ART + SCIENCE + EMOTION:
Great Marketing is Simple
(Even If It's Not Easy)
By Liz Bigham
Recently I heard a marketer from a top global brand say "We're sold on experiential marketing.— (That was gratifying.) But there was a "but.— It was: "But we're not sure how to use experiential marketing effectively and efficiently across the purchase funnel.— Meaning: We know how to create an experience, but how do we create a program of experiences?
Let me be optimistic and take the simple route to answering this question with the formulation art + science + emotion = great marketing.
- Art
Effective experiential marketing requires art not only in the literal sense of great and inspiring experience design but also in the more philosophical sense of understanding how to connect to the right audiences, in the right time and place, in the right way. Which leads to... - Science
Experiences intended to differentiate brands or create awareness are fundamentally different from experiences intended to educate and drive purchase. Experiential marketing can deliver against every phase of the purchase funnel—from awareness, to consideration, to purchase, to loyalty. But as in any other marketing discipline, creating an experiential program with ongoing impact (versus an experience that is simply a moment in time) takes science—strategy, planning, insight, discipline. - Emotion
Experiences forge an emotional bond between target audience and brand that is more immediate and real than in any other form of marketing. That bond can be very powerful: it's what guru-types really mean when they say "people buy brands— (because they're really buying how brands make them feel). Thus, it's extraordinarily important that experiential marketers understand and exploit that emotional connection. Or rather, "connections—: because varying customers, prospects, partners, employees and brand advocates all have varying emotions—and need distinct experiences to move them.
Get these three fundamentals right, and experiential marketing—like any marketing—can be simple (even if it's not easy, and admittedly more complex than my formula suggests).
Experiential marketing continues to become more important to brands and communicators of all kinds. I'm sure I'm not alone in hearing "We're sold on experiential marketing.— But I'm also pretty sure I'm not alone in hearing the "But how...?— follow up as well. I believe this expresses a maturing of the discipline: it's more important, and therefore expectations are higher. To my mind, that's a great thing—and all the more reason to remember how simple great marketing can be.
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