"If I tell you something you'll forget it, if I show you something you may remember it, and if you do something you understand it and it becomes part of a powerful experience”
- Carson Tang (Illinois Meetings & Events 2008)
However one truly recognises and loves a person only when one meets, interacts and works with him i.e. experiences him in his entirety. This relation holds true for products as well. Today, the marketing paradigm has shifted. People are just not ready to accept advertisement for the heck of it. They want it to create a lasting impression….. to woo them…..An experience they can relate to………..and this is Experiential Marketing. While traditional marketing appeals to a consumer’s rational buying triggers, experiential marketing appeals to the rational as well as emotional buying triggers. It integrates elements of emotions, logic, and general thought processes to connect with the consumer, activating their sensory glands thereby increasing brand recall value and driving sales up.
Shortened attention spans of our “Teflon Generation” demand that any ad campaign make a quick impression, or the opportunity to engage the consumer will quickly pass. By appealing to all the senses, and making the connection quickly and seamlessly, this approach to the marketing task ensures that businesses can still attract and satisfy the needs and desires of consumers.
According to the article published in TheWISEmarketer.com , The Top Ten Marketing Trends for 2008 included Experiential Marketing. So how is this all done??? By giving customers an opportunity to live the brand, interact with it and experience it!!! Striking displays with powerful visual elements, such as websites, and visual media such as print ads should not only be visually appealing, but also conjure up daydreams of locales and reminders of sensations that are enjoyable to the individual.
Such Unique experiential encounters help to create unwavering affinity, produce ardent evangelists and shape durable intentions which then translate into higher revenues. These moments can happen in a matter of hours, minutes or seconds and depend purely on the magnitude of the experience – how much it can impact the right side of the brain as well !!!
The statistics here speak for themselves:
Trendwatch published a survey by TBA Global and Event Marketer in 2007. An overwhelming majority of marketers (82%) surveyed stated they were getting more value out of their current events with more than a third (36.5%) citing experiential marketing as the most effective vehicle for developing a bond between company and customer; beating advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, online and public relations, etc. According to D. Keith Pigues (Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, PlyGem, Inc), moving from a purely rational value proposition to "rational plus emotional" as part of a brand repositioning contributed directly to driving up sales volume 229% and profit up 201% in a single year for Cemex.
The human mind is the ultimate experiential consumer. You must have mindshare before you can have marketshare.
As the saying goes, He CAME, He SAW, He CONQUERED…
We do believe - He CAME, He EXPERIENCED, He BOUGHT.
Marketing Club,SCMHRD
www.marketing.scmhrd.edu
