Experiential marketing driving ROI and reach for big brands

Live event marketing is quickly becoming one of the best ways for big brands to boost engagement by delivering exciting experiences and personalised content to end-users. A new study has found that three-quarters of consumers are more likely to buy products and services if they are being promoted at branded live events.

Experiential marketing is defined as an “on-ground” strategy that invites and encourages consumers to be a part of the evolution of a brand. These new and highly creative initiatives tap into social media platforms by encouraging live streams, selfies, snaps, Tweets and written posts, which amplify the reach of the event and enable publishers to glean real-time insights that can be used to inform and enrich marketing campaigns.

Live events, which can range from small activations to huge sponsorships, are also great for driving direct return on investment via immediate sales, on-site sign-ups and customer data. In an era where real one-to-one engagement is becoming a challenge for brands, these events provide a means to creating rich, emotional and lasting connections with consumers.

The CEO of experiential agency George P. Johnson, Chris Meyer, said: “This is being driven by three things: 1. A shift in preferences by millennials who not only expect but prefer experiences over any other engagement. 2. Data-driven platforms that allow hyper-personalisation and much stronger metrics. 3. Heightened creative thinking applied to experience design to create unique and valuable interactions. Experiential has finally taken its place at the adult table as it relates to marketing mix and investment.”

A new report published by the Event Marketing Institute has found that 72 per cent of consumers have a positive outlook on brands that deliver quality event experiences and content, while 74 per cent are more likely to buy a promoted product. Experiential is emerging as a key strategy for brands, as more than half of the marketers surveyed said that they would now be increasing the amount that they spend on live-participation marketing.

Netflix recently used experiential for the promotion of its new Gilmore Girls series, which has a strong millennial audience. More than 200 coffee shops in the US were transformed into the fictional diner in the show, while agency Allied Experiential was brought in to determine the locations that would best drive its reach.