What is Experiential Marketing?

Why is Experiential Marketing Important?

Experiential marketing is more important today than ever. Why? Because organizations are focusing more and more on digital marketing and improving their brand visibility online, the practice of experiential marketing enhances brand recognition by providing a memorable experience. The more engaging and interactive the experience, the more memorable.

Experiential marketing combined with digital marketing provides synergy resulting in an overall better brand presence, recall, and recognition. Experiential marketing is among the best methods to increase brand loyalty and consumer satisfaction. Two main reasons why experiential marketing is so important to an organization.

Want more information about the importance of experiential marketing?

If you are interested in a more thorough discussion of why experience marketing is so important, you may wish to read the Forbes article “3 Reasons Why CMOs Should Embrace Experiential Marketing“.

Experiential Marketing Examples

The Webolutions’ blog provides many examples of experiential, or experience, marketing.  Here are a few well-known examples of companies that deliver an exceptional marketing experience.

Disney Delivers Outstanding Customer Experience

You get it if you have been fortunate enough to visit Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or any other Disney theme park. Our own John Vachalek previously wrote about Disney as an Experience Marketing Example. A lot has changed since then… (click the title above to learn more)

Nike an Integrated Brand Experience

Nike is one of those companies that really “gets it.” Let’s look at the integrated marketing basics of Nike. First of all, Nike has a very specific look to their ads…

The Coca-Cola Experience

Coca-Cola is consistently ranked as the most recognized brand in the world. As well, Diet Coke recently became the 2^nd most globally consumed soft drink, beating out Pepsi.

More Examples of Experiential Marketing

So who is doing experiential marketing, and doing it well?

1. Balisteri Vineyards Annual Children’s Wine Stomp – Done every year at the Festival Italiano at Belmar, kids can sign up for free, kick off their shoes (and rinse their feet), and jump into one of the dozens of huge bins of grapes. The juices from the stomping are then collected and will become Balisteri’s Little Feet Merlot for the next year. Parents can pre-purchase the wine at the event, and be able to later drink wine from the fruits of their children’s labor. Each year, participants from last year’s stomp can sample the just-released version of Little Feet Merlot from the tasting tent and purchase the wine on-site. This is an engaging event, allowing consumers to experience the wine!
2. Behr “Paint Your Place” – This online tool is on Behr’s website and allows users to upload photos of their home, and then “paint” it online, using Behr paint. You can enter color names/numbers, browse their book of colors, or visit their “inspiration library” to find colors/color schemes you like from photo galleries. You can even create custom paint colors online, and order the paint right there. What a great way to allow consumers to envision Behr paint in their home!
3. Hammer Nutrition Giveaways – Hammer Nutrition is a product used for endurance athletes, used before, during, and after long, sustained stints of exercise. Hammer strategically shows up at endurance-type events (i.e. – marathons), and hands out their products to runners, in the middle of races. Runners and other athletes can use the product when needed and experience its benefits first-hand. (I found out about Hammer Nutrition products on a recent hike of a Colorado 14er – I met two distance runners on the summit, and they were happily enjoying the free products that Hammer had given them during their last race. They were raving about the product, and shared what they had with me – how’s that for referral marketing?
4. Car Dealership “Loaning” Cars – Last year, my car was in desperate need of repair (it was on its last leg, and I knew it would need to be replaced sooner than later.) I brought it to my dealership for repair, and they were nice enough to “lend” me one of their new Lexus models while mine was being fixed. I might add that this loaner car was WAY nicer than the car I was having repaired. For the two days, my car was in the shop; I was able to “experience” life in a Lexus. All the little nuances that can’t be described or explained in an ad, all the little things that were “cool” or “convenient” to me, I was able to see and experience firsthand, and visualize my life in a Lexus. Smart move on the dealership’s part – they got me hooked on and wanting to purchase a car that I would have never otherwise have considered.
5. IKEA Hotels – IKEA is beginning to furnish certain hotels with their products. These hotels get a complete makeover – beds, tables, sofas, chairs, utensils, and kitchenware. This lets people live with IKEA for a few days and experience their brand, rather than just touching it briefly at an IKEA store.

To succeed with Experiential Marketing, it should be delivered through truly genuine experiences, and when it is relevant and meaningful to that person.

5 Experiential Marketing Ideas and Tips:

1. Give the users something to talk about. Be it a unique feature or benefit; people can better refer to their experience if there is something worth sharing.
2. Give users the opportunity to truly experience your product or service, which will dramatically help them talk about the experience (see Hammer Nutrition example above!)
3. Utilize social media and drive people to these mediums to talk about their experiences. This allows all the positive feedback and personal experiences to live in publicly accessible areas, so that they are visible for others to see, thus becoming a trusted referral source.
4. Take the good and the bad. When opening yourself up for public commentary, be prepared and welcome both the good and bad. Negative comments should be addressed and used to make your product/offering even better (if the comment is constructive, of course). Make sure you’re ready to answer questions, respond to complaints, and openly consider any suggestions.
5. Utilize this feedback to continue to innovate your product, using comments to feed your ideas for new features and additions of the product – this will in turn give your consumers more to talk about.

If you want to learn more about experiential marketing or want help defining your experience, schedule a free consultation today!

Video Examples of Experiential Marketing

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Schedule an appointment, call 303-632-9632, or email [email protected].