“Rise to the Power of 10”: The Impact of Experiential

“Rise to the power of 10,” jokes James Barnes as he speaks to me about how experiential marketing has evolved over the past decade. With marketers always looking to elevate brands, take awareness to the next level and create unique experiences for customers in more saturated markets, it seems here we have a way for creativity to be amplified and brought to the customer. 

“Experiential has been ‘taking off’ for about 15 years. It just keeps growing,” says James. “It’s a more fun method of marketing. People, if they're watching adverts they’re watching content on screens, on Instagram, on YouTube, whatever platform they may be looking at. It’s great, but it becomes a little saturated. So, if people want to create a bit of disruption and a physical brand experience, this is a great way of doing it.”

The steady growth, according to James, is not due to this notion of post covid interaction, it’s simply a way for brands to cut through the noise of the market. “If you’re a brand which doesn’t have its own brand environment – perhaps you sell in a multi-brand retailer – it’s nice to celebrate the brand and product to its fullest potential.” He goes on to explain that a product in a corner shop, supermarket or department store is confined by the controlled environment which it’s within.

“Crisps, for instance, there’s the shelf, or you could put the graphic on the floor, it’s quite limited in what you can do. In the beauty world, if you’re in a department store and you’ve built a stand, you aren’t allowed to step out of that space on the floor,” he elaborates. By comparison, when working to create something experiential, often separate teams working on specific goals then come together for a shared purpose. 

“For brands who haven’t done something like this before, it’s a bit of a baptism of fire because they don’t have a playbook for it,” says James. Going on to describe it as “chaotic in a fun way,” he recalls how brands have an open and creative space to create something truly different and eye-catching for audiences. “It’s really important for a brand to engage with a creative agency that will fight for the customer-first approach,” he explains. “They’ll ask questions like, ‘Why should I attend?’, ‘What am I going to tell people about?’, ‘Why did I enjoy it?’”

The key, according to James, is combining a creative concept with a memorable experience, so that the customer ultimately has a good time when attending. “Some brands can be tempted – it’s almost the death of the brief – to shoehorn everything in and make a tick box of things the brand wants to include. Rather, you have to put the focus on a product which needs a little bit of love, and then think about what else the customer would want to see alongside that.”

Within the sphere of pop-up experiences, or experiential in general, the key is not to dilute the experience. “If you’re going to launch a mascara, celebrate that in all its theatrical glory and have fun with it,” says James, “But also be generous.” He goes on to explain that if the event is in central London, which is more than likely, people may be travelling to visit either because they’re mega brand fans or they’re looking to experience something special, so both the product and experience should be delivered in abundance. 

“If it feels like the experience has been carefully considered and done with care, keeping the consumer and their desires in mind, then that’s going to be a winner,” James explains when discussing what makes for a successful experience for an audience. There is also, however, actual measurement which takes place which, for James, begins with the questions, “What does this pop-up need to deliver for the business?,” and “Why are you doing it?” 

As someone who’s been working on experiences for 12 years, he’s seen how the original metrics of signups, leaflets or samples have changed and become a different space for brands. “It started out as a hybrid of PR companies developing physical experiences for influencer events, or for consumer events. Four years ago, these two merged and the first day of the experience is influencer based and then the following are for consumers.” The key here is that the influencer and consumer aspects deliver different things for a brand. 

James explains, “If I’m going to be brutally honest, there is more value from the influencer event than there is for the consumer event – not all the time, but a lot of the time.” He goes on to explain that the combined reach of influencers is far stronger than anything the brand could bring in with organic footfall or advertising methods. However, when it comes to the actual consumer metrics, it’s about rewarding the community – a metric which now exists and perhaps didn’t in the past. Customer loyalty for brands is something that companies are watching more closely as time goes on,

“You could have 20 influencers turn up who all have a quarter of a million followers each and that’s getting into the realms of the entire footfall of Westfield for a week, or more. What it means is that we need to create content with influencers that’s in an authentic brand environment.” This means backdrops, new ways to create content, and a brand space to play with and share with followers. 

“Influencer marketing is all about playing into your niches,” James goes on to say, making the point that this type of marketing can really lead to increased brand awareness as people trust the recommendations of the people they follow online.

That’s all to say that there is a lot of consideration behind these experiential events, pop-ups and more. This is also especially true when it comes to the location of the actual events, as James explains, “London is a mature market for pop-ups, there are a number of different companies and landlords who allow you to book their locations on a temporary basis. As soon as you leave London, the availability and infrastructure of that falls off a cliff.” 

The big cities like London and New York seem to be infamous for their pop-up events, yet James believes there’s real untapped potential to be harnessed across other big cities across the UK and further beyond. “Everybody could benefit from a bit of retail entertainment, so as a retailer, keep the offering fresh, especially because it’s a competitive landscape at the moment.”

He goes on to mention the power of the experiential, especially within the last decade. “Rise. Rise. Rise. Rise,” says James about the strategy and graphs of how this sector of advertising is coping. “There are very few marketing mechanics, activations and principles out there which are constantly evolving with such a big step-change all the time. Good companies are always constantly rethinking ways to do things.” 

With so much to consider for brands, the approach to experiential marketing must be considered, holistic in its nature and has a clear aim – whether it’s promoting a specific product, bringing us into the world of the brand or amplifying new technology. Regardless of what the product is, there are a few key things to keep in mind before you dive into the process.

“Creativity is the most important factor,” James explains, “Then location and innovation, coupled with insight. Those are the three core principles.”