If your brand doesn't reach your audience in depth, you're leaving value on the table. Clever headlines and pretty pictures aren't enough. You need to communicate with people in a meaningful way. And meaningful connections are built on authentic and measurable experiences .
The modern media landscape is highly fragmented and consumer confidence in advertising is rapidly declining. People have preferences and they know it: 73% of consumers surveyed said that interaction with a product is more important than quality or price. People want to know your brand before they decide to dance with you.
Enter the age of storytelling.
Bad storytelling. You have to involve the audience. Our mission as forward-thinking marketers is to help brands move from storytelling to living stories. Get off the surface. Combine physical and digital dimensions to create unforgettable moments that capture the hearts of customers.
When one of our clients, Clinique, launched a new skincare line, my team announced it with a Soho pop-up, the brand's first ever. We built a rich content marketplace to engage and educate consumers, create user-generated content, and drive purchases. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, including real-time video and photography, as well as special LED totems have helped us expand our efforts.
We're building a powerful campaign platform that resonates at more than one New York event. Creating the right emotional connection requires strategic cuts. The magic moves from the standard 2D game to a 3D "brand world" that provides an authentic brand feel.
This was only possible because forward-thinking marketers recognized the importance of experiential and influencer marketing in achieving brand and business goals.
The art of experience becomes science
In addition to the quality of the moment, establishing customer relationships brought new, valuable insights. Innovative facial recognition software collects key demographic information, telling us who attends events and which influencers bring them there. Stream tracking improves the integration of offline and online communications and provides a deeper understanding of visitor preferences.
Just as the experience needs to be real for your customers, your customers need to be real for you. Who are you? Where do you eat and why? Where do you shop and why there? Answering this question allows empirical scaling.
The data differentiates between traditional event agencies and up-and-coming companies. Brands that choose relevance will harness the power of technology to run experiential campaigns. If a fully functioning ecosystem isn't at the heart of your marketing strategy, leave exponential value on the table.
Switch from Big Idea to Long Idea.
Knights live in villages built around sacred "great ideas". It informs all media about talent and social marketing strategies. Results? General mass market appeal.
It turns out that today's consumer doesn't want to be one of "as many people as possible". Rather than passively watching, they prefer to get rich and make new connections. According to an old study of event marketers, over 90% of consumers experience increased brand loyalty after high-impact, experiential marketing efforts. They want personalized and meaningful interactions with their brands.
The Rolling Stone Cultural Council is a community that invites influencers, innovators and creators. What am I good for?
Gone are the tactics of greedy and short-lived purchases; Durable organic human material is king. Another reason why savvy marketers put experience at the heart of their strategy. This is a unique opportunity to create a real, long-term emotional connection.
When fashion brand Golden Goose wanted to reach Generation Z, we teamed up with them to transform the Big Idea into a Long Idea, a concept with many legs and endless waves. Instead of creating traditional fashion shots, we go beyond 2D images and turn to 3D for our clients. We create a combination of fashion shows, skate parks and content creation platforms in Los Angeles.
There is a great personal presence. And in line with our vision of "experience as a platform," we've repurposed these spaces to turn them into platforms for ad-worthy content. Results? Post-campaign retail traffic increased by 28%, total social media views hit 1 billion views, and average engagement increased fourfold. More importantly, sales of the advertised product increased by 32%.
In today's world where brands are prioritizing resources over marketing spend, treating experiences as hubs is the perfect way to do more with less.
Scale emotions by digitally enhancing them
For real interactions to have greater impact, brands need to adapt their use of technology in real-time and on-premises. Though the possibilities are endless, let's use a simple two-step approach:
1. Upstream: Technology allows us to amplify interaction and make it more touching for those who experience it.
2. Downstream: The technology enables our customers to increase their reach through more targeted media.
People only share what they know. That's why personalization is important. To move your audience, every touchpoint needs to have a human connection. The digital element enables campaigns of all sizes. It enables brands to inform, entertain and measure all levels of interactivity and engagement with a single game. Virtual and augmented reality technologies create unforgettable memories, increase ROI and increase brand loyalty - an approach that is so effective is that 83% of brands plan to continue or grow their investment in experiential marketing.
Surprisingly, investment in digital components has been minimal, especially considering the exponential reach they open up. Digital tools like QR codes and AR allow us to integrate pre- and post-event activities to enhance the experience. The next generation of software is spreading fast and will be another great way to connect large audiences to live events in a more engaging way.
The heart drives the mind
The heart of your consumers is the heart of your branding strategy. You can captivate your audience by creating something unusual and memorable. Therefore, our approach has two strands: first organic human relationships and then technologies that bring those relationships to measurable results. The brands that dominate their industry understand this paradigm.
Value marketing is not what they tell you. It's time to reconsider your tired email list, tricky retargeting, and expensive pre-roll ads. Instead, embrace the experience of future generations that touches people's hearts and excites their minds.
Give your viewers real human emotions: goosebumps - give them a chance and they will never forget you.
