Experiential marketing is becoming increasingly sophisticated, due to advances in digital technology, which continue to push the immersive possibilities, via audiovisual displays and projections.
The combination of immersive art and product marketing enables businesses to bring their brands to life, inviting current and potential new customers to enter a truly engaging environment that expresses the values of a brand, while presenting an engaging story.
Here are three examples of immersive artistic marketing in action.
Becks Vier
This visionary approach was used by Becks in 2009 to promote their Vier brand. Under the direction of a creative agency, Becks created an art installation of Beer Taps and a seafloor of beer bottles, along with a DJ, who was pulling pints. The Beer Taps had integral micro-switches that triggered the sounds and lighting effects, as the DJ pulled on the beer pumps.
The advert was part of a campaign entitled ‘Vier Music Inspires Art’ and the resulting video immediately went viral.
The seamless blend of artistic concept and effective communication helped reposition the Becks brand as trendy and edgy, to appeal to its young target market.
Converse
Shoe manufacturer Converse also went down this route with their ‘Canvas Experiment: Video Game’ ad. They created a unique way to play retro arcade game, Space Invaders, using analogue/digital crossover technology.
The Canvas looks like a screen from afar, but closer inspection reveals it as a giant matrix of pixels, made up of nearly 500 Converse shoes. Each shoe is mounted on a servomotor and can rotate 180 degrees, so users can interact with them.
Converse took the canvas on a European tour to Paris, Berlin and Madrid, where the originality of the game, coupled with the extensive brand exposure saw sales rise by 50%, and online fans increase by 800,000.
Kasabian Football Hero
Another example, which combines music and digital technology, was Sony & Umbro’s Football Hero game. The two mega brands joined forces to promote Kasabian’s new single Underdog, and Umbro’s ‘Football Wardrobe’ clothing line, with their Guitar Hero style video game, using footballs. The game was staged in a warehouse, as a three-storey high game, where instead of pressing buttons on a plastic replica guitar, freestyle footballers had to kick footballs at coloured buttons on a wall several yards away in time to a fret board display projected above, in order to hit the right notes of Underdog.
The concept was a creative collaboration of gaming, football and music, all of which appeal to the target market of both brands.
The popularity of immersive campaigns such as these, demonstrate that marketers are increasingly embracing the possibilities of using art, technology and culture to breathe life into their brands and provide a full, immersive experience for the consumer.
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.
