How Can Brands Use Immersive Experience to Engage Consumers?

Last Friday, The Mill opened the doors their Amsterdam Studio for HEIST NIGHT, an exclusive event as part of ADNIGHT. Their Experience team propelled attendees into the heart of a pulse-pounding heist with an immersive Laser Maze, where participants were able to compete to see who was quickest to complete the heist. 

Off the back of the event, we sat down with Mill director of experience, Europe, Alessandro Pula, to discuss the future of in-person and immersive experiences and how brands can truly capitalise from them.

Q> In the past year, since covid, we have seen a drastic rise of brands using in-person experiences to promote their products and ethos. What sort of trends have you seen being popularised?

Alessandro> As our attention for online consumables shrinks, the emotional value of physical interactions rises, opening the doors to mixed reality experiences. We see more and more brands that want to get closer to their audiences and create an emotional bond that is really only possible with in-person experiences. Some of these will let you play with a product, some of them will let you play with their brand in innovative ways.

Q> How has this changed since covid, and what are the benefits of brands using in-person experiences to communicate their message?

Alessandro> Gen z and Gen Alpha are a key demographic driving the shift in digital behaviour. Digitally savvy, this new audience prefers online & mobile forms of payment, seamless omni-channel journeys, and new and exciting ways to connect and form brand relationships. Spatial immersion and live interaction creates deeper emotional connections with consumers. Those connections help companies win new customers, keep current customers, and create loyal, long-term brand ambassadors.

Q> Is there any technology you are particularly excited about that will impact the world of in-person experiences?

Alessandro> I like the idea of combining technologies to achieve unexpected results. AI combined with real-time characters and real-time motion capture, is giving us the possibility to push the boundary of what is possible to do with digital influencers, digital hosts to events, fashion models to name a few. NeRF technology (another application of AI) is just at the beginning, but I think it will revolutionise the way spaces and events are made accessible and personalised through the participation of the audience. We are playing with some of this tech in our Experience team to see how we can push the interactive, physical experiences to the next level.

Q> On the 14th of October, The Mill presented ‘Heist Night’ at ADNIGHT, can you tell us a little bit about this event and how it was to be involved?

Alessandro> The Mill is a household name in the advertising industry, but we wanted our community to get a taste of what we are capable of in crafting fun and engaging experiences. We have set up the event to give our guests the opportunity to play with us while being immersed in our work and have fun with their colleagues and friends. And boy we had fun!

People were able to chat with our in-house digital avatar, Violet, before being introduced to our laser maze and compete to win an exclusive drink and the possibility of winning a big prize.

Everyone on our team was very involved in the running of the event too, so we could actually get the pulse on what people thought about the experience as they were going through it. The guy explaining to you how to play with the lasers? Our ECD. The team members entertaining you at the door while you were waiting for your turn to play? Our producer. It was a blast, thanks to everyone who came to make it such a special night for everyone.