Well, Christmas has been and gone for another year, and it meant a frenzy of spending for most customers. Since any seasonal holiday represents an amazing opportunity for marketers, it’s important to know how you can make yourself stand out in time for the big occasion.
Fantastic holiday marketing campaigns come in a range of different shapes and sizes – but they all have one very important thing in common – they keep your customers happy. Creating an immersive and engaging brand experience that turns your customers into loyal brand followers can promote fantastic things for your marketing efforts.
Let’s look at how brands used experiential as a tool for delighting customers this festive season, even if we didn’t notice it.
1. They got in the spirit
When you’re developing a creative concept for a holiday season, it’s important to keep the themes of the day in mind. At Christmas, this means that you’re all about recreating and emphasising the magic of Yuletide.
Whichever holiday you’re targeting, examine what matters to your customers at that time of year with polls and questionnaires, then use that to inform your decision for experiential in the year ahead.
2. They Made the Most of Nostalgia
Perhaps one of the most significant parts of Christmas, is the nostalgia it generates through everything from smells, to sights and sounds.
Stimulating your customer’s senses is essential in experiential marketing, and it can be even more important when you’re trying to incorporate the festive spirit. Did you notice the scent of gingerbread and cinnamon in any shops? Or any brands using splashes of gold, red, and green in their campaigns?
Aim for the same consistency at Valentine’s Day and see the effect…
3. They Added Some VR Magic
When you’re looking for a way to stimulate your audience, why not get them deeply involved with a virtual reality experience?
VR is still a novel and exciting concept around the world today, and it’s a great way to immerse your customers in your brand experience. TGI Fridays created a VR experience with their virtual dog-sledge trip last year, using an Oculus headset!
4. They Were Generous
Finally, generosity is a big part of any holiday season. Most of the time, experiential marketing is all about bringing brands to live and immersing consumers in their universe. Since one of the best ways to do this is to give people a taste of your brand, why not try some product testing, giveaways, or live demos?
Since a lot of different brands offer certain Christmas deals, some stood out by giving away gifts, products, and delivering a memorable brand experience.
In 2015, the WestJet company launched their “Christmas Miracle” campaign, where a Santa Claus asked passengers what they wanted Christmas. When the customers picked up their bags, they discovered the gifts that they had asked for waiting for them.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442, or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
