Putting Your Marketing Budget Where the Mouth is – Experiential Marketing Works

Experiential Marketing is what we do. But what is this? What does it deliver that other forms of marketing struggle to do? Why are the big brands ploughing more money into experiential marketing? Keep reading to find out the answers.

What is experiential marketing?

Essentially, this form of marketing is based on creating a memorable experience between the consumer and the brand. And it’s bucking a trend because, in recent years, brands have chosen to assign a growing share of their marketing budget to online marketing, like pay per click ads, apart from experiential marketing.
Not only has spending on experiential remained strong in the face of digital marketing, but it is also growing. Recent statistics show that as a marketing tool, businesses and organisation are spending more and more money on experiential marketing for the last four years – and looks set to continue to grow.

And that’s something we can confirm because, as the go-to hire a crowd agency, we can confirm this is the case.

Why is experiential marketing such a success?

There are many reasons why but hiring a crowd for a PR stunt or a flash mob for a promotion, for example, delivers on many levels including;

Experiential marketing suits every sector, every industry, every brand

A blanket statement it may be BUT, you need to create the right experiential marketing event in order to connect with your customers in the right way. It is, however, a marketing tool that can mould, morph and fit every brand, whether you sell washing machines or funeral services and whether this is on the high street or, as in this case study, online.

A well-known online retailer wanted to give the recipients of their staff awards a memorable entrance to their event. Hiring a crowd, their staff members were treated like Hollywood superstars as they walked the red carpet into the awards ceremony. Held in a prominent location, it attracted a huge amount of attention from passers-by. With their brand name blazing across the venue, their customers saw just how well they treat their staff, a fact that will stick with them for some time, adding to their brand persona.

It works if the event is appropriate for your brand and customers base and only if delivered by skilled experiential marketing people

It isn’t just a case of gathering a group of people and asking them to “whoop” when someone arrives. Experiential marketing is a specific type of marketing tool that requires both skill and experience to pull it off.

For example, in the midst of the thronging crowd of actors and performers were people who were drawn in to see what was happening. The truly successful flash mob or hired crowd won’t come across as fake – but that takes practice and skill.

It’s a sticky memory experience

You know the type of thing: an experience that sticks with you, one that is talked about long after the crowds have dispersed. In the case of the online retailer who hired a crowd of cheering fans, the people who came over to see what was going on will all have mentioned it to someone later that evening, the next day or even the following week. And their conversation would have been something like this, “You should have seen it! [Brand] held their awards ceremony at Leicester Square…”

In the digital age, word of mouth is still powerful and still important. So why wouldn’t you want to lift your next marketing campaign from the page and the screen by hiring a group of professional performers to create a sticky memory experiential marketing event?

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