Take it to the Consumers

It’s a beautiful summer day and you want something to do that doesn’t involve yard work or staying in the house, you just want something that may be relaxing and/or fun. You look around online for a show to go to-nothing, a play that is in town-no luck, or an event to attend-bingo. You find that there are a few great events going on this weekend, so you search to find one that may fit your personality. There is a giant festival that has been going on in the city for over 7 years and you have yet to attend. This is the weekend, you grab the family and head off to the city and attend the barbecue battle. You picked this event because of its long standing, large attendance, and large sponsors and food that will be there- something for the whole family.

When you walk into the event you are amazed that you have never attended, this is huge. Taking up the entire fairgrounds it is not just about barbecue and music there is so much more. You see sponsors with massive displays to entice you to visit them, with cooling areas, games, and a fun atmosphere. You see “food trucks” wrapped in fancy graphics but not there to sale food, they are giving away free samples of products that are sold in your local stores. You have people approach you handing you samples of more products, large mascot style characters stop to say “hi” to the kids, celebrities signing autographs thanks to sponsors, and multiple opportunities to enter to win a trip, a car, free products, and more. What is this the greatest place on earth? No, this is the home of experiential marketing.

Experiential Marketing is everything mentioned above and more. It is a chance for a brand to entertain and connect with the consumer in a more personal way; it is an experience! It is the goal for the brand to leave a mark on a consumer, whether it is something as simple as them enjoying your product or more complex like leaving a positive mark on that person. That positive mark can influence not just the one consumer but also hundreds. With new technologies in social media and the world telling everything good and bad on the Internet, you can beat that photos of your display and the experience will be shared, liked, and tweeted over and over again- that is if you have a successful campaign.

The old days of just using television ads, billboards/print, or radio spots are over. Companies cannot rely on those anymore as technology has advanced and made those almost obsolete. With people using devices like TiVo, DVR, and Netflix to record shows they now have the ability to skip over commercials. With music being downloaded onto phones, Mp3 players and a variety of other items people rarely hear radio ads. Companies now have to look into other ways to reach consumers so they can expand their brand.

It is not as simple as it may have been in the past; brand managers have to think, imagine and brainstorm even harder. They have to think outside the box on how to reach consumers in a ways that will make an impact. Companies have to create a marketing campaign that in some way makes the consumers experience the brand.

“An ‘experience’ has much more impact that an ‘exposure,’ says Brian Martin, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Project: Worldwide. “If you’re only engaging with one-way communications today, you’re leaving value on the table. Companies that have invested in experiential marketing have seen better business results because consumers can interact with the brand.” (Lawler 2013)

If you take a moment and look around you will find some creative ways in which companies have used experiential marketing to allow the consumer to really experience the brand. One of the most iconic is the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile a simple tool that travels around to various events. The vehicle being outfitted like a hotdog on a bun is not designed to serve food but just to bring awareness to the brand. Whether you see it at an event or driving down the road it is a perfect example of experiential marketing. When the vehicle pulls up to an event people flock to have photos taken and get a wiener whistle. With multiple units Oscar Meyer reaches millions of consumers and a variety of demographics.

You can also look at what Adidas did in London with the Derrick Rose campaign. Have consumers not only meet the star but also a chance to win a pair of Derrick Rose Adidas shoes. Consumers only have to jump ten feet to claim a free pair; this not only brought excitement and awareness to the brand but let consumers with a great memory of Adidas even if they did not win a pair of shoes.

Just maybe you have been at an event or festival that welcomed the Johnsonville’s ‘Big Taste Grill’. This massive converted tanker rolls in with smaller trailer and cooks and serves free samples to all in attendance. This again is a creative way to get your product in the hands of consumers while having the brand seem by millions. Maybe a vehicle campaign that brings brand awareness to you on every trip is not the way you want to go but you still want to look into an interactive experience for people. Maybe you need to see what Texas has put out so you can experience the great state in your own state. The Texas on Tour brings multiple facets of Texas to other festivals for consumer to experience interactive, physically, and musically.

Calum McGuigan, President of Fervent Events wrote, “Experiential marketing is about real conversations and meaningful impressions you can count. On the surface, it looks like experiential produces smaller numbers, but experiential is about quality over quantity, and they’re authentic number.” (McGuigan 2013) Whether you use a branded vehicle and get impressions (visually seeing the company name and brand) or you pull together a remarkable lifetime memory experience, the fact that in the marketing world face-to-face interaction has to be part of the picture. A resent statistic claims that 78% of millennial follow brands after having a face-to-face interactions according to a Moderne Communications 2014 research study.

So, if you have not jumped on the experiential marketing bandwagon what are you waiting for? The concept has been tested, the consumers enjoy it, and the proof will be an increase in your brand. Take a moment grab that family, jump in the car and go to a festival and see just companies are doing. See what experiential marketing is all about and how well the experience gives you a positive memory about the brand. You may also just see what your competition is doing to build brand and take away your loyal consumers. So what can you do to out brand your competition and keep your loyal consumers?