Inside Experiential Marketing: Big-Name Brands Share Secrets to Success

As an event organizer, you strive to create engaging offline experiences — and amplify them online. As it turns out, experiential marketers share the same goals.

In this collection of interviews, experiential marketing experts at Airbnb, Lyft, Blurb, and PayPal will share insider tips for crafting memorable consumer experiences. Find out how you can use their strategies to host more impactful events and build brand loyalty. You’ll learn:

• How the experts measure the impact of experiential campaigns
• Snafus to watch out for as you expand your brand globally
• Predictions for the future of experiential marketing

PREVIEW

Experiential marketing is on the rise in a major way. Big-name brands all over the world are investing more and more marketing dollars in experiential strategies. In fact, in a recent industry study, 79% of brand respondents said they would execute more experiential programs this year compared to last.

But what does “experiential marketing” actually mean? And how you can use experiential strategies to throw more engaging, impactful events?

If you’re not entirely sure how to answer those questions, you’re not alone. There are lots of definitions out there for experiential marketing, and it’s sometimes used interchangeably with “live marketing” or “event marketing.” But at its core, experiential marketing is all about immersing consumers in memorable live experiences.

Sounds a lot like what you already do, right?

We sat down with experts at Airbnb, Lyft, Blurb, and PayPal to find out what experiential means to their respective brands. Read on to find out how you can use their experiential marketing insights to make your events more engaging and impactful than ever.

Ayni Raimondi (Global Head of Brand Activation, Airbnb)

“My philosophy at Airbnb for experiential has always been ‘lived by some, shared by many’.”

What is “experiential marketing,” in your words?

Experiential marketing typically shows up in three ways, all creating personal interactions with your brand: The first is a branded event focused on engaging people offline, in the real world. This is the brand talking directly to the consumer 1:1, or 1: a few, which often results in increased product trial or word of mouth.

The second is when you create a brand presence at an offline event to earn attribution but generate less of an actual interaction with consumers; For example, if you were to sponsor an event and have logo placement.

Finally, experiential can leverage a crafted experience for just a few people, for the goal of creating content that scales engagement by sharing via advertising or social distribution. In this way, an intimate experience becomes above-the-line advertising that engages the masses.

How long have you been in experiential marketing, and how has it changed?

About 12 years ago I started doing experiential, but we didn’t call it that at the time — we called it “event marketing” and “influencer marketing”. We were thinking about ways that you can bring your brand to life for consumers outside of advertising.

I’ve never worked in sampling, so the idea was that people who experience that moment you’ve created can then leave with a brand story to tell on their own. So the biggest outcome for experiential a decade ago was word-of-mouth and social proof — which is super hard to track, and really hard to sell internally.

It was challenging to convince executive stakeholders that experiential had value. My team had to demonstrate that experiential really does cut through the noise, as opposed to a passive experience where people feel “talked to.”

…