Today, companies use various methods of experiential marketing to reach their target customers. These include events, home demonstrations, street promotions, pop-up shops and buzz campaigns.
Consumers are attracted to experiences that leave them with a unique, lasting impression. Using advanced technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality, brands tailor these experiences to each individual consumer’s needs.
Mobile Marketing Vehicles and Pop-Up Shops
A mobile marketing vehicle is a specialized vehicle or trailer that allows a brand to create immersive and interactive experiences for their target audience. This can include anything from a mobile food truck to a custom Airstream showroom. These vehicles are able to reach a wide range of potential customers and can be used for local or national campaigns.
This type of marketing is becoming more popular as traditional marketing methods like commercials and social media ads are less effective in reaching consumers. Mobile marketing vehicles offer a unique way to connect with consumers and give them a memorable experience that will help drive sales.
One example of this is Mitsubishi’s new Small Batch Drive Experience, which uses the same targeting and intelligence technologies that are used to find online viewers for content to bring a real-world test driving experience directly to consumers. This is just one example of how experiential marketing is transforming the way brands engage with their audiences and redefining what it means to be an experiential brand.
In the future, we will see even more innovative forms of experiential marketing. New technologies will enable companies to create smaller, more targeted events that cater directly to the interests and preferences of their customers. This, combined with an increased emphasis on purpose-driven storytelling and content marketing, will help build deeper relationships between brands and their consumers.
Guerilla Marketing
Using creative marketing tactics that are often less costly than traditional methods, guerilla marketing allows brands to engage with their audience in innovative and unexpected ways. The resulting campaigns can generate a positive public image for the business, increase customer loyalty, and lead to increased sales.
There are four main types of guerrilla marketing: outdoor, indoor, event ambush, and experiential. Each involves a different tactic and can have varying results. Outdoor guerilla marketing is when the brand creates something that alters preexisting outdoor settings, such as adding art to statues or creating temporary signs on sidewalks and streets. Indoor guerilla marketing takes place in indoor locations like train stations and shops, while event ambush guerilla marketing happens at events to promote a product or service noticeably without permission from the venue or event organizers.
For example, GoldToe used a bit of guerrilla marketing when they decked out famous New York City statues in t-shirts and underwear. The result was a humorous and memorable campaign that played off the existing reputation of relatable icons and images. Other examples of guerilla marketing include the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral in 2014 or Volkswagen’s subway stairs that look and sound like piano keys.
While guerrilla marketing is a great way to get attention, it can also be risky. Many of these campaigns are edgy and controversial, which can lead to negative publicity if done poorly. Furthermore, it can be difficult to measure the success of a guerrilla marketing campaign because it’s so hard to track mentions of the brand in the media. A social listening tool like Agorapulse or Mention can help you overhear conversations about a campaign and see how it resonates with consumers.
Social Media
As ad campaigns become increasingly formulaic and sterile, many marketers are finding renewed value in the warmth of experience. Whether that’s an intimate dinner with a celebrity, or a live event like a concert or product demonstration, experiential marketing allows brands to connect directly with consumers in a way that is authentic and meaningful.
While the term “experiential marketing” was first coined in 2000, it has long been a key part of branding strategy – from Oscar Mayer’s Weinermobile to Miller Beer’s Blind Date and Taste Challenge events, from product testing to holograms and virtual reality shopping apps (Sprout Social, 2019). When brands use experiential marketing, they can create a strong multisensory brand connection with customers, and studies show that this can lead to higher customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
With more and more brands relying on experiential marketing, it’s important for marketers to understand what drives these campaigns and how they can maximize their impact. Luckily, new digital tools are helping to make this happen. For example, using radiofrequency identification to track participants at an experiential marketing event can help marketers measure consumer engagement and sentiment by providing them with a full picture of the impact of their campaign. In addition, leveraging social media to share content from the event can also have a big impact on the audience’s perception of the brand.
Immersive Experiences
In the digital era where it can be difficult to break through the noise and form genuine connections, experiential marketing stands out as a powerful strategy for building customer loyalty and brand affinity. By empowering consumers with a memorable experience, brands build a lasting positive association that transcends traditional product promotion and drives long-term value for the business.
Experiential experiences provide a unique way to connect with consumers, giving them the chance to try products out and learn about them in an engaging and fun environment. Using gamification and interactive elements, this style of marketing aims to create an emotional connection with the audience that goes beyond simple transactional marketing.
Immersive experiences can be used to promote a variety of products, from automotive to consumer packaged goods. Companies that focus on experiential marketing in verticals like auto, finance, and personal care have found that this type of marketing provides greater value than conventional advertising.
Experiential events offer a wealth of measurable data points that can help to inform and refine future marketing strategies. From attendance and demographics to engagement levels and social media mentions, these campaigns can give businesses a clear picture of the effectiveness of their efforts and demonstrate how they are driving real results. In addition to measurable data, experiential marketing can also generate invaluable qualitative feedback from consumers that is more candid than traditional surveys. For example, when Lululemon hosted a “Dupe Swap” event, inviting customers to bring in knockoff versions of their popular Align pants and swap them for the originals, the company was able to collect valuable data on customer preferences and learn more about their target market.
