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Why Experiential Marketing at Festivals Just Has to Change

Posted by Claire Hutchings on March 25th, 2013 at 2:46 am

The summer brings with it festival season and whilst Glastonbury or Reading may not always be bathed in sunshine, music lovers still flock in their thousands. In a recent blog, I explored the pressures being faced by the music festival industry, particularly those that had problems last year and importantly, I looked into why experiential marketers must up their game if they are going to generate positive results from festivals.
According to recent statistics, over half of festival goers in 2012 won’t be attending one this year, and whilst many festivals will still be sold out, there are many arguing that the over commercialisation of festivals is limiting their use as a promotional opportunity.
A recent post on the iD Experiential blog, by iD Staffing Account Director, Anna Brettie Jones hopes to show that experiential marketers can still utilise music festivals – they just have to deliver credible experiences. Credibility can be achieved, but the days of simply sponsoring a bar tent are gone. To leverage value from a festival, you have to deliver an experience that enhances the overall experience, adding value in a way that is aligned with your USPs and brand.
Within the blog Anna has highlighted some great... Read more

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Experiential Advertising this Christmas

Posted by Claire Hutchings on December 19th, 2012 at 2:37 am

I wrote a post recently on the iD Experiential blog about how many brands have been trying something a little different this Christmas to interact with consumers in the hope that they can build longer-term relationships with them.
Brands have been spending big bucks on their advertising and marketing campaigns at Christmas time for years. The influx of consumers buying gifts for loved ones means that competition is high and it has often been the advertisers with the (delete as appropriate) wittiest / most heart-warming / biggest media budgets that have won over the Christmas Consumer.
However this year it seems that many brands have taken a more experiential approach to their traditional seasonal marketing,
John Lewis’ Snowman tour has bought its now infamous Christmas Ad to life allowing shoppers to get their photo taken with the cute Snowman character on his journey around the UK. His location gets revealed daily on Twitter!
Meanwhile Marmite has bought in an experiential and digital element to their sponsorship of the Oxford St Christmas Lights. Consumers upload a photo of themselves via Facebook, the best of which feature on the lights themselves, turning the simple sponsorship deal into something far more immersive!
It seems perhaps that cash strapped... Read more

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Using Tweets as currency — What value is it to your brand?

Posted by Claire Hutchings on November 14th, 2012 at 3:53 am

In my last post on the iMedia Connection blog I spoke about how social media was an inevitable addition to experiential marketing campaigns. I mentioned iD Experiential’s recent campaign for ASUS to promote their award winning Zen Book where consumers could tweet or check-in at the stand to receive a free herbal tea. It seems though that the idea of using social media interactions as a currency has been taken to another level by some companies.
Both Kellogg's and TopShop – huge high street names – have recently launched experiential campaigns whereby consumers can tweet to purchase their products.
Kellogg's fans could purchase the new Special K Cracker Crisps not with money but a simple hash tag #TweetShop. While over the Halloween period TopShop’ers tweeted #TrickorTweet with their fashion tips – those deemed the best were rewarded with £100 to spend in store.
You can find out more about these campaigns here
The ability to convert tweets into currency is not merely beneficial to those receiving the “free” product, like a traditional competition or coupon giveaway would be – it’s much bigger than that! By turning tweets into wonga brands launch themselves back in to the social networking sphere allowing their followers to become advocates... Read more

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Experiential marketing and social media integration . . . a no-brainer

Posted by Claire Hutchings on October 30th, 2012 at 2:25 am

You don’t need me to tell you that social networking sites have exploded, changing the way we interact forever. With the virtual world taking over the real world we all become ever more glued to our smartphones - it‘s therefore only natural that brands should exploit this in their marketing to consumers. Even Tesco CEO Philip Clarke agrees saying in a recent speech to the IGD Convention, “digital technology has given brands the chance to forge a personal relationship with every customer”.
While there is a lot of hype around the use of digital and social media in marketing, this does not have to be to the detriment of experiential marketing budgets. In fact it is becoming more and more obvious that the two not only complement one another but can be instrumental in enhancing brands campaigns producing increased reach, consumer data, geo targeting, amplification and essentially increased ROI.
Here are a couple of examples of recent campaigns that have utilised social media, introducing an exponential element to each campaign that has increased interactions – and ultimately sales.
Alpro – Enjoy Plant Power
Alpro has long invested in experiential marketing – understanding its benefits to drive trial of a product that has been historically... Read more

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