Time to Experience Experiential Marketing

Experiential differs from traditional marketing in that instead of telling people things, you allow them to experience the benefits of your product, service or brand, for themselves.

Experiential Marketing affords customers and prospects the opportunity to have face-to-face and other highly personalized experiences with brands, products and services. This provides customers with the information they need to make wise purchasing decisions.

According to Universal McCann, more than 15% of all advertising is nontraditional/ experiential marketing. According to another study, over $100 billion is invested annually in these areas—as other media, particularly broadcast, is more apt to be blocked or simply diluted in effectiveness by the wide array of media now available.

Eighty-one percent of companies recently polled reported doing some type of experiential marketing. Their defined objectives were to build relationships, increase loyalty, convey information, enhance brands, generate leads and sell products.

A recent study conducted by The Meeting Professionals International Foundation and The George P. Johnson Company showed that marketing leaders are relying heavily on experiential programs in their marketing campaigns. Those interviewed reported investing an average of 25% of their budgets in this type of marketing.

When they were asked which of their marketing programs provides the greatest ROI, experiential marketing was ranked first!

The Communication Building Blocks of Effective Experiential Marketing:

  • Sense
  • Feel
  • Think
  • Act
  • Relate

Types of Experiential Marketing Programs:

  • Events: user conferences, sales meetings, parties, sports-tie-ins, awards programs
  • Trade Shows: industry exhibitions, annual meetings, symposia
  • Lifestyle: walk sponsorships, game branding & placement, product trial centers and activities
  • Mobile Tours: semi-trailer exhibits, territory blitzes
  • Product Sampling: gift bags, hand-outs, trial sizes, try-me promotions
  • Guerilla: Buzz Squads, Street Teams, staged outdoor events, bar & restaurant promotions
  • Retail-tainment: in-store performances, celebrity appearances, makeovers, demonstrations
  • Environmental: office/facility signage & branding, décor and tour

The Bottom Line

Experiential Marketing has become a key ingredient of modern integrated marketing campaigns with more and more creative applications being conceived, everyday, to cut-through the communications clutter and afford enhanced return-on-marketing–investment.

Esprit Productions is a full service meeting, events and communications company focused exclusively on engaging your audience, inspiring enthusiasm, providing clarity, building esprit de corp and creating memorable moments for your audience.

Ron Springer
President & Executive Producer
Esprit Productions
520 N. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 10, Libertyville, IL 60048
847-549-6200 ext. 1 (o)/847-207-8333 (c)
rons@espritpro.com