Will Experiential Marketing return to normal? ---- I hope not.
I’ve been reading lots of blogs and articles in the past few weeks, ranging a full spectrum of hope and positivity to doomsday and demise, on the fate of experiential in these unprecedented, uncertain, troubling, new normal, times.
There is a lot of speculation on how long it will be for things to go back to “normal” and most of the articles, no matter what side of hope or doom they fall on, all long for the same thing - business as usual.
As a lifelong experiential marketer – I hope not.
I have spent a lucrative and rewarding career building experiential platforms for a variety of brands, and I love every one of my past projects, however most of them were based on the two primary goals:
Historically events (which morphed into experiential sometime in the early 2000’s) was generally measured by how many people showed at a location and participated in a CTA (call to action) that was immediately measurable (sales/samples/lead generation). This presents a problem since most measurement models work with data that is provided via media and digital performance over a longer period of time.
I’ve not yet met a model being widely used that found a sufficient way to calculate the ROI (return on investment) or the ROE (return on engagement/emotion) without attributing the success to a social, digital, or CRM platform that removes the very action from the success formula.
This chasm has been a bone spur on the heels of activation for far too long.
Now we have a chance to correct course.
People want and need human interaction. Experiential marketing will not – should not - go away. It will thrive as we navigate opening our doors and begin interacting with each other; however we need to be smart about how we choreograph those interactions for our clients moving forward.
As a responsible citizen I cannot, in good conscience, craft a plan that requires massive crowds to show up in high traffic locations just because that’s the way it’s always been done.
As an experiential marketer my primary goal now needs to have better motivation.
I was participating in an advertising forum a few days ago where a Jr. creative posed the question of how to stand out and move up as a creative. An ECD on the forum replied that the key to standing out was to craft a solid, integrated, brand campaign based on the strategic needs of the client – and then throw in an experiential idea or two as a bonus. This is epidemic of the problem experiential has faced and will continue to face if we don’t look at the bigger picture and course correct with what we have experienced of late:
Experiences had by one (or a few) can be shared by many.
A singular, virtual/digital world pales in comparison to an actual one to one experience. Have you tried a virtual conference from an area with a poor internet connection?
Many people want to be able to control their interactions and feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings.
The course correction needs to start at the campaign level and is achievable with a little onboarding and better understanding of how, and why, experiential works as an integral part of an integrated campaign. The simplest way (and some brands already do this) is using experiential as the hub - feeding social, digital, and commercial needs, or by simply leveraging media added value as part of the program upfront. More complex, and achievable, methods can deliver even greater ROI/ROE for a brand. Recognizing this and putting it into practice paves the way for measurable ROI and modeling that will one day be as accepted as traditional media models.
Brands can recognize and champion this change immediately with a small shift in how they measure success. Experiential marketing veterans can show them how. It will make the industry stronger to embrace change and move forward
Experiential will rebound stronger than ever. It is up to us to make sure we are making that experience stronger than ever.
I’m up for the challenge.
As a lifelong experiential marketer – I hope not.
I have spent a lucrative and rewarding career building experiential platforms for a variety of brands, and I love every one of my past projects, however most of them were based on the two primary goals:
- Getting as many people as possible to show up and participate at an event location
- The immediate action of those people as the main measurement of success
Historically events (which morphed into experiential sometime in the early 2000’s) was generally measured by how many people showed at a location and participated in a CTA (call to action) that was immediately measurable (sales/samples/lead generation). This presents a problem since most measurement models work with data that is provided via media and digital performance over a longer period of time.
I’ve not yet met a model being widely used that found a sufficient way to calculate the ROI (return on investment) or the ROE (return on engagement/emotion) without attributing the success to a social, digital, or CRM platform that removes the very action from the success formula.
This chasm has been a bone spur on the heels of activation for far too long.
Now we have a chance to correct course.
People want and need human interaction. Experiential marketing will not – should not - go away. It will thrive as we navigate opening our doors and begin interacting with each other; however we need to be smart about how we choreograph those interactions for our clients moving forward.
As a responsible citizen I cannot, in good conscience, craft a plan that requires massive crowds to show up in high traffic locations just because that’s the way it’s always been done.
As an experiential marketer my primary goal now needs to have better motivation.
I was participating in an advertising forum a few days ago where a Jr. creative posed the question of how to stand out and move up as a creative. An ECD on the forum replied that the key to standing out was to craft a solid, integrated, brand campaign based on the strategic needs of the client – and then throw in an experiential idea or two as a bonus. This is epidemic of the problem experiential has faced and will continue to face if we don’t look at the bigger picture and course correct with what we have experienced of late:
Experiences had by one (or a few) can be shared by many.A singular, virtual/digital world pales in comparison to an actual one to one experience. Have you tried a virtual conference from an area with a poor internet connection?
Many people want to be able to control their interactions and feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings.
The course correction needs to start at the campaign level and is achievable with a little onboarding and better understanding of how, and why, experiential works as an integral part of an integrated campaign. The simplest way (and some brands already do this) is using experiential as the hub - feeding social, digital, and commercial needs, or by simply leveraging media added value as part of the program upfront. More complex, and achievable, methods can deliver even greater ROI/ROE for a brand. Recognizing this and putting it into practice paves the way for measurable ROI and modeling that will one day be as accepted as traditional media models.
Brands can recognize and champion this change immediately with a small shift in how they measure success. Experiential marketing veterans can show them how. It will make the industry stronger to embrace change and move forward
Experiential will rebound stronger than ever. It is up to us to make sure we are making that experience stronger than ever.
I’m up for the challenge.
Agree on the outlook of experiential! It's always been about 'experiences' and now they need to be more meaningful than ever! I'm interested to learn more about how SmileDirect uses experiential marketing and what your future looks like. Care to chat? kristy@thebench.us
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristy! I've reached out via email.
Delete