Discover the profound effects of experiential marketing technology as it has evolved over the past decades.
Free giveaways in supermarkets or ‘scratch and sniff’ advertisements in glossy magazines were once the cutting edge of experiential marketing. They allowed the consumer to truly experience the product being marketed even if it was in limited ways. These days, the digital technological revolution has led to greater and greater efforts with experiential marketing. It is quite valid to state that each new idea with experiential marketing technology tries to outdo the last while still building on the experiences of what has gone before.
This has led to something of an evolution in the uses of marketing technology to generate experiences – an evolution that is still underway. Read on to discover some of the most interesting steps along the journey. After all, it is only by examining the past that we can have any idea of where such experimentation in experience-based marketing technology will lead.
Harnessing the shared experience
The fact is that the social media world has led to consumers wanting to share their experiences and this is just as true with experiential marketing technology as it is with anything else. According to EventTrack, 98 per cent of consumers create digital content for their favoured platform when they are at events and experiences. Sporting events and brands have been quick to pick up on this, often giving fans the chance to take a selfie next to a trophy or two on a match day to share online, thereby reinforcing the brand’s personality with ‘having a good time’.
The experiential idea has been taken further by O2 which associated itself with a MegaSelfie FanPics campaign for several England 6 Nations rugby internationals, for instance. This included the entire crowd in the experience of a selfie which they could zoom in on and share as they wished by utilising cutting-edge digital photography technology.
Using 3D printing
The power of 3D printing is not lost on manufacturers but it can also be harnessed by marketing professionals seeking to create a unique experience. Like the aforementioned giant selfie experience, a unique 3D print of a consumer’s own design or choosing onto a product makes for an instantly shareable moment.
Asics, the sports clothing brand, used this technology on their New York City marathon marketing campaign in 2014, for example. Elsewhere, the power of 3-D printing has been used by Oreo, the popular biscuit producer, as well. They decided to create ‘hyper-personalised’ toppings for their snacks which really amounted to customising their biscuits in novel ways for consumers to experience both in terms of creation but also consumption.
Augmenting reality
As far back as 2014, Ikea developed an augmented reality app that allowed anyone who downloaded it to ‘experience’ one of their products in their own home. Essentially, the idea was to use smart technology to project the image of a desk, bed or sofa into the consumer’s room to see whether it would work with the existing interior design ethos. This augmented level of reality functioned in real time and, of course, allowed consumers to try out all sorts of furniture in their home in a virtual sense.
The global toy brand, Lego, developed their augmented reality offering in 2018. This allowed children to hold sets in front of a screen which subsequently gave them the experience of the constructed product in virtual 3-D. What’s more, animations were added to the experience so that children could imagine not only how the sets would look, when completed, but how they could be played with.
Creating a fun experience
Sometimes, experiential marketing is not so much about creating a unique moment that consumers will value over things like material goods, but it is about providing a little light relief. A good example of this is the car maker VW’s makeover over a set of steps at a Swedish subway station in 2009. By turning it into an oversized piano, more and more commuters chose to take the fun option of climbing the stairs rather than using the escalator.
VW not only achieved a viral video thanks to this installation but was also able to position itself as a fun and innovative brand compared with other car manufacturers. There are all sorts of technologies that can lead to fun experiences for consumers. Anything from digital signage systems to online apps are capable of bringing a smile to the faces of the public. Few marketing managers could wish for more from their experiential marketing technology than generating sheer fun!
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If you’re searching for innovative experiential marketing solutions, contact LamasaTech to find out more about how experiential marketing technology can work for your brand. You can reach us by phone on +44 (0) 191 341 0016 or via our contact page.
