar tomorrow, who would actually miss it and why?

If your answer isn’t immediate and specific, your event isn’t special yet.

But it can be. When you stop trying to appeal to everyone and instead design for your most passionate 10%, everything changes. Your messaging sharpens. Your exhibitors renew. Your attendees return and bring others with them. I think you know what I mean.

In a world of sameness, bold focus is your superpower.

Make your event unmissable: not because it’s the biggest, but because it’s the only one that matters to the people who matter most.