Virtual events have become ubiquitous, leaving little room for brands to connect with their audiences in novel and memorable ways. As a result, experiential marketing is in demand to fill the gap and better connect brands with their customers.
Experiential marketing humanizes your brand, bringing it to life with a personality of its own. No matter the channel, there are endless opportunities to engage with your audience. Not to mention, implementing an experiential strategy will only strengthen marketing teams.
What is experiential marketing?
Experiential marketing is a marketing strategy that engages an audience with an immersive experience. It is a hands-on experience where audiences interact with brands through tangible materials that tell a story and thus, create an experience. It’s less about a brand’s service offerings and more about a brandâs identity.
Experiential marketing can also be referred to as engagement marketing, event marketing, or live marketing. While this is true to some degree, experiential marketing doesn’t always have to be event-centric. Connecting the dots between a brand and potential customer can take a digital approach as well. This can look like a video, a virtual event experience, or a social media campaign. A sweet example of this is when Ben & Jerryâs, had a digital experiential campaign where consumersâ tweets resulted in an ice cream truck pop up at their location back in 2011.
2 reasons experiential marketing is a must
Embolden your marketing teams
Experiential marketing can expand your organizationâs strategy on how they think about connecting with customers. And experiential marketers are always in idea mode. This mindset promotes creativity and cross-functional collaboration within teams. This can look like weekly brainstorm sessions, regular market research, event planning, and more.
Experiential marketing also encourages marketers to expand their skill set and dive into elements of marketing that may be new territory. Think: creative design, public relations, social media, and digital marketing. Giving experiential marketers creative freedoms can potentially take your brands experiences to a new level. With the right strategy in place, your marketing team can create:
- Brand awareness
- Cultivate ambassadorship
- Product & brand loyalty
- Memorable introductions to your product
- Cross-channel effectiveness
- Lead generation
Surface important insights
While ideas are great, data insights are vital to the continuation of experiential marketing efforts. As potential customers have fun learning more about your product and brand, they will also be more inclined to exchange personal information as their âticketâ to a particular experience. This exchange is then backed by data to track, review, segment, and report on for future campaign launches. Before your experience launches, make sure you have the right tools to capture this type of information.
12 experiential marketing ideas from great brands
Just like any marketing campaign, a successful experiential marketing campaign requires KPIs, a clear budget, and a plan for promotions, production, and post event follow-ups. If video is a core part of your strategy, remember to leverage key video metrics to measure success. The specific techniques you employ will vary based on the channels you utilize.
When it comes to execution, there are no set rules. There isnât one particular way to go about experiential marketing. You really have to think about your target audience and how you want them to feel throughout the entire lifecycle of your experiential campaign
Airbnb: âFresh Prince of Bel-Airâ
Experiential marketing doesnât always have to be event-centric. When Airbnb, the owner of the âFresh Prince of Bel-Airâ house, and Will Smith came together to celebrate the showâs 30th anniversary, it proved that media can also be an effective marketing channel.
The house was just as fresh as we remembered with graffiti art, luxurious interiors, and family portraits for only $30 per night for a few nights. As you can imagine, in light of the pandemic It was a very limited experience, but the extensive media coverage made it an impactful event.
Spark ideas with a throwback: Sometimes nostalgia goes a long way. It triggers a sentimental moment in time for some while introducing younger audiences to a time they have only heard about.
Tinder: Pride Slide
Tinder Celebrated World Pride with a 30-Foot Rainbow Slide in New York City. For every person that rode the slide, Tinder donated $10 towards efforts to pass the Equality Act. Riders were encouraged to “slide into their senators’ DMs” as the passing of this bill would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the groups protected under federal anti-discrimination laws.
Align your values and be authentic: While these types of campaigns are great to show support of various communities, it is of utmost importance to be genuine in your execution. Consumers can tell when brands are jumping on the bandwagon vs. providing authentic support. Take the time to embrace a movement that is a true reflection of your brand, messaging, and mission.
Refinery29: 29Rooms
Lifestyle media brand Refinery29 has hosted a 29Rooms themed event for the past 3 years. The âinteractive funhouse of style, culture, & technology” is where participants can experience something different in each room. Each room is designed and created alongside brand partners like Dunkin’ Donuts, Dyson, and Cadillac.
This past year’s theme was “Turn It Into Art.” Participants were encouraged to use the surroundings of each room to get creative. For example, one room had participants hit punching bags that then produced different sounds to create music.
Center your experience around the audience: Refinery29 worked to build a memorable, hands on experience. When creating an experiential campaign, consider how the space provides inspiration and wonder that participants can draw from. That emotional connection with the band can then live on well beyond the event.
Smirnoff Comic Book Party
Smirnoff immersed their attendees in a full on comic book-themed industry party. Full-sized comic graphics, a red color scheme, and costumed brand ambassadors told a story that set the tone for the fantasy-like atmosphere through pageantry and illusion.
This was such a clever strategy for the vodka brand as it showed off their creativity at every touch point of the experience. They elevated the basic concept of a party and told a story around it creating its own very universe. Even if you weren’t a Smirnoff drinker, it made for a truly memorable experience!
Tell a story: All stories have a beginning and an end. Think about the types of stories you want your audience to experience when building your event.
American Express: 2014 US Open
In 2014, US Open sponsor, American Express introduced a new way for tennis fans to experience their passion for the sport. The digital experience featured 20,000 square feet of interactive programming and activities at the US Open.
Once registered, fans were able to collect a recap of their experiences. Thanks to the MyOpen Pass, an RFID wristband, fans were able to track and receive a personalized recap of all the activities they participated in. This recap could also be shared on social media. Some activities included a professional swing analysis. This is where fans got one on one time with a USTA tennis pro. These one-on-ones measured the impact of their position, racquet speed, and spin rate to improve their own personal game.
Other activities included a rally cam to have their best tennis shot captured in a sharable 180â° video file. A fan court featured live programming, tennis clinics were available for all ages, player meet & greets, and more. American Express also provided complimentary phone stations so no moment went uncaptured.
Deborah Curtis, vice president of entertainment and sports marketing at American Express said, âEverything American Express is offering during the US Open is designed to enhance what tennis fans love about this tournament.â
Think big, show-stopping experiences: Talk about raising the bar in customer engagement. Amex pulled out all the stops and in doing so, proved why they are the leading credit card brand.
Aston Martin on Ice
The automotive industry is no stranger to experiential marketing. But the thought of driving Aston Martins on Ice?! Aside from James Bond, who would do such a thing? Well, back in 2014 Aston Martins on Ice provided first-hand experience into the cold-weather capabilities built into these luxury cars.
A team of driving experts with experience in road and rally driving supervised the test drive experience 9,000 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains. The test drive included a skidpad, full race circuit, and more. Although the experience was limited to a handful of Aston Martin owners, it quickly became popular on social media. The campaign increased Aston Martinâs brand awareness and theyâve continued this experiential marketing strategy every year since.
Make luxury accessible: For some, driving an Aston Martin is such an exclusive experience. Making an out-of-reach luxury brand accessible to the everyday consumer will only increase the awareness of your brand. Your target consumer may be niche, but you can still create an experience familiar to all.
HBO Escape Rooms
The popular escape room experience launched all across the United States with different themes for just about everyone. If you’re still unfamiliar, an escape room is a game where a group of people are locked in a room and must figure out how to escape with various clues within the room. Very often the more clues you find, a mystery begins to unfold.
HBO took this concept and created their very own Escape Room experience at SXSW in 2017. They combined 3 rooms to create one big mystery. These 3 rooms recreated sets from their most popular shows Silicon Valley, Veep, and the one and only, Game of Thrones.
This type of experiential campaign is so effective because it requires participants to fully engage. It also literally placed participants into their favorite shows, creating a fully immersed experience making fiction a reality.
Resonate with your audience: It’s ok to incorporate trends as part of your marketing experience as long as it makes sense for your brand. Originality can come from how to put certain pieces together to create a memorable story. In the end, it’s the relatability that your audience has with the experience that makes it so impactful.
M&M: House of Candy
M&Mâs celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a House of Candy pop-up event that took participants into the homes of their six âspokescandiesâ we all love. The six rooms were inspired by the famous M&Mâs personalities of Red, Yellow, Ms. Green, Blue, Orange and Ms.Brown. Each room was created from backstories based on the research, past campaigns and historic decor. Rooms also included fragrances unique to each flavor bringing each room to life.
Encourage play: The playfulness of this campaign connected with customers for an enjoyable experience. It catered to all of the senses, much like the product itself with a touch of personalization. Very similar to the enjoyment of eating M&Mâs, this campaign created an experience that resulted in the same emotional response.
Gilmore Girls: Lukeâs Diner Pop-ups
A little nostalgia never hurt anyone. In fact, we love it! To kick off the highly anticipated comeback and 16th anniversary season of Gilmore Girls, Netflix sponsored 200 cafes to recreate the famous Lukes diner. Fans of the hit series can enjoy a cup of coffee, on them! Fans KNOW that Luke Diner was the notorious hang out spot on the show and this campaign put fans right in an episode with a chance to catch a glimpse of the âfun surprise under the custom Gilmore Girls sleeve.â
Lead with emotion: Similar to HBOâs escape room and Airbnb’s âThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Airâ, it’s all about the emotion and nostalgic connections. Audiences may not remember everyone line of a show, but they do remember how it made them feel.
Vans: House of Vans
Experiential marketing campaigns also work for the retail industry. From Brooklyn, New York, London to Chicago, Vans hosted pop-up events that gave skateboarders a place to connect, share their love for music and do what they do best.
Each pop-up used a skatepark as the location to honor David Bowie and promote the launch of the Vas x David Bowie collection. On international womenâs day, they also used the pop-up to promote women in skateboarding. This included live music, skate sessions and more. This experience brought the skate community together. It also generated awareness into the skate scene unlike before.
Celebrate community: Vans hit the nail on the head here as it took the hobbies of its customers and crafted an immersive experience that paid tribute to the skate community. They also knew that this community is international and took the experience to key locations where they knew an impact could be made. Bravo!
Coca-Cola: FIFA World Cup AR Experience
In celebration of their support of the FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola created an Augmented Reality experience. Back in 2018, football fans were able to play alongside Switzerland star Xherdan Shaqiri.
Green screen footage of Shaqiri was previously taken and then adapted to a creative technology set-up allowing fans to play with him. Shaqiri would demonstrate a few skills and then would welcome participants to play a few shots against him. In the end, fans were able to take a photo with Shaqiri that also entered them in a chance to win an official FIFA World Cup Match Ball. Brand ambassadors were onsite handing out Coca-Cola refreshments to 1000+ participants over the course of 2 days.
Personal meets virtual: If offering an augmented reality experience is out of budget, use the same concept of bringing an expert to host a dedicated experience. Tie in that hosted experience with a major event and you have the receipt for a successful experiential marketing campaign.
Xbox: Survival Billboard
Imagine taking the oldest medium of advertising and using it in present-dayâŠ.Well Xbox did just that. To promote the anticipated launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox One McCann and Microsoft joined forces. They came together to reinvent the traditional billboard, making it an online experience. The âSurvival of the Grittiestâ challenge was streamed live on Twitch where eight gamers were strapped to a billboard in London. The challenges were intended to mimic tests of grit inspired from the gameâs main character, Lara Croft.
Make something âoldâ, new again: Over the course of 20 hours, the eight gamers endured harsh weather conditions and fought the elements to win the contest. This billboard activation reached over 450,000 views on Twitch and 2 million on Facebook. This type of experience was not only unique for participants but for viewers as well.
5 things to consider when building your experiential marketing plan
Nostalgia for the win
Go the sentimental route for an experience that resonates with your audience on a deeper level. This type of connection also gives younger generations a chance to time warp thanks to your brand experience.
Drive with emotion
When crafting your experiential marketing campaign, lead with emotion. Think about how you want your audience to feel. Consider all 5 senses and how you can use them to spark meaningful connections with participants.
Expand your reach with video
Sometimes, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Live streaming an experience can still make a huge impact, offering participants who weren’t able to attend in person to experience parts of your event.
Launch around major events
A sporting event or show can be the best setting for your experiential campaign, especially if it’s an event. It will guarantee an increase in traffic, interactions, and ultimately awareness.
Go live with your next experiential marketing event
