When masterminds Joseph Pine II and Gilmore coined the term back in 1998, they theorized that businesses must orchestrate memorable events for their customers. They believed that the memory becomes the product itself and gives the brand a competitive advantage by winning more consumers and keeping them.
Fast forward to 2019, their idea has never been more relevant! In the Caribbean, we see how organizations are forced to rethink and re-imagine consumer-brand connections in an increasingly noisy world. It’s no surprise that 95% of marketers say that their companies are prioritizing experiential marketing or that 70% of users become regular customers after finding a brand at an experiential marketing event.
We co-sign Pine II and Gilmore’s theory; immersive experiences drive recall and meaningful profitable connections!
Just think about: Your first job. Your big wedding day or that moment Usain Bolt won gold at Olympics for the first time. These are memories that you can probably remember in great detail because they were life events that enriched you, emotionally impacted you or even defined who you are today.
So... how does your brand create those life defining moments for your consumers through experiential marketing? We’ve got a couple suggestions for you courtesy our #TeamSynapse Event Maestro Charissa Minty.
1. Event Experiences Must Always Be Empathetic, Honest and Authentic
Meet Charissa’s friend called E.H.A. She shares that when marketers keep their eyes on this reliable partner from strategy to execution, they will have a greater chance at setting up their events for some great memory-making business.
Why Empathy?
- Brands need to connect with consumers at a level where they’re thinking ‘yeah, you get me brand XXX’. She shares, “Always begin with empathy! Creating buyer personas is a great way to achieve this.” When you’re fully in touch with what individuals are challenged by, you can engineer solution-oriented events. They’ll never forget you because you’ve created a connection based on understanding their needs and providing value through personalized solutions.
Why Honest?
- Can you imagine many consumers feel as though they’re being lied to? She states, “Some brands are offering pipe dreams or misrepresenting what is being offered in a campaign.” Honesty will lead to trust and brand loyalty. Reaching out to consumers directly to understand what experience they have when interacting with a brand will go a long way. For her, day-to-day brand experiences are just as important as big events and should never be overlooked when thinking about your experiential strategy.
Why Authentic?
- Consumers love authentic experiences. To meet this desire, businesses and their brands need to show it has good intentions. Charissa mentions that it’s key to adopt a social purpose that aligns with your corporate mission and your consumers’ values. Based on this social purpose, she expresses that you must then create those experiences that contribute to it. Once you stay true to your consumer and your responsibility as a company, you increase your chances of your brand being memorable.
2. Connect with storytelling!
At Synapse, we never leave storytelling out of the equation. Storytelling is a powerful tool that can be used in your marketing strategy to instantly create emotional bonds with your consumers. Our event maestro shares that storytelling in experiential marketing is not so much about telling your story but more about placing a consumer into your story.
In your next event, create moments that isn’t focused on logos or colours. Think of it as creatively directing a whole experience centered on what your brand does and what it stands for. Charissa expresses,
“Caribbean brands need to get into the game of story-living, which takes storytelling to the next level by simply bringing a brand story to life.”
3. Ignite all 5 senses!
Hyphen explains, “The more brands can engage with people’s senses in a meaningful way, the higher the level of product recall and brand loyalty they’ll achieve.” Referencing Hyphen’s quote, Charissa highlights that a great advantage of experiential marketing campaigns is that brands can make use of multiple senses to maximize their success.
Successfully using any one sense is likely to increase a consumer’s memory of your brand. However, engaging multiple senses will be golden!
Check out a couple of her snackable tips on how you can engage each sense below:
- For sight – Always create a visually appealing event. You could also amplify the power of visual stimuli by using virtual reality.
- For sound – Consider creating an atmosphere that will impact the mood of your event. The sound you choose should be consistent with the message you are trying to communicate.
- For smell – Though generally left out of the equation, the sense of smell evokes strong emotional reactions. They connect to memory in a very intense way. Think about creating a signature scent for your next event. Once created, you can then easily use scent diffusers to spark that sense of smell.
- For touch – There are several avenues to use touch at your next event. If you’re in the FMCG, Tech or retail industry, one example can be allowing your audience to try your product for themselves.
- For taste – What are some flavours you want your attendees to associate with your brand? This is generally an overlooked question. If there is a food or beverage element, think about how you can consistently use it to create positive associations with your brand.
Tap in to the power of multi-sensory experiential marketing in order to spark a meaningful memory with your consumers.
Let’s summarize:
- Experiential marketing is a marketing strategy that invites an audience to interact with a business in a real-world situation.
- When used in tandem with your content, inbound and traditional marketing strategies, experiential marketing will be an effective tool for success and creating memories that can last.
- Experiential marketing will help you achieve enhanced customer loyalty, sentiment and increased revenue.
- Empathy, Honesty and Authenticity must be a part of your recipe for creating a memorable event for your consumer.
- Use storytelling in your next event to bring your brand to life
- Engage all your consumer’s senses! It’ll enhance product recall and secure their loyalty.
Resources
Feel Inspired with these experiential examples
- 11 Examples of Experiential Marketing Campaigns That’ll Give You Serious Event Envy: http://bit.ly/2NoLjaj
- 20 Outstanding Examples of Experiential Marketing: http://bit.ly/2MuG3ls
- How Experiential Marketing Made Citi an Entertainment Giant: http://bit.ly/30oA7OB
- 7 Case Studies That Prove Experiential Retail Is The Future: http://bit.ly/2Z0JF5o
Gain some extra experiential tools and tips
- 5 Ways to Use Experiential Marketing to Attract Generation Z: http://bit.ly/2KRaTl7
- 5 Experiential Automotive Marketing Thought Leaders To Follow: http://bit.ly/2TJi4zP
- Experiential Marketing Trends To Watch In 2019: http://bit.ly/30d3JON
- 6 Experiential Marketing Tools That Make Smart Investments, Deliver Great Returns: http://bit.ly/30fKPqv
Ready to spark some memories that your consumers will place right next to their grandest life moments? Contact us… we’ll work with you on it.