Why Does the Younger Generation Love Experiential Marketing?

By September 15, 2016General

The millennial generation, known more commonly to some as “Digital Natives”, are a group of people who love tracking down and exploring “special moments” that they can enjoy on a social level.

Brands that fail to create those moments with their marketing campaigns, are missing out on an advertising solution that grabs the attention of one of the biggest markets ever. After all, by 2017, the spending power of the average millennial will increase to be more than any other age group.

When it comes to addressing an audience that’s all about experience, experiential marketing efforts have the opportunity to transform people from passive consumers, into active participants in a brand.

Prioritizing “Experience” over “Stuff”

Unlike previous generations who were all about saving money for fancy cars and incredible homes, Millennials are less likely to prize the “stuff” around them. Instead, they place the largest degree of their importance on personal experiences, and sharing those experiences with other people through pictures, social media, and other measures.

In other words, millennials believe that money was made for making memories, with 77% choosing to spend their income on experiences – rather than items.

In a world where marketers are struggling to remain “in touch” with their most valuable audiences, embracing this love of experience could be the most valuable step in creating advertising schemes that actually engage the largest available market. Anything that younger generations can “interact” with is bound to generate interest.

Even if it’s just a one-time event that sparks long-term interest. After all, one incredible event can be all the prompting a person needs to keep visiting a company’s website, reading their articles, and checking them out on social media.

Embracing Experiential Marketing

While experiential marketing might not be the “only” solution for some companies, it certainly represents a huge portion of the future for marketing success. Without experiential, companies will find it increasingly difficult to capture the attention of the audience that’s most important to the growth and continued development of their business.

Technology, content, and other marketing schemes may all still be necessary – but when it comes to engaging millennials – they should be used as a complementary scheme designed to support an experience.

After all, the most lucrative generation are no longer interested in what your product or service can do for them, they’re interested in the experience they can get with you, as a brand.

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.