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We are increasingly aware of the fact that nowadays consumer needs to relate to a dynamic environment. He pays attention to the content communicated by a brand only when he wishes to. He is receptive to commercial information only if he wants to and when he is bored with the content communicated by a brand he even starts to create his own version of it...
All specialists yell in concordance: "mass advertising is dying" because, unfortunately for some and fortunately for others :-), experienced consumers couldn't care less about commercials, ads or any other mass messages. Away from archaic marketing concepts new niches evolve - from pop-up brand experiences to on line viral marketing and brand installations - all serving the same purpose: to bring the consumer closer to the brand. These niches can all fit under the experiential marketing umbrella. An increasing number of international brands decide to communicate by using this type of live communication. It isn't anymore a competition between conventional and unconventional, it is simply breaking free of mediocrity.
What does it actually do, experiential marketing?
Strategically, it turns the consumer into an explorer. It transposes him into a medium charged 360° with brand values, it involves him into a story. The story has to be fascinating enough that consumers wish to listen to it and share it to others. The goal of the interaction between the brand and the consumer in experiential marketing is more than driving trial. It's about transforming perceptions, making fresh emotional connections that other marketing activities can't deliver. Experiential marketing fosters the consumer's openness to a brand overall identity and message, aiming to create a bond.
How can we describe the communication of experiential marketing?
The connection in the form of experience should be personally relevant, memorable, interactive and emotional for the consumer. Excellence is nevertheless achieved when such a connection is:
- as intuitive as a play
- as meaningful as education
- as emotional as cinema for instance...
In this regard events are considered some of the most effective communication tools because they truly allow the brand to be all the above, offering countless alternatives to consumers expectations.
Which are the tools of experiential marketing?
Infinite. That is the beauty of the area... It offers you countless possibilities to be creative. You can always find out new channels, new communication approaches. We have surveyed below some of the concepts that fit into experiential marketing. All of these are based on the creativity of the agency, some brilliant idea of a team member. Imagine the communication world now without the marketing ideas of those from Ikea, Nike or Absolut... Pop-up brand experiences wouldn't be the same without Louis Vuitton's 2005 showroom from Paris, or the soundproof booths set up by Nokia at international rock festivals or Levi's temporary shops... Well inspired creatives are inventing experiences constantly.
We can have our own contribution in changing the face of marketing or we can be part of those who still hope for David Ogilvy's return...
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Date/Location: May - June 2006, Bucharest Schools
Brief:
To inform and educate children on skin protection from the sun noxious effects, and familiarize the target audience with "Capital Soleil" brand
Audience: Children 9-13 years old, Bucharest Schools
Concept: The Solar Protection Agency
Funky Business mission was to activate Vichy Capital Soleil brand within Bucharest schools.
The communication solution included identification of creative and interactive elements capable to transform information about the sun and it's effects (more and less known) into a memorable and stimulating experience for children, helping them to memorize the campaign message - the major importance of protection.
The main elements were: The Solar Protection Agency, characters like Agent Vi and Agent Chy, sun protection agents hymn, games stimulating the appropriate answers through memory and imagination, interactive presentations, etc...
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Pop-up brand experiences relate to certain spontaneous manifestations of urban art, with high publicity potential. Spontaneity is actually the word that explains best the pop-up notion. Stencils and graffitis, sometimes even art installations pop up more and more in unexpected places delivering "free of charge" images. If these images promote a brand or a product we already talk about a genuine brand experience, perfectly integrated in the urban life. Potentially, as efficient as "word of mouth".
Direct and original consumer approach is the main advantage of that kind of promotion. Brand messages take him by surprise, drawing attention efficiently and stimulating imagination. Pop-up brand experiences or street marketing are able to transform public spaces into real physical extensions of the advertising campaigns.
For exemple Mr. Proper can look at you smiling from your street, certainly from the cleanest crossing. You can be surprised by an ice block in the middle of the street, with a simple message: "Antarctic. Go before it's too late!". Or your car windscreen may be cleaned at the first traffic light with a sponge shaped with the newest safety razor, or better you can enjoy the comfort of an Ikea couch at your bus station.
Nothing can stop the creatives from delivering the messages they want. You can be a bored consumer, tired or stressed by the invasion of messages, but you'll find it difficult not to be amused or not to notice such experiences...
Your imagination - and the imagination of those working for your brand - is the single limit for the experiences that may bring you closer to your consumer.
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