INTRODUCTION
Marketing is an emerging concept. There are different marketing strategies used worldwide. Experiential marketing is one of them.
Experiential marketing means allowing consumers to experience the product or service before buying them. It is also known as engagement marketing. A company can use various experiential campaigns for experiential marketing. Some of them are:
- Product sampling
- Immersive experiences
- Stunts
- Events
- 3D videos
Experiential marketing brings the product or service to life. Also, it allows marketers to interact directly with their target customers.
BACKGROUND
In 1906, Joseph Nathan ran a powdered milk company. He had purchased the company with his brother in the early 1900s. Joseph and his brother were struggling to compete in a marketplace of more than three hundred powdered milk brands.
They had advertised heavily. But, it did not seem to help sell much more powdered milk. Still, it did spark thousands of consumer inquiries on how to raise a healthy baby. Now, some CEOs might ignore those queries because they are not in the business of giving baby advice. But on the other hand, instead of ignoring those thousands of consumer queries, Joseph Nathan decided to answer them. And, to do that, he hired a nurse named Kennedy.
Nurse Kennedy answered every single one of those consumer inquiries on behalf of the company. She sent handwritten letters to the consumers. Before they knew it, word got out that the company would answer any question related to health with a personally responded notes. Also, the team at the powdered milk company had 11 nurses on staff, answering hundreds of letters a day.
What was the benefit of answering all those questions? Well, they started selling tons and tons of powdered milk with every answer they sent. Later, Nurse Kennedy suggested writing a book instead of answering a lot of those questions over and over again. So they did. Nurse Kennedy published a book for expecting mothers. The book was all about how you can take care of your newborn baby. And, only one of those answers included anything to do with powdered milk.
HOW DID THE EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING WORK?
Here’s how it worked. The company offered anyone in the world a free copy of the book. They started sending out copy after copy. The first book came out in 1908. And until the 1970s, that book was the most read baby book in the world. Millions of mothers had read that book.
The company went from the three hundredth brand in the market to the number one powdered milk brand in the world.
Joseph Nathan created an experience that encouraged consumers to participate in the purpose of the brand. The experience was to engage in raising a happy and healthy baby. They built an experience. And that is what experiential marketing is.
If you want to build a massively successful brand and business, you need to earn your customer’s trust. Because trust builds relationships and, relationships drive revenue. You need to think like Joseph Nathan. You need to own the customer before they need you or so they need you.
ADVANTAGES OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
Experiential marketing is highly effective. Its applications are growing day by day. And it is because of its perks. Some benefits of experiential marketing are:
- Standing out
Competition is only getting higher in today’s world. There are thousands of brands that provide similar products or services. And almost every brand focuses on digital marketing. So, with experiential marketing, the brand can stand out. Experiential marketing separates your brand from the crowd.
Experiential marketing is not ordinary. Unlike other marketing strategies, experiential marketing positions your brand as creative and edgy. Also, people pay attention to it.
- Attention from media and influencers
The work of media is to cover interesting topics. And experiential marketing is a unique strategy. So, it can attract different media and influencers.
- Social media exposure
Social media is a place where people share their life events and experiences. So, when people get to experience from the brands, they tend to share that experience on their social media. This way, the brand can increase its social media exposure too.
- Strong relationship with customers
When customers experience the product or service, they learn more about it. Buyers find it appealing when they can try the products before buying them. Hence, experiential marketing allows the customers to do so. This way, the customers feel satisfied. They build trust in the brand. Thus, the relationship grows stronger.
