How An Experience Can Enhance Your Brand
By: Koral Ibrahim
Tags: Marketing, London, Consumer, Experience, Brands

Experiential marketing are what consumers want and your business needs.

They say experience is the best teacher.

And, when it comes to experiential marketing, we can all certainly learn a thing or two.

Experiential marketing is when a brand takes things offline (usually) and invites consumers or users to interact with them in real-time. It’s not simply asking them to sample or try your product — your product might not even feature or be there to purchase — it’s asking them to get stuck in and do something that engages hearts, minds and body.

Google’s 2018 Curiosity Rooms were a perfect example of a great consumer experience. For five weeks, they created a pop-up at 55 Regent Street and put on workshops, talks, podcasts, whilst also laying on food and music. On top of all that, there were two floors of rooms to explore — all of which demonstrated the photos and film capabilities of the Google Pixel 3.

You could dress up and take a picture in the pitch dark in a Christmas family home; whizz down a slide on a hessian sack; vogue it with bold geometric walls; or actually go to the Vogue-partnered room and take a romantic video in a cherry blossom setting. It was fun, convenient, free, and with zero pressure to sign-up or buy anything, it demonstrated the amazing capabilities of the brand in a natural way.

Of course not everyone has the budget of a big brand. But experiential marketing can work, no matter the size of your business.

Recently, we’ve ran two amazing experiences with two iconic London brands. The first, a photographic-focussed workshop with @Skyeoneill at the Artist Residence in Pimlico. And the second, a completely unique Rosé & Oysters + Food Styling Photography masterclass with Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels (CVS) and @MillyKR.

CVS wanted to increase social media check-in, reaching Londoners with a high disposable income, and a keen interest in French food and wine. We targeted this audience by using London food & drink influencer @MillyKR to co-host and promote the event.

Before the experience, Milly ran a competition on her Instagram profile inviting ten guests to join her workshop. In order to win a pair of tickets, participants had to follow the wine bar on Instagram, and tag a friend with whom they’d like to share the experience with. Altogether, there were 12 people in attendance, and the instant documentation from the attendees reached 61k unique users and a total of 83.2k impressions from the use of @CVSLondon within 24hrs. That’s 9x more than the brand’s following on IG.

The Artist Residence (AR) is an extremely photogenic boutique hotel and was one of the first hotels to harness the full power of influencer marketing via Instagram, to promote its beautiful interiors and art. So when we offered to run an interior design photography workshop with the extremely reputable @Skyeoneill, they instantly saw the benefit in greater exposure, and total allegiance with their own social media strategy. They specifically wanted to promote their iconic Grand Suite, plus emphasise the amazing food the hotel offers. This experience with AR allowed the brand to interact and host visitors who had never visited, offering them a 3 course lunch to experience the food and a guided tour around the building to learn more about the brand and the art it has. This was all reinforced by Skye’s photographic guidance, to make sure the visitors captured the experience in the best way possible.

But it’s not just our work with CVS & AR that speaks for itself, when you know that 72% of consumers view brands positively that provide great experiences, and 65% of brands saying that experiential marketing positively correlates to sales, it really is a no-brainer.

And with the younger, activist-focused, less-materialistic generation growing up — 78% of millennials would rather spend money on a memorable experience or event than buy ‘things’ — now is the perfect time to embrace experiential like your life depends on it.

OK, your life might not depend on it, but your business’ does. Just make sure it’s relevant, fun, memorable and convenient, and you’ll be wise in no time.

#DiscoveryIsBeautiful.