3 Priorities That Will Help Experiential Marketers Step Up Their Game in 2018
Daniel Stedman
Founder & CEO of Pressto | Previously Co-Founder and CEO of Northside Media (acquired) and Brooklyn Magazine (acquired). Leader in Applying AI in Education.
We can all agree that experiential marketing is making big waves in the creative world, especially as brands shift for ever-cumbersome ad spends, to a more engaging and authentic way to connect with their audience. Experts believe, however, that we haven't found the magic solution just yet; there is still a lot to be said when it comes to sustaining the shiny new toy of the agency arena. Adweek highlights 3 top priorities for brands to focus on as they plan, perfect and execute their experiential marketing events. Read on to learn more!
1. Recognize that experiential isn’t a channel
Unlike advertising, experiential can’t be broken down into formatted executions—print, outdoor, radio etc. Unfortunately, experiential is a little more complex. For lack of a better definition, experiential is the art of “expressing a brand’s purpose and proposition through a form of real world consumer interaction.”
“Experiential” is an adjective, not a noun, right? It describes a way of marketing that can be limitless in form, idea and environment. Because of this, I’d caution against the labeling of campaigns, which applies to the use of “events,” too. Events are a type of experience, but this shouldn’t be the generic descriptor for a multitude of different live creative activations.
2. Embrace brand planning
Experiential planning can’t simply mean finding the best venue or maximizing attendees. It requires traditional brand planning. What’s the up-stream business challenge? What perception do we want to reinforce or change? What’s the core consumer insight at the heart of the creative concept?
For impact to last beyond interaction, our “thinking” capabilities and processes should be no different to those found down the corridors of traditional ad land. Think of a live experience as a piece of sophisticated brand messaging, no different than a 60-second TV ad. Every experiential agency needs a brand strategist, someone who is as important as your senior producer.
3. Measure. Measure. Measure.
NFL player and coach Vince Lombardi once said, “If you’re not keeping score, you’re just practicing.”
Experiential marketing has baggage, and bad baggage at that. Experiential agencies are often obsessed with anecdotal consumer feedback, time-lapse films showing the ‘event in action,’ surveys reporting that 99 percent of attendees said ‘it was great, we loved taking part.’ All these elements can be important to a rounded piece of evaluation, but are really not a clear indication of the attitudinal shift, the change in consumer behavior or the incremental profit generated from the experiential campaign.
So, let’s attack the myth. Experiential marketing should be evaluated to ensure campaigns are not only justifiable to the finance director, but also so that a “learn and evolve” mentality can be applied to continually improve next year’s campaign.
Sure, this may bring up a whole new round of questions: How do you measure engagement? What's the best way to gather your data? We will save those for another talk, but it's safe to be said that the standards have still yet to be set! To read the full article, visit the source here.