Experiential marketing seems to be the new ‘buzz’ term, with major players from Coca Cola to Unilever embracing this new phenomenon. But what is experiential marketing? By Jo Nagle
Why are more and more companies shifting substantial investment towards experiential marketing? Is this just another industry fad that will fade in time? Or is implementing an effective experiential campaign a necessary ingredient to create a sustainable competitive advantage and secure long-term brand loyalty?
Experiential marketing is a real connection between the brand and the consumer, beyond commercial enterprise. Experiential marketing ignites the five senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and sound to leave a lasting brand recall.
Marketing is changing
With vast changes in the world of advertising, the task of branding and product differentiation is more difficult as consumers are harder to reach. Research shows that traditional ATL (above the line) marketing and communications strategies are becoming less effective, due to shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviour.
Sole reliance on traditional media is becoming far more risky and expensive for companies to justify. It can be difficult to reach consumers effectively with brand messages via ATL media due to viewers using the remote control to surf the channels just as a commercial interrupts programming.
Experiential marketing is refreshing and connects the consumer with the brand face to face, a personal introduction where participation and the end result is a positive brand experience. The approach must not feel like a sales push, it must be aligned and genuine in the form of communication reflecting the brand personality. The experience must be relevant to the brand as well as the target market.
Consumers are changing
Consumers are far more savvy, perceptive and more aware of traditional marketing goals than ever before. Especially when we start to talk about the hard to reach teen market. If you speak to the average teenager today and ask their opinions on marketing and advertising, within the first few sentences industry jargon emerges. They know what they want and they want to be in control of this decision, not you. They expect much more from brands if they are to remain loyal. It seems that the ‘new’ consumer is looking for a relationship with the brand and seeks to engage rather than comply as a passive receptor.
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Furthermore, as shareholders and companies demand more budget accountability from marketing managers and require them to show measurable evidence of achieving objectives, experiential marketing by nature can help to alleviate the problem of measuring reach. Traditional means of advertising measurements can be difficult and complex, the sampling aspect of experiential marketing can offer easy measurements of reach calculated by amount of samples distributed and/or sales data.
It is important to ask after the underlying principles and objectives behind successful brand strategy. One common answer is to stimulate and facilitate a strong emotional connection to a brand.†Under the current and future market climate, engagement will be the final piece of the puzzle to convert the eluding consumer to believers. Sampling, demonstrating and adding a life form to brands is critical to the brand longevity. Experiential marketing connects the advertising message and brand values in an interactive manner, reaching the consumer at a time when they are most receptive to the message, far more than just sampling.
Experiential marketing is still marketing
A good experiential campaign sets out to do exactly what traditional media aim to achieve: to create an emotional attachment and use creativity to break through the clutter. Coupled with these elements, it does present an opportunity for companies to encourage trial through sampling, however the planning, delivery and implications go much deeper. The end result is an emotional alignment, with the sole intention to engage with the consumer, educate them on the brand profile and stimulate consumer consideration and adoption.
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Consumers gather brand insights from all areas of above and below the line, a commercial will create the brand persona and BTL (below the line) will, in the form of in field sampling and demonstrations, convert this potential to reality at the point of purchase. Consumer connection can be activated simply and the need for experiential activity is not actually necessary in some instances. But there are some brands in the marketplace that need to be experienced first hand and without fuss. Once consumers have tried the product, they are more likely to purchase as well as spread the word to their peers, utilising the golden word of mouth strategy.
ATL media have the widest reach potential. Messages need to be disseminated to as many consumers as possible in order to achieve brand awareness and ATL channels present marketers with this opportunity. All communication media should work together to create synergy and experiential marketing is just another ingredient to be considered and implemented to market brands and products effectively in today’s evolving market.
Jo Nagle is the director of Let’s Launch (www.letslaunch.com.au), a below-the-line agency specialising in innovative sampling.
