As marketers, we’re all after the same thing: that coveted space at the front of consumers’ minds. If consumers don’t connect with your brand, you’ll fail to make it to the shortlist.
Today, consumers tend to choose products and services that not only align with their lives, but transform their lives. As such, brands that offer authentic and meaningful experiences will be the ones that succeed in connecting with consumers.
These experiences can take many forms, from an interactive mobile video ad, to an experiential activation. But the more compelling the experience, the faster you’ll build brand loyalty. In fact, the experience you provide will become your brand in your customers’ minds.
So, without further ado, here are our top tips for creating a brand experience your customers won’t forget:
- Understand your audience:
Gaining extensive audience insight should be the starting point of your brand experience. You need to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time. - Tailor the experience using technology, to engage your audience:
This means staying at the cutting edge of innovation.A bespoke digital installation may be well suited to a game-show style experience at a shopping centre for example, while sophisticated technology like Oculus Rift can be incorporated into higher budget experiences. - Location, location, location:
Thoroughly research your location. Will it reach your target market? If your target consumer is a 60+ female, deploying a live brand experience in Central London on a Saturday night won’t do you any favours.Equally, don’t be tempted to target Shoreditch just because it’s a trendy area. Understand exactly who your audience is and it will lead you to where they are. - Set KPIs for measurement early on:
When setting KPI’s, make sure you define your expectations for each activity. Experiential campaigns can have wide-ranging objectives, from delivering X amount of samples, to generating x thousands of YouTube views.Bear in mind that every influencer you contact could potentially reach out to hundreds or thousands of loyal followers, allowing your story to live on beyond the initial experience.
We’re in a new age of marketing, where technology, innovation and brand experience converge.
In order to capture the minds and hearts of consumers, we need to create emotional affinity.
Look at how art marketing succeeds in this area. Artists focus on leveraging emotion and the results can see pieces of work selling for millions.
A multi-sensory experience with a brand can create that elusive meaningful connection that will have people talking and sharing long after the curtains close.
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.
