How Experiential Marketing Events Can Inspire People To Choose Your Brand

Experiential marketing is a growing trend. Although the name sounds fancy, it’s another way to describe live event marketing. Diving a bit deeper into it, you’ll learn that experiential marketing events are a highly successful way of getting your existing audience to participate and engage with your brand while drawing the attention of new potential customers.

We’ve picked four of our favourites to give you an idea of what kinds of events have done the rounds and been successful over the past couple of years. Read about them below, and if you’ve got some event envy flowing through your veins, give us a shout!

3D-Printed Oreos

Although this activation took place in 2014, 3D-printing tech has come a long way since then and is better than ever. Mondelez International, Oreo’s parent company, linked up with a printing agency capable of 3D printing edible biscuits, allowing attendees at the event to print their own personalised Oreo cookies. Twitter, also part of the activation idea, provided real-time inspiration for cookie-design ideas via hashtags.

We loved the idea that cookies, 3D printing and social media are not necessarily linked items. However, with some creative thinking, all three came together to create a unique experience via a fun and innovative activity. And if this is what they could do nine years ago, imagine what’s possible now!

The Living Portrait of NYC

One thing about Malta is that we take our local culture very seriously, and the same can be said of many New Yorkers and their distinct way of life. Citizens Bank sought to celebrate what it meant to be a local, showing that it was willing to become part of the city too. This was made possible through hundreds of hours of interviews alongside the work of some local artists who launched “The Living Portrait of NYC”.

This experiential campaign lasted ten days and did more than simply show that it was happy to be part of New York. It also gave the locals a chance to see themselves from a different perspective; the eyes of their neighbours.

Similarly, there’s plenty to celebrate about being Maltese; maybe it’s time to remind the locals just how great they are. Is your brand going to be the one to do it?

M&M Flavour Rooms

Food and beverage companies regularly seek to create new flavours to keep their current audience engaged while drawing in new members to the fold. The best way of going about this is not set in stone, so whether you rely on a team of scientists to create the best possible flavour, quietly test options in forum groups or just go all out in public, it’s really and truly up to you.

That’s precisely what M&M’s parent company Mars, Incorporated did. By setting up an immersive pop-up experience in New York City, people got to experience M&Ms like never before. Different flavours were experienced via “flavour rooms”, complete with their décor and smells, with various snacks and drinks available, including M&M-themed cocktails.

The takeaway is that there’s more than one way for your customer base to experience your brand. If it’s food, look beyond taste. If it’s clothes, look beyond your physical store. The other key point is that your customers are best positioned to tell what’s working and what’s not with your brand.

Experiential campaigns are a surefire way of connecting with your customers, learning about them and yourself (your brand), and providing them with another way of enjoying your product.

The Secret Kind Snacks Farmers Market

A big deal is made of quality ingredients that go into certain snacks, and rightly so. However, KIND Snacks wanted to show just how healthy their snacks are. Hence, they devised an innovative contraption involving a fake vending machine.

People looking to get their hands on a snack from the vending machine had the machine open up and lead them to a farmers market, with baskets of fresh produce available for free. While we’re well aware that the “free veg” mechanism might not resonate with everyone, it’s the idea of aligning the brand with the healthiest food available. And if it’s home-grown, then so much the better!

The surprise of the interaction makes this experiential event work, and the promotion is done via social media. Whether you align with influencers or encourage people to come to pick up their fruit and veg in a different way, it’s another way of engaging people and encouraging them to be healthy.

Get your thinking hat on

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to engage current and potential audiences by tapping into their curiosity. Outdoor experiential events celebrated on social media can quickly go viral, especially if you’re positioning your brand in a new and exciting way.

If you feel your brand is due to refresh or a product launch, get in touch with us today! We’ve got plenty of ideas already, so get your thinking hat on; let’s brainstorm and develop an experiential marketing campaign that will blow people’s minds and your competition right out of the water!