Experiential Marketing
The Future’s So Bright in Experiential Marketing, You Gotta Wear a VR headset
Remember that 80s band, Timbuk3, singing about the future being so bright, you gotta wear shades? Oh sorry, you’re too young. Well, this old bird remembers hip swaying to it in her puffball skirt and RayBans. In fact, the future’s bright enough to wear a Virtual Reality headset, not just sunnies. The Experiential Marketing world is mutating, forging ahead, ever-changing and becoming more sophisticated as time goes on. Consumers are no longer content with being offered some flimsy, unabsorbing experiences that don’t touch the sides and leave them empty and listless. It’s a Brand Eat Brand world out there. Time to get your arsenal in gear.
And we wonderfully generous, market-savvy people at ENGAGE are here to help you pack your brand toolkit choc-full of surprises to ‘wow’ your ‘highly in need of wowing’ target audience.
Firstly, what can you throw out of your existing arsenal of marketing tools; what won’t you need so much in the future of Experiential Marketing? Well, photo booths are tried and tested, although slightly pedestrian, tools for brands. But expect to see fewer of them in 2016. Instead, there will be a shift towards a more immersive photo experience – an actual photo shoot – offering consumers an opportunity to experience a fashion photo shoot as close to ‘realistic’ as possible.
Expect branded charging stations, QR codes, orange skinned, bleach-toothed blondes handing out mini samples of products to all self-combust too, the latter in a toxic ball of hydrogen peroxide and fake tan.
The future isn’t plastic, it’s real.
The future isn’t plastic, it’s real. In fact it’s more than that, it’s SURreal. It’s full to bursting with experience and immersion and unbridled 4Dness. Here are just a few of the wonderful sci-fi tools at our disposal for Experiential Marketing campaigns for 2016 and far, far beyond.
In a galaxy far, far away:
Multisensory experiences
Multisensory experiences refer to Experiential Marketing campaigns that appeal to all the five senses.
Not to be confused with Sting & Trudie-style Tantric Sex or Woody Allen’s Orgasmatron (above), multisensory experiences refer to Experiential Marketing campaigns that appeal to all the five senses – from nose to hand and everything in between, connecting the customer to the brand on a physical and emotional level.
Virtual Reality 3D Worlds
Brands are embracing new, creative ways to utilise virtual reality.
Leaps and bounds have been made in this technology from some slightly laughable, clunky, sci-fi-influenced way to engage in computer games (as in Lawnmower Man – above – still a pretty cool, cult, niche film from the 80s), to the sleek, immersive, modern day VR headset. The sophistication of modern Virtual Reality headsets is driving a renaissance in this space: Brands are embracing new, creative ways to utilise virtual reality in Experiential Marketing. VR allows for full plunging of your audience into your brand – allowing them to connect on a much deeper level.
Witness the 4D Budweiser Beer Garage unveiled at SXSW this year.
This multisensory journey meant consumers were able to see, hear, smell—and finally taste—how Budweiser was made. (Think Smell-O-Vision, but for beer).
This is the way brands are engaging now – four dimensions of connection.
Shipping containers
The refurbished shipping containers also provide that gritty, real, urban cool feeling – less corporate or sterile.
Doing some fun stuff inside these chunky mobile showrooms is very Now (& Tomorrow). Mobile truck activations and refurbished shipping containers started appearing last year, and since then have multiplied like Viagra-fed bunnies across the marketing world. You can style them anywhere you want, then just drive them to your chosen area and voilà! Fully immersive, cutting edge, interesting looking Experiential Marketing campaigns. Tick. The refurbished shipping containers also provide that gritty, real, urban cool feeling – less corporate or sterile. Expect your brand to imprint immediately in customers’ minds.
And if you want to take it one stage further and dive in to that fully immersive brand experience, creating a VIP event, I thought this was a wonderful use of the containers too – converting them into swimming pools.
With a seasoned creative idea from an Event Designer, I could see George and Andrew performing Club Tropicana in one of these while sipping their Pina Coladas.
My 80s upbringing is once again dominating this blog. For the non Gen X’s among you, here’s their brilliant video from yesteryear
Oh yes indeed, the future of Experiential Marketing is so bright you’ll have to wear permanent shades. “Pack your bags and leave tonight. Gotta move your feet, don’t miss the flight!”
