Are you looking for new ways to engage your audience? A way to let them experience your brand better perhaps? Well then, let us introduce you to experiential marketing.

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

Also known as “engagement marketing”, experiential marketing is a marketing strategy that invites audiences to interact with a brand in a real-world situation usually through participatory experiences and tangible materials. Businesses can show what their companies offers and also what it stands for.

Bringing Life to Digital Experiences

Experiential marketing might sound a bit like event marketing, which is true in some essence as experiential campaigns do tend to be event-centric. However, there are also some cases where it has nothing to do with an event but more so of engagement.

Why does it matter today?

Most people go out of their way to avoid commercials or ad breaks, yet most will go out of their way for a new experience. Experiential marketing usually take an integrated approach where the primary purpose is to experience a brand through an offline way but still create an online presence around it.

You are not advertising a product — you are creating an association between your brand and consumers. According to Freeman Research Global Brand Experience Study, more than a third of CMOs plan budget allocation of 21%-50% to experiential marketing in the coming years. If you have not done that yet, these are the main reasons why you should:

1. Longer Lasting Connection with Consumers

The most effective strategies extend beyond mere shopping experiences. A lot of prominent brands have already begun establishing a stronger relationship with their consumers through experiential marketing. For example, M&M did an immersive pop-up in New York City.

The experience included “flavor rooms” where each room is completed with decor and fragrances that is unique to a certain flavour. The event also included lounges that has M&M-themed cocktails and snacks.

With every marketing campaign you plan and launch, determine the “fun” factor. Consumers are the ones who will buying and using your product, hence they are the best ones to tell you what is working and what is not. An experiential campaign is good opportunity to connect with your consumers through enjoyable experiences in which they can provide feedbacks on the brand.

2. Data Collection

I am sure that you have once filled out a form or downloaded an application on your phones just to get a freebie or discount before. As long as the incentive is something of value to the consumer, they would willingly exchange information just to get it. For example, the french skincare brand L’Occitane had a “hotel” pop-up event at Kuala Lumpur where visitors can experience their products through a carefully curated journey.

The pop-event featured 7 different section including an immersive room where visitors can virtually plant trees on an interactive wall, light projection room and a beauty bar. The best part? The whole experience was free for all to enter as long as you fill up a form on their [event site](https://my.loccitane.com/pages/loccitane-hotel). Visitors also walk away with free samples at the end of it.

Knowledge is power when it comes to marketing which is why collecting consumer data is a top priority for most businesses. Brands need data to know how and where to reach their consumers and which products appeal to them the most.

3. Creating a Deeper Understanding of Your Brand

One of the key goals of a marketing team is to educate consumers about a product and it would only work if the consumer is engaged. Experiential marketing gives consumers the chance to learn about the product and brand which also enjoying the experience.

For example, Misereor, a German relief NGO, created an interactive billboard call The Social Swipe where people can donate to the organisation by simply swiping their credit cards on the poster itself. The digital posters are set up in airports with card readers equipped on the screen where it displays images of problems that Misereor works to resolve such as hunger.

This experience showed consumers where their money was going to. It visually represents the impact of one’s participation in donating to the NGO — when you swipe your card on the screen it depicts you slicing a bread for a hungry family.

Tie your brand to a memorable experience and consumers are more likely to get the message. Experiential marketing has the ability to elevate the connections that brands build with their consumers thus making it feel more personalised.

 

With the benefits mentioned and many others that experiential marketing offers, it would not be long before more brands catch on to it.

If you are looking to engage in experiential marketing, contact us through this link linktr.ee/virtualtechfrontier. We’ll set it up for you!