MAKING MEMORIES

In a cluttered and oversaturated media market, being heard is a constant challenge.

Cutting through and creating memorable experiences and connecting with people in authentic ways is something brands strive to do. Key to this is experiential marketing, Spark brand, experience and partnerships manager Sarah Walker says.

Be it sampling at the supermarket, a media stunt, a sponsorship activity at an event or a pop-up, experiential marketing gets customers to actively engage with a product.

After splitting with Telecom, Walker says Spark had to connect with customers in a new way and was open to trying new approaches. The company doubled down on music, partnering with Spotify, investing in the Spark Arena and hosting music events like Auckland City Limits, and it’s reaping the rewards of its targeted approach.

At Auckland City Limits, concert-goers were able to get a bracelet with their mobile number attached to pay for drinks and food, and experience VIP activities, tailoring their experience and creating smooth interactions. It was a big success for Spark and the concert-goers, Walker says.

“We recognise the value of experiential, we wouldn’t do it if we weren’t getting value out. It’s giving us the right outcomes and brand metrics are moving in the right direction.”

Spark is implementing its strategy by redirecting resources, with budgets flat to down, Walker says. This poses some issue with resourcing, but she says it’s all about getting creative and creating partnerships with industry experts, an example being Spark Lab – a thought leadership programme helping small businesses achieve more with technology.

The aim of Spark’s marketing is to leave customers with the thought “that Spark gets me”, Lydia Tebbut of Spark says.

“Experiential marketing gives us the chance to connect with New Zealanders on a deeper, more emotional level.

“In our brand campaigns we focus on powerful storytelling that shows the experiences, connection and moments that technology can deliver for people.”

She says the increasing availability of data insights has enabled more tailored

campaigns, and coupled with brand and internal development Spark is able to create and stand by authentic projects.

Mark Pickering, Brand Spanking director and creative strategist, agrees data insight and technology, including AR and VR, are the way of the future in experiential, and all marketing, but the key element will always be human.

He says trust in big tech is shaky, but the basic human interaction of being in a shop or sharing events with people creates lasting bonds with products and services, especially with society’s slow loss of human community, belonging and connection.

“I expect a huge trend towards more human-facing brand campaigns in the future and almost a push back against digital, using it more as a tool to enhance real human interaction.”

A recent award-winning campaign for BCITO which involved building apprentices constructing 'Not Your Average Shed' in a busy Auckland carpark stood out not just for its results, but also its challenges, Pickering says.

“Experiential marketing campaigns are a huge challenge with so many balls to juggle at one time, along with always having to rely on the human factor as the key element that can fail.”

But when everything does come together, the effect is not only a highly memorable event that created a lasting impression, but also highly shareable content.

“User generated content is particularly successful as this is considered more ‘real’ by consumers on other networks and is also more easily shared to go viral via social media.”

Megan Clark, who founded the agency Copper in 2004, says although the industry has grown significantly over the last 14 years, the growth in the last 18 months has been phenomenal.

“Marketers are wanting, and needing, to find better ways to reach their target audiences, and experts to deliver this,” she says.

In the 2016 Experiential Marketing Content Report, 98 percent of consumers said they created digital or social content at an event, and all of those who did shared it via social media. However, only 35 percent of brands surveyed said that they always created content from their experiential programmes.

She says this shows the massive opportunity for brands in creating authentic, live-experience content that is highly shareable, and helps with purchase intent in the short and long term.

A recent “epic multi-layered, fully integrated” campaign for Samsung stretched over summer through to the launch the new GS9 mobile device.

Clark says it created a mirrored cube pop-up gallery which toured around beaches and to music festivals. People could create content using the camera and super slo-mo features and then view their content in the gallery.”

The content was then pushed out through social media, PR and digital.

As an agency, Copper is fully project-based and Clark says transparency and a high level of detail are key to building long-term relationships based on trust, such as the ones it has with Coca-cola and Samsung.

As brands recognise the opportunities that come with experiential marketing, Clark says it will increasingly become part of campaigns, and she expects content development, social, influencers and PR to all grow in prominence.