Experiential marketing, when done well, can be highly effective. It can deliver your business insight, expand customer lists and reinforce your brand values. With brands struggling to remain relevant and meaningful, it’s easy to see why they’ve transitioned from the yawn-inducing traditional to awe-inspiring experiential methods.
Stunts, pop-up stores and sensational results, experiential marketing isn’t just a buzzword. Here’s why you should embrace experiential marketing:
Shorter attention spans and disengagement. So, how do you get around that? Create more content? Increase the ad budget? Post more on social media? No matter how much you spend or share, it won’t make a difference to your audience unless it's relatable and engaging.
AwesomeBloggerGirl23 doesn’t want to be told about your product. She wants to experience it for herself.
What’s immersive, memorable and makes an impact with your consumers?
Experiential marketing has entered the chat.
While traditional avenues like TV and print are still very relevant, the future of marketing requires something more emotive. Something that would make Don Draper’s bar cart quake.
In a world where brands are struggling to connect with their customers, experiential marketing can create significant, long-lasting impressions in this increasingly digital landscape.
With so much clutter in traditional marketing channels, it can be difficult for brands to differentiate themselves. There’s no denying you’d remember a completely authentic Westworld town brought to life with realistic hosts, storylines and sets over some sponsored social ads.
When you delight your customers with experiential marketing, you’re not just advertising your product, but you’re also letting consumers have a taste of what their lives would be like if they had your service or product. How generous of you! This builds an association between your brand and the experience to create a lasting connection.
Look no further than what Target achieved. To debut their new children’s clothing line, they transformed a vacant piece of land into a family-friendly pop-up playground.
The activation’s centrepiece was a giant carnival slide where the models appeared from, showcasing the children’s fashion range in a unique way and grabbing attention immediately.
Target struck the balance perfectly between intriguing adults and entertaining short attention spans. With celebrity appearances also, the day was surely unforgettable and a major success for Target.
Educating prospects about your product offering or brand is made so much easier with experiential marketing - if used in the right way.
A staggering 65% of consumers have declared that live events, product demonstrations and initiatives have helped them understand a product better than any ad or traditional method could. You can’t argue with those stats. Well, you could, but it’s not their fault experiential marketing is so effective.
New York was even more abuzz than usual when the luxury fashion design house Kate Spade brought the holiday spirit to Bryant Park. Strategically placed on the ice rink, a branded pop-up igloo lit from within allowed consumers to shop for holiday gifts and enjoy free hot chocolate while skating around.
Although it’s a well-known brand, it positioned Kate Spade as relatable, closing the gap between consumer and high-end brand with a white-glove experience.
When the audience understands your brand, you get to know them better too. No matter how much data or research you have, the best way to understand your target audience is by creating conversation. Forget milkshakes, experiential marketing brings all your ideal consumers to the yard.
Tie your brand to a fun experience and consumers are more likely to respond to your message. On International Women’s Day in 2019, shoe brand Vans promoted women in skateboarding in a unique way.
They hosted skate sessions, documentary screenings and live music. The brand created an immersive experience for its demographic that brought members of the skate community together to promote female visibility in the sport.
This was part of a larger marketing strategy for the brand and provided valuable data for them in regards to marketing more effectively in the future. So pop-shove that.
If you want to grab the attention of the media and influencers, then launching a bold and creative experiential marketing campaign can help achieve that. The great thing about experiential marketing is that it’s shareable. The bolder you are, the better chance you have of getting noticed.
Coca-Cola’s exceptional idea for Sprite was one that gained plenty of social media traction. The brand designed and built an outdoor shower which resembled a giant drinks dispenser and placed them at beaches and other locations. A simple ‘#spriteshower’ search shows just how successful it was.
Followers and exposure isn’t something that Coca-Cola necessary needs, but it goes to show how effective experiential marketing campaigns can be for every brand.
It’s not exclusively for big successful brands. So invite experiential marketing round for tea and see what happens. There’s so much more to learn when it comes to a successful campaign, that’s why we’ve created our helpful download.
Are you a pro at experiential marketing or a complete newbie? It doesn’t matter, you'll benefit from our playbook either way. Advantages, best practices for creating your campaign and examples of brands who have pulled it off are featured, plus lots of inspiration to get you started.
Get your free playbook now using the link below and start creating immersive experiences for your target market.