People come to the Olympics to be part of the crowd, the experience and the buzz. Creating an experience that will engage people in a unique, memorable and relevant manner will add to their experience and their memory of your brand.
Did your water save them on a long journey home? Did you chocolate bar give them the extra energy to keep going all day? Or did your hire car help them make their way from A-B faster than the train? What ever the product or the service there is a reason for being the one to stand out in the Olympic crowd against your competitors.
Here are 5 top tips when you are thinking about preparing an experiential activity during the 2012 Olympic Games.
1. Legal ramifications – Know where you can go to conduct your activity and where you cannot go
Many brands have already joined in the big race to bag sponsorships slots for 2012 Olympics. However, if you cannot afford an official association with your brand you need to be aware of the legal aspects to ensure you will not get caught out with a marketing bill as well as a legal fine.
LOCOG is imposing restrictions on ambush marketing in the proximity of games venues. According to Marketing Week report , London venues affected include Earls Court, ExCel, Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade, Hyde Park and Lord’s Cricket Ground. This is to guarantee that “spectators are not bombarded by commercial messages from other companies who have not invested in the 2012 Games”. The same regulations might be applied for social media activities so you need to be aware of all legal implications to avoid pitfalls and get the most out of you expenditures.
2. Know what you want to get out of your campaign and the memory you want to leave behind with your audience
In a multicultural event as the Olympics, brands will try to get the most of spectators’ experience. The average number of campaigns consumers are exposed to every day is very high and giving people a remarkable experience that is relevant to the event will help to create an emotional connection to the brand and generate further conversations on the product.
To get the most out of your campaign and stand out from other brands you need to target the right message to your audience. As long as the experience is consistent with your brand value and message, the scope for interpretation is vast and therefore you will be able to engage consumers in a two-way conversation and build emotional bonds to your brand.
3. Be realistic about your expectations and the cut through results
When working in a dynamic and ever-changing human environment there is a large variation on economical aspects with regards to proving ROI. One of the challenges of promoting an experiential activity during the Olympics is to create innovative and exciting experiences that will improve the ROI and provide accountability.
Before launching your experiential campaign, you need to look carefully at understanding the environment and knowing how and where to place your experiential activity in order to maximize your results. After responding with an appropriate strategic approach you will be able to deliver a remarkable brand experience and the ROI becomes easier to track and measure.
4. Target the audience in the right way – Know where, why and how you plan and evaluate this information
Experiential marketing allow brands to create a new channel of communication with the target audience engaging them in a two-way communication with the brand. Indeed, the higher the density of the right target audience the better the end result for the brand.
Planning and ongoing evaluation are key to targeted engagement. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of your experiential activity, it is important to set measurable objectives considering the target audience, location and messages that will be used. Targeting your audience in the right way will certainly motivate consumers to talk about the brand.
5. Breaking through the clutter – How can you outperform your competitors during the lead up to the Olympics so your brand stays top of mind
As we have previously discussed, experiential marketing is about breaking to the clutter of the myriad marketing messages consumers are exposed everyday. The value of an experiential activity is to allow consumers to experience or immerse themselves with the brand and understand the message they are conveying. Whether it is a product launch, increase brand awareness or just drive sales, you need to know how you will make your experience last.
In a report about the most recognized Olympics sponsorship, Marketing Week state that “consumers say the most important values brands should display in their Olympic campaigns are: developing British talent, GB athletes and healthy lifestyles”. However, for a multicultural crowd such as the Olympics it is important to know how to make the right choices to suit your brand.
Experiential marketing can achieve a face-to-face engagement with your target audience and enable them to emotionally connect with the brand.
Hotcow can help your brand break through the clutter and stand out during the 2012 Olympic Games. For more information, contact us.