Ninety-five percent of marketers believe that live events give the opportunity to form an in-person connection and by 2020 it’s projected that the customer experience will overtake price and product as key brand differentiators.
In the spirit of these stats and as a guide to inspire your experiential marketing efforts, let’s take a look at four examples of brands who are leading in the space:
Refinery29’s 29Rooms
Three years ago lifestyle brand Refinery29 introduced 29Rooms, an event the company refers to as “a funhouse of style, culture, and creativity.” The curated spaces are designed in partnership with leading consumer-facing brands including Dunkin’ Donuts, Dyson and Cadillac, visionaries, and creators including artists and musicians.
The goal of each room is to inspire visitors to create, explore, and feel as though they have a canvas to step outside their comfort zone and engage with thought-provoking art. For instance, the 2019 theme of 29Rooms is “Turn It Into Art.” One of the 29 curated rooms featured punching gloves participants could try on that would result in a different sound depending on what they hit and the nature of the contact.
When looking to engage meaningfully, brands must not be afraid to be radical with their creative ideas but at the same time understand what their consumers want and leverage the power of leaders in the space to help elevate these stories.
House of Vans
Founded in 1966, Vans has remained true its pillars of action sports, music, art, and street culture. To maintain its authenticity and creativity around this mission, the company has recently hosted a series of pop-up locations within major city hubs including New York and Chicago offering the mutual benefit of bringing the skateboarding community together and in addition to promoting products including a new shoe line in partnership with David Bowie.
Showing its commitment to diversity, Vans also used these spaces to support International Women’s Day through live music, skate sessions, and film screenings. What is important to note from this overarching strategy is that deeply understanding your audiences’ interests, values and hobbies pays dividends in sustaining long-term relationships and growing your community. Find the natural lift and give your audience the space to have fun and celebrate common experiences that naturally align with your brand.
Netflix
To commemorate the 16th anniversary of the launch of Gilmore Girls and the release of its reunion season, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life which aired in November 2016, Netflix turned more than 200 coffee houses across the nation into Luke’s Diners. Locations were complete with authentic details including aprons and hats worn by Luke Danes, and mugs with fan-favorite quotes written on them. A few of the coffee mugs also contained hidden messages underneath their sleeves offering several months of Netflix access for free.
Using independent coffee shops gave audience members the authentic experience they wanted while translating into personalized content on social media that drove buzz around the celebration and awareness for the upcoming series.
Warner Brothers x Superfly
More recently, Warner Brothers teamed up with Superfly to celebrate the 25-year reunion of Friends by creating an extended immersive experience including nine rooms each dedicated to the beloved main characters. This not only gave fans a chance to recreate their favorite scenes in real life, but resulted in photo ops with actual props from the show they could share and document on social media.
In an age of increasing digital experiences, creating face-to-face experiences between brands and audiences is growing in importance. Not only can it bolster a long-standing connection with your audience by allowing consumers to get to know you and what you stand for, but it can provide you with insightful data that allows you to hone your strategies over time.
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