Do you remember the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’? It was an interactive marketing gimmick seen by millions of people, ranging from ordinary people to former President Obama. In order to bring awareness to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), people who accepted the challenge poured a container of ice-cold water over themselves or had someone else do it for them on camera. More than 2.4 million videos of people participating in the challenge were shared on Facebook, which resulted in hundreds of millions of videos being shared and more than 220 million dollars being collected.
Carl W. Buehner said, “They may forget what you said, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.” The world is becoming more and more digital, which means that traditional ways of advertising aren’t working as well to get people’s attention. Here’s where the power of experience marketing comes in. Consumers are provided with unforgettable and extensive experiences as part of a marketing strategy known as experiential marketing. These experiences allow customers to interact with a particular brand in significant ways.
Experiential marketing aims to raise awareness, build understanding, or increase sales of particular goods or services by providing prospective clients or consumers with actual life experiences. These experiences may occur offsite at live events, trade fairs, trial days, and other similar occasions, or they may take place online as seminars and conventions. It consists of 11 pillars: exceptional, shareable, memorable, relatable, relevant, personal, targetable, connectable, adaptable, engagement-worthy, and credible marketing strategies. These pillars are essential elements that must be present for experiential programs to be successful.
That experience marketing is on the rise is not shocking. Customers want an experience, not just a good or a service from a company. Through experiential marketing, businesses can forge a more meaningful relationship with their target audience, eventually leading to an increase in revenue. Now let’s look back at history.
History of experiential marketing
Even though many people believe that experiential marketing is an innovation that emerged in the 1990s, the practice has been around at least since the late 1800s and possibly even longer. World Fairs, such as those held in Chicago in 1893 and Paris in 1900, were opportunities for businesses developing new technological developments to demonstrate those innovations in front of large groups of people eager for an experience that only comes around once in a lifetime. In the 1920s, car fairs quickly became a common and successful method of marketing automobiles to customers. They didn’t just put cars on display in a museum-like setting; they also put on shows that made people want to buy and care for their cars. One of the first companies to use interaction or event marketing in the sense that we understand it today was Miller Beer, now known as MillerCoors. Beginning in the late 1970s, it utilized popular programs such as MGD Blind Date and the Miller Lite Taste Challenge to connect with people from various demographics in ways that would be unforgettable to them.
Why experiential marketing is so important
Customers’ perceptions of a company’s image can be dramatically altered if they are made to feel like they are part of a narrative rather than just targets of a sales pitch.
It feels like fresh air.
Customers are getting sick of the same old commercials and actively seeking ways to minimize or eliminate their exposure to them. Experiential marketing fills a gap in the market by offering a new strategy. It provides customers with what they want while enabling businesses to create lasting impressions, which in turn helps to strengthen consumer loyalty and recognition of the brand. According to a study from EventTrack, in 2021, 40% of customers said they felt more attached to a brand after participating in a brand event or contact, and 91% said they were more likely to buy the product or service.
It spreads quickly.
Experience marketing campaigns can never be sure how much positive buzz they will create, but they often do more than expected. Experiential marketing can leave a lasting impression even if the target audience is not personally involved.
It transforms consumers into brand advocates.
Korody with CK Writes shares a quote by Jonathan Edwards, the Strategy Director at UK experiential marketing Sledge: “Advertising tries to persuade me – but a good experience also gives me a reason to persuade other people.”
Word-of-mouth marketing and content production can both be fueled by experiential marketing. You may have many wonderful consumers who, if provided with an interesting tale to tell about their experiences with your company, will gladly promote your brand to all of their friends, coworkers, and followers on social media.
It can be an invaluable source of information.
Experiential marketing is an effective method that can be used to acquire first-party data from your audience. This data is becoming more valuable to advertisers as privacy laws become more stringent and cookies become more difficult to access. When customers believe they will receive something of value in exchange for providing their contact information during an experience, they are more likely to volunteer that information.
One successful experiential marketing campaign example is Airbnb’s “Night at the Louvre.” In 2019, Airbnb gave away a night’s stay in the famous museum in Paris, with the recipient sleeping in a small creation of the Louvre’s famous glass pyramid. This is just one example of how successful experiential marketing campaigns can be. The experience was not only one of a kind and unforgettable, but it also brought to light Airbnb’s emphasis on providing travellers with authentic and distinctive travel opportunities.
Also, Red Bull set a world record when Felix Baumgartner did the greatest jump ever, from 128,000 feet, or 24 miles above the Earth’s surface, as part of an experiential marketing event. Additionally, Red Bull broke the record for the greatest viewership traffic of any live event broadcast on YouTube, with 8 million people watching the event. More people than just Felix got a taste of the Red Bull brand that day.
Types of experiential marketing
Guerrilla marketing
A strategy that makes heavy use of uncommon approaches and frequently incorporates elements such as the impact of astonishment, the interaction of feelings, risk, and provocativeness.
Brand Activation
A gathering or any other kind of interaction that encourages consumers to act is called brand activation.
Event marketing
It involves giving the audience a once-in-a-lifetime experience by setting up a showcase, giving a demonstration, or making a themed exhibit.
The “World of Coca-Cola” in Atlanta is an additional illustration of participatory marketing in action. Visitors are taken on an adventure through the history of Coca-Cola at the museum-like attraction, which features interactive displays and a sampling of a variety of Coca-Cola products sourced from all over the globe. The event serves two purposes: it educates guests about the company and makes them feel good about buying the product.
Retail Installations
The point-of-purchase (POP) marketing strategy involves strategic product positioning to promote those products in retail locations.
How to plan an experiential marketing campaign
Take a look at who your customers are.
Before commencing any kind of preparation, it is essential to look at the present customer statistics to determine what kind of experiential marketing would reverberate with the audience to find out what kind of customers you already have. The results of this investigation might even shed light on untapped marketplaces.
Make the goals clear.
After completing all the necessary steps to reach the ultimate goal, the next step is to launch the campaign. The strategy needs to be concentrated on the target group that it is designed for, and it needs to be quantifiable. At this point, it is also essential to identify the brand. It is essential to clearly understand precisely what it is that you would like this experience to communicate about the personality and the values of the business.
Identify KPIs.
Every company needs to have some goals that are unique to its identity, and these objectives need to be taken into consideration whenever significant choices are made. Knowing the KPIs can assist the business in making more informed decisions.
Make a budget
Companies are required to develop a marketing strategy that ensures a return on investment before beginning the planning process for a new campaign. A well-planned budget is necessary for experiential marketing, which usually consists of several different components and incorporates conventional marketing tools. It is essential for businesses to first establish their objectives for the experiential marketing strategy before getting started. They will be able to more easily determine the required resources and arrange for those resources as a result of this. The objectives need to be distinct and quantifiable, and the criteria that will be used to assess whether or not the campaign was successful need to be established. After determining the objectives of the campaign, businesses should then formulate an approximation of the expenses associated with each aspect of the campaign. For instance, if the campaign requires the borrowing of a physical location, the setup of an interactive installation, and the hiring of employees, all of these costs should be incorporated into the budget. In addition, it is essential to take into account the expenses of marketing, which include activities such as advertising the event via social media and email marketing.
Create a marketing strategy that incorporates multiple channels.
For an experiential marketing strategy to be successful, it is also essential to have a cross-channel marketing plan in place to implement. Experiential marketing can be presented at a tangible location as part of a company’s overall marketing strategy, in addition to being promoted via live broadcasting and social media. Customers who are not geographically close to a business can still interact with a brand via electronic mail, text message, or social media if the audience is segmented in such a way that allows the company to target customers who may be physically present at the location.
Nike is an example of a company that has embraced experiential marketing. In 2018, Nike developed an interactive experience in New York City called the “House of Innovation.” The five-story store enabled consumers to test out products in various environments, including a basketball court and a treadmill studio, among other places. Customers also had the option to use augmented reality technology in order to visualize how different products would appear when worn by them. Nike has since replicated the store concept in other locations, including Shanghai and Paris, due to the immense success that the original store saw.
The use of experiential marketing is on the rise, and for a good reason: it allows brands to forge more meaningful relationships with their target demographics. Experiential marketing can be used effectively by any company, whether large or small. Imagination and creativity can make almost any goal attainable!
