Time for the Age of New Experiential Marketing
March 14, 2011
Experiential marketing is a popular area of expertise. But what is it, anyways? Run a quick search for “experiential marketing”, and you may be surprised at how many services pop up.
Many define live events, mobile tours, and street teams as true experiential marketing. Others consider online games or subway advertisements to be more authentic campaigns. Who is right?
It’s helpful to think of experiential marketing as the difference between telling people what you do, and inviting them to experience in a way that is personally relevant. While traditional marketing will “sell” the consumer on features and benefits, an experiential approach will allow the consumer to live it for themselves.
Five to ten years ago, people got all fired up about experiential marketing and began using the term “brand experience” as a deliverable. Case study after case study proved that effective experiential programs- built on solid strategy, could capture the hearts, minds, decisions, and actions of target audiences with incredible results. Pundits welcomed society to the “Experiential Age” where experience was the new currency.
Well, that was five years ago. Experiential marketing as we once knew it is no longer enough. Today we can see our audiences openly talking to each other about the brand experiences we create; and whether we like it or not, creating their own experiences with the brand at the same momentum.
So, what happens now? First of all, let’s punt the term “brand experience” entirely. To twist an old adage: If a brand experience happens in the woods and no one is there to witness it, did it really happen?
There is no brand experience without a heartbeat on the other side. Experiential marketing is a business of human experiences. Yet even creating individual human experiences is not enough, because it’s no longer about what one person will do with your story. It’s about how they will re-tell your story to their network.
Experiential marketing is now a bridge to the ultimate destination: enabling consumers to discuss and amplify your message. Today’s winning experiential campaigns enable people to live the message, internalize the message, and then personally champion the message within their network.
What is the agency’s role? Understand the need, create the experience, enable the expression, deliver the results.