What makes a delicious, oven-baked cake come alive? It’s the homemade frosting just like your grandma used to make, right! Remember how she would let you help, mixing the eggs, putting it in the oven, getting to lick the batter from the bowl with your fingers. You can taste that cake as you read this because of the joy that experience brought you.
Experiential Marketing is the frosting. It is the topping that gets all the talk. It makes the experience of interacting with your product better! It elevates your brand by choosing to interact with your customers. And as a consumer, it makes you want to share your experience with others. It makes your loyalty to that product stronger. It solidifies your commitment to purchase again and to recruit others to purchase based on your interactions with that company and its products. “Be like me and trust me when I tell you that this is the best ________________ ever! (fill in the blank)
So, when it comes to buying media, why do so many brands want to just give us their version of an unfrosted cake? A concert by your favorite artist just singing their hits is just that. But a concert by your favorite artist singing their hits along with pyrotechnics, live animals, singing while swinging from a cable high above the crowd along with guest appearances, now that’s a show! That’s an SSM, (Sharable Selfie Moment).
Experiential Marketing can help elevate the traditional media you purchase. Traditional media helps you to reach your consumers and potential customers in a broad, net casting way. It’s tried, true, and proven to be effective. But why not enhance that reach with engagement? It’s relatively inexpensive compared to the bulk of your overall marketing budget, and if done correctly, can give you a return that can blow up the internet, get you on every local and national news broadcast and be the topic on every radio station in town. How much would it cost you to purchase that additional exposure?
What if your children got to ride a slide at a ballpark that was the same slide found on a cruise ship? Now how would they react when they saw the commercial on television for a family cruise vacation? Would decorating a Christmas tree lot in the theme of a Christmas movie, along with free goodies for your entire family encourage you to watch that movie when you got home? Imagine the sky all over Los Angeles suddenly lit up for 26 miles with high-powered spotlights. All to showcase the power of your favorite running shoe company and their willingness to give back through their annual marathon event. What radio DJ or news anchor wouldn’t be talking about that the following morning? Giant King Kong footprints from home plate to the centerfield wall at Dodger Stadium to promote a new ride at your favorite amusement park. Wouldn’t that help with the excitement of taking the family to a theme park?
The engagements are as endless as your imagination. Each one telling the story of your company, its people, and your products. So do yourself a favor as you prepare your marketing and advertising budgets in 2022, explore the world of Experiential. Don’t let your audience just see you or hear you, let them experience you. It just might be the frosting that gets you on The Cake Boss!
