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By Chris Bardsley
13 Oct 2023

WHAT IS EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING? EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Product showcases, pop-up stores and content generating events. Experiential marketing campaigns aren’t just a blink in the marketing world - they’re memorable. You already know the basics and you’re ready to hear the benefits.

Here’s everything else you need to know about experiential marketing.

  • Why Experiential Marketing? 
  • What Makes Experiential Marketing so Effective?
  • Why You Shouldn’t Have Any Reservations about Experiential Marketing

 

Why Experiential Marketing?

With the marketing landscape constantly shifting, brands struggle to stay relevant. Techniques that were successful before are now outdated and rejected by consumers - they’re just sooo last year. Brands need to ditch the traditional marketing avenues and dive into more creative campaigns that entice and engage. 

Activation ideas can be anything from product samples right through to stunts, events and experience. Think of it as a way to immerse your customers in your brand as you engagingly advertise to them.

Interactive engagement is what makes experiential marketing so different compared to the traditional elements of the marketing mix. An amazing 91% of consumers said they had more positive feelings about a brand after attending a live event or experience.

A growing trend in experiential marketing is utilising all five senses during events to fully immerse consumers. Now, brands incorporate sight, sound, touch, taste and smell into strategies. With dwindling attention spans, engaging all five senses captures the attention more effectively. 

Coca-Cola’s exceptional idea for its Sprite brand was one that had plenty of social media traction. The brand created an outdoor shower which resembled a massive drinks dispenser and placed them at beaches and other locations. 

Don’t just take ourword my for it. Have a search of  ‘#spriteshower’ to see how successful the campaign was for yourself.

 

What Makes Experiential Marketing So Effective?

To make the most of your experiential marketing campaign, don’t think about cutting any corners. That doesn’t mean spend, spend, spend. Throwing money at your campaign won’t deliver the success you’re looking for and it isn’t guaranteed to engage your audience.

Don’t blow all of your marketing budget and overspend on a campaign that doesn’t fit your brand. You wouldn’t expect Birkin to hand out free bags on the street but let me know if they do, I know a few people that are a sucker for crocodile print. 

With careful planning and consideration, you can reap all these benefits of a successful campaign.

  • Attract media attention: If you launch a bold and creative experiential marketing campaign, you might just grab the attention of the media and influencers. Media outlets love to cover these types of initiatives because they’re genuinely entertaining to audiences.
  • Gain social media traction and exposure: Social media and experiential marketing is a wonderful working relationship. People love to share their experiences online. If you pull off a really creative campaign, you can gain plenty of organic followers for your brand through social media exposure. Aim to make it as Instagrammable as possible.
  • Remain relevant in the ever-changing marketing landscape: One of the most successful activations is a pop-up store. This can help keep your brand more relevant by doing things that are more creative and out-of-the-box.
  • Uniquely establish your brand values: Whatever your brand values are, experiential marketing can help you showcase them to consumers, rather than just tell them about it on a blog post. Memorable activations work perfectly when you align with meaningful causes as it appeals to customers’ desire to feel that their purchases are part of something bigger. For luxury brands, this high-level, white-glove experience is vital in a customer relationship.
  • Drive sales without being ‘salesy’: Attendees love demonstrations and free samples. It influences them to feel more inclined to purchase from the brand.  Hennessy tackled this perfectly by installing an art installation which transported people to the heart of cognac and its history. The experience also featured mixologists and brand ambassadors hosting masterclasses in mixing classic cocktails - an ideal way to involve attendees.
  • Make your brand unforgettable: A key to staying memorable is by doing something nobody expects you to do. Chanel enjoyed a boost in social coverage and sales when opening Coco Cafe for short stints in cosmopolitan cities.

 

Why You Shouldn’t Have Any Reservations about Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing isn’t all plain sailing as many brands are a little sceptical as it presents its own challenges. It’s not always easy to execute and reap results but when done right, your business will undoubtedly benefit. 

Some common issues include the difficulty of measuring campaign success, targeting isn’t as accurate and there’s no real guaranteed ROI, but don't let that put you off.

With the right approach, you can easily beat these so-called challenges. Okay so, there’s no standard way of measuring the success of experiential marketing, especially when compared to traditional marketing avenues. But you have to take a different approach - much like this innovative technique has towards marketing. 

Experiential marketing campaigns include a blend of channels and will require a different methodology for each campaign. But the main point is that it’s possible by using real-world data and a unique approach. If you’re not convinced yet, what are you waiting for? 

You can give consumers a new way to experience your brand. Obviously, we couldn’t fit everything about experiential marketing in this blog post as we’d probably be here for a while. So, we just went and created an experiential marketing playbook instead where you can see how your brand can benefit.

 

Even More About the Wonder of Experiential Marketing

Whether you’ve planned an experiential marketing campaign in the past and it's been a major success or it’s something you want to try, make sure to get your copy of our playbook. It has more advantages, real-life examples and inspiration to get you started. 

Get your free playbook now using the link below and take your first steps towards a successful experiential marketing campaign.

Topics: Experiential Marketing