Recapping 5 key experiential marketing lessons from Branding a Moment

1. Big ideas come from thinking broad + wide

What is the central idea your campaign revolves around? What is your brand trying to say?

Strip it down and start from the ground up – use your group of talented creatives to brainstorm because creativity can come from collaboration. Be media neutral with your ideas, don’t root your ideas from particular platforms or social media avenues.

Great ideas transcend medium and technology.

2. Storytelling comes first then technology

In today’s society, we put such a big emphasis on technology, but honestly, the world is governed by stories. Technology is nothing but an enabler.

To provide successful brand experiences, make sure you’ve honed your skills as storytellers. Brand experiences aren’t just about entertainment, consider the practical use of technology and its implications. Remember, technology is not the core offering. Does it help enhance the brand experience or detract your audience from it?

The experience and story need to lead your consumers to reach the brand message.

3. Don’t be a copycat

Agencies have the biggest headache once a client says and insists – “We want a campaign to be done that’s exactly like what was done for brand X. It’s good for x,y,z reasons. Just do it for us!”

Creative agencies exist to bring you and your brand a point of differentiation. What worked for one company might not as well work for yours. Each brand has it’s own personality and key points that can be highlighted through creativity and technology. We can adapt and be inspired the stories that were told but they won’t exactly be the same from brand to brand.

Here’s an example of a campaign we did for a Finance Broking Company inspired by Taylor Swift.

4. Don’t be afraid of constraint ($$$)

Big brands have big budgets, they can do big things to impress their audiences. But experiential isn’t defined by size! There are lo-fi alternatives, that can provide great experiences when utilised properly.

Constraints are often viewed as negative, startups frequently say they don’t have enough resources to pull off experiential marketing stunts. But have you considered the upside? Being a small company means you’re nimble and there’s much less red tape.

Constraints can be the thing that push you to be more inventive. Creative ideas can be fostered out of your position if you play to your strengths.

Such constraint is what brought our panelist Christian Behrendt to his idea of Pay with a Tweet that became hugely successful.

5. There’s a constant in the equation

Over time and the changes in marketing, one thing has remained constant – knowing your audience. Having in-depth knowledge of them will help you shape your campaign.

At the core of every experience is people. People that crave novelty, people that love choices, people that want to be in control. If you want them to be engaged with your brand, it might a matter of giving them an opportunity to take the the reigns or maybe it’s a matter of personalising their own brand experience.

The more you know about them, the more you could craft a suitable experience that they will enjoy, and most importantly remember.

Take these points into consideration and experiences we build for tomorrow will be much more affective and effective. Have you got any other insights and thoughts that have proven successful? We’d love to hear them!