With the economic downturn having a dramatic impact on consumer spending, the big challenge for brands in 2012 is balancing value for money offers with a greater emphasis on consumer experience.
A new class of experienced, well informed consumers who expect the ‘best of the best’ in every purchase is becoming a more powerful resource for information and brand advocacy. Named the Expectation Economy, this consumer trend is encouraging consumers to become savvier and more responsible than ever. The same demanding consumers are also increasingly driven by the desire of being in control of branded activities. According to research from IBM, 78% of consumers are willing to work in collaboration with brands for new products and services that meet their needs. Now more than ever, marketers need to gain real insight into the way customers behave in response to promotional activities, if they want to drive above average returns on their branded promotional efforts.
The digital revolution has empowered people with immediate access to information. They are consistently embracing creative solutions to spend less and enjoy more. Due to the extra interactive and personalised offerings, obtainable over and above traditional marketing tools, experiential marketing is responding to this Expectation Economy with clever use of new technologies and a touch of emotional engagement. But how can you keep up with the changes of such evolving marketing offers and ensure that your experiential efforts are consistent with your overall marketing plan?
The overload of marketing information makes consumers increasingly skeptical about traditional communications. With instant mobile and online access, consumers can read reviews and can be confident that they are getting the best price for the best product or service. When meeting the demands of consumers by creating positive social experiences with your brand, you can reap the rewards from a high level of information sharing and buying intention.
Focusing on the consumer experience is equally important to increase your consumers rates of brand satisfaction. According to Trendwatching, consumers want to walk away from a brand experience feeling like they have been part of something cool, new, and interesting. They want to be seen as being in the know and discuss experiences with their friends. What’s more, a new era of immediacy and transparency has emerged, making consumers more demanding and willing to contribute to the development of new products and services.
With a carefully considered plan and strategy, you can integrate experiential marketing to best effect and cultivate loyalty and affinity towards your brand. Experiential activities can help you gain a real insight into your consumer’s behaviour, whilst simultaneously demonstrating your brand’s value with a real experience. In this way, you can help your audience to understand your brand offerings and craft a coordinated, consistent response according to consumers expectations and needs. This ultimately generate brand loyal customers, who will go out of their way to recommend your brand through word of mouth, both on and offline.
Hotcow is a multi-award winning brand engagement agency specialising in experiential marketing. Our mission is simple: to help brands understand the power of “experience-based marketing” and offer expertise in how to develop, plan and execute campaigns in the right way, to get the right results. For more information or a free consultation contact us.