2018’s experiential landscape: Live, digital and virtual unification
As another new year dawns, there’s very little respite for those of us working in the always-on world of marketing and brand experience: we’re already hard at work preparing to deliver campaigns that will make a lasting impression in 2018 and beyond.
As our industry continues to shift and evolve, we’ve witnessed numerous changes in the ways that consumers wish to be engaged with, share content, and interact with brands.
Rounded, joined-up experiences are becoming ever more important and now, with 2018 underway, I predict this will be the year that any barriers that still exist between live, digital and virtual experiences will well and truly break down. Here’s why.
The live experience: branded events continue to dominate
Sponsorship, in its traditional sense, has moved on: these days, growing numbers of brands are instead focusing marketing spend on creating their own bespoke events with content at the centre, in a bid to strike meaningful, long-lasting relationships and dialogue directly with consumers.
This is only going to go one way in 2018.
AIB’s recent change in approach to its long-standing GAA Club Championships’ sponsorship serves as a perfect example of this: its ‘Toughest Trade’ campaign championed the training undertaken by the sport’s athletes and the personalities that lie behind the grass roots competition. In doing so, AIB took ownership of the message with captivating content that resonated directly with fans.
Meanwhile, North Face’s Mountain Festival made the most of brand assets and offered complete brand immersion to attendees, while much closer to home, Coors Light successfully partnered with Ireland’s first-of-its-kind Christmas party venue, Après Dublin, recognising the perfect synergy between the brand and an audience thirsty for seasonal relaxation and merry moments.
The digital experience: amplification reigns supreme
The year ahead will see many more brands considering new and innovative opportunities to motivate fans to create and share content. This will be achieved by tapping into experiences that matter to them and that they care about.
53 Degree North’s Irish adventure videos captivated fans on social media last year by encouraging pride in personal achievements and unlocking a world of adventure, whatever the scale or setting. It proves that, if you commit to telling a compelling story through content, audiences will be only too glad to engage, respond, like and share it.
Brands that fail to give fans something authentic and meaningful to get behind will always be met with a ‘ceiling’ that’s impossible to smash through. Widespread organic reach can only be achieved by investing time in creating shareable content and emotive ‘hooks’ with your audience firmly in mind.
The virtual experience: the continued rise of VR and AR
Virtual reality dominated the marketing headlines in 2017, with a whole host of big-name brands from McDonald’s to Adidas flocking towards this immersive and creative technology.
In large part, the technology itself triumphed over content last year – Google Daydream is the latest big innovation that has taken VR to the next level. Currently, the novelty factor is still strong as users continue to be drawn to the unexpected 360° worlds that VR can deliver.
But the novelty will wear off and the bubble will burst. Now is the time for forward-thinking brands to capitalise on VR’s current popularity – particularly amongst gamers – by producing compelling and captivating content that adds value. This year, content will be king for VR, as substance will surpass style for the first time.
Augmented reality, meanwhile, will go from strength to strength in 2018 – brands from IKEA to Toys R Us have looked to engage shoppers directly in recent months with AR experiences that have provided entertainment and satisfied genuine consumer needs.
The beauty of AR, and what truly sets it apart, is that it actually brings people together in physical places and openly encourages the sharing of experiences. As such, it’s perfectly placed within the shopper marketing toolkit.
So what does the 2018 experiential landscape look like? It’s set to be a year of unification, one in which three overlapping approaches – live, virtual and digital – fully merge together to provide integrated, strategic and satisfying brand experiences. Welcome to the future.
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Paddy Davis is Client Service Director of Because Ireland, a creative experiences agency that helps brands realise their marketing ambitions through brand storytelling that is imaginative, immersive and emotive. Find out more at www.becausexm.com/dublin.