As we settle into 2020, it is more challenging than ever to grasp and hold the attention of your everyday consumer.
With initialisms like IRL – In Real Life (essentially ‘not on the internet’ ) becoming common vernacular, brands are looking for smarter, more hands on ways to connect with and engage their audiences.
In light of this it’s easy to see why more and more brands are turning their attention towards experiential marketing.
Despite not being a particularly new marketing approach the phrase ‘Experiential marketing’ might not mean an awful lot to many. In fact, if you’ve landed on this page it’s likely that you’re seeking an answer to the question…
What Is Experiential Marketing?
In it’s purest form the idea behind experiential marketing is to create a stronger connection between a consumer and brand via immersive, live and ultimately memorable experiences.
Sometimes referred to as “immersive marketing” or “experience events,” the key is to create a positive impact on the consumer in the hope it will inspire them to share their positive experience and in turn promote your brand via word of mouth, social channels and blogs or articles, to name but a few mediums.
By putting an individual or large groups of individuals in an immersive branded experience it can help build an emotional connection to your brand, or a sponsor’s, and leave people with long lasting, positive impressions that can present you with a dedicated lifelong fan / customer.
It should go without saying that the experience be memorable for all the right reasons, despite this some have got it very wrong in the past.
For a perfect example of this we need only turn the clock back to 2013 and the ill fated Jagermeister pool party experience in Cancun, Mexico.
Event organisers at the party poured liquid nitrogen into the swimming pool to create a smoke like effect. Instead when the liquid nitrogen reacted with the chlorine in the water they created a noxious fog leaving many needing medical attention – see here – I dare say that many who attended have not reached for a bottle of Jagermeister since.
Is Experiential Marketing Right For My Brand?
Immersive, live, and memorable, experiential campaigns help deliver your message without distractions enabling consumers to get a better understanding of your brand.
If a brand event stirs positive emotions in people then they are more likely to associate those emotions with that brand. This encourages brand loyalty and the stronger possibility of sales further down the line.
To this end immersive experiences can prove to be much more effective than any promoted ad, search engine listing or social influencer post.
A brilliantly executed experiential event will encourage the attendee to favour you over a rival and encourage repeat custom over a long period of time, this ties perfectly into one of the most valuable metrics in our industry, customer lifetime value or CLV.
Experiential marketing is forever gaining plaudits and this year we can already see it blowing up in a big way.
Big international brands are putting more and more faith in experiential marketing, and for good reason – Experiential campaigns are incredibly powerful. A recent study showed that 79% of brand surveyed said they are already looking to utilise more experiential campaigns this year compared to last.
Another recent study also showed that 48% of people say they are more likely to buy a new product if they can get hands on and engage with it first. Therefore, where applicable, product samples and demos are a must for most experiential campaigns.
We pride ourselves on our ability to create truly stunning experiences that engage people rather than just taking your brand message and ‘talking at them’.
Should you wish to explore the benefits of experiential marketing further then you are in the right place.
Here at GPJ we have been pioneers in this area ever since our founder George P Johnson started designing and creating branded experiences at festivals, fairs for the automotive trade way back in 1914.
Since then we have grown into just about every sector you can think of and today we’re the #1 ranked event and experience marketing agency in the world.
This is in no small part down to the fact we have stayed true to our founder’s original vision for the company and against which we measure all our ideas and work – to ‘make no small plans’ on behalf of our clients.
If you would like to discuss experiential marketing with us and how we can make it work for you please click here.
