Experiential marketing is all about two things: 1) involvement and 2) engagement. This can be a great transition phase for a brand campaign that has run its course. Brand is a living thing, propelled by a living market, and getting the audience involved in your brand campaign is a sure-fire way of holding their attention. Create a deeper dialogue with your consumers.

Experiential Marketing

(Click to see video) Image provided courtesy of the Edmonton Journal, under the creative commons license.

In 2009, James Ready beer ran a consumer-oriented campaign by asking its drinkers “How can James Ready Help You”? The company ended up paying for a wedding in Windsor Ontario, complete with a James Ready beer bottle cake and a stocked bar. Not only did the entire event serve as one large advertisement for the company, it gave James Ready humanity and a good name – advertisements subtly infiltrating the thank you speeches and photographs.

Marketing Magazine also reported a new experiential effort by Lays Chips to enhance their Canadian consumers’ relationship with their brand and to speak to their national identity. “Chip trips” initiated last year, helps Canadians discover Canada by organizing national trip discounts that Lays buyers are exclusively privy to. The product infiltrates the life and experiences of its consumers, ultimately impacting them positively and earning their commitment.

The best way to reach out is to engage. This can be done by any company large or small, independent of product, industry, or service, and the dialogue between crowd and client is getting more and more personal and invested.

mph