Experiential Marketing

EXPERIENTIAL MARK E TING DESIGN EXPERIENTIAL EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

Experiential Marketing SXSW 2018 Senior Capstone Devin Houston Emad Al-Maqtary

Contents CHAPTER1 |

Proposal + Secondary Research..............1

Initial Proposal ...............................................................3 Secondary Research.....................................................40

CHAPTER2 |

Field Research.......................................47

General Observations .................................................51 Key Insights...................................................................54 Case Studies..................................................................65

CHAPTER3 |

Synthesis of Findings...........................47

General Observations ...............................................111 Experiential Marketing definitio................................114 Key Foundational Elements.......................................116 Experiential Marketing Canvas.................................144

Conclusion.....................................................................184 Resources.......................................................................187

Chapter| 1

Proposal + Secondary Research

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A B S T R A C T

This project is a field exploration into the experiential marketing i n d u s t r y. T h i s r e s e a r c h i s t h e c o r e o f o u r s e n i o r t h e s i s a n d h a s been designed to test all of our amalgamated BOAD skills. By the end of the project we will have a clear picture of the experiential i n d u s t r y. W e w i l l h a v e c a t e g o r i z e d e x p e r i e n t i a l s t r a t e g i e s a n d e s tablish best practices crafted from industry insights and research findings that should shed clarity on this emerging market. This project is intended to serve us well beyond our time at Ringling College and will act as a catalyst for our professional careers.

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// I N T R O D U C T I O N Over the past decade we have noticed a huge increase in experiential marketing tactics and strategies. Instead of traditional print and media campaigns, brands are trying to create genuine moments for people to experience their products in new and exciting ways. This means that a tremendous amount of resources are being used to successfully launch unique one of a kind experiences. In a 2016 report from Press On they say “Brand activation spending in the United States hit $561.5 billion in 2015 and should jump 6% to top $595 billion in 2016, Brand activation marketing accounted for 59.8% of overall marketing expenditures, followed by traditional and digital measured advertising spending at 25.2% and trade promotions at 15% (Verbrugge, 2016).

We believe this dramatic shift in strategy is in response to consumer behaviors which have changed dramatically over the past 10 years.

Unlike the baby boomers who valued material objects Millennial consumers are experience driven; Uptin Saiidi from CNBC said “Millennials are prioritizing their cars and homes less and less, and assigning greater importance to personal experiences� (Saiidi, 2016). In order to appeal to new demographics, marketers have realized that shifting to an experiential approach is becoming ever more critical.

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As a result of changing customer expectations the success of a brand relies heavily on its ability to connect in a physical way with it target demographic.

Millennials now more than ever invest deeply into brands that they purchase and seek strong emotional ties to the products they buy. Joey Kercher President and CEO of Air Fresh Marketing says “Marketers are having a difficult time reaching millennials because tech-savvy and brand-savvy millennials tune out most forms of traditional marketing� (Kercher, 2017).

It is for this reason we decided to focus our Senior Capstone Project on researching the future of marketing strategies exploring the world of experiential marketing. Our goal is to better understand why brands are investing into experiential marketing and how it is reshaping the marketing landscape. We look forward to digging behind the curtain and shedding light on key industry insights, future trends and dangers to look out for.

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In order to achieve these learning objectives, we determined that field research is critical. We have identified Austin’s SXSW conference as the ideal location to study our topic. SXSW is the premier event for business of art and design professionals to come together and celebrate the creative forces needed to propel innovation. Brands from all over the world have a presence in Austin, and attendees will experience in real time which marketing tactics work and which do not. In this proposal we have also included contingency plans, in the event that funding is not available to travel to SXSW. If we are unable to attend SXSW, we will still meet the same learning objectives fulfilling the requirements of the thesis project.

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This experiential field research is a critical component of our final Business of Art and Design Senior Capstone project. The project will allow us to study firsthand the future of brand experience and creative disruption. Through networking, interviews, and workshops, we will learn what it takes to become a competitive force in the job market.

For the purpose of this research, we are focusing explicitly on event-centric, tactile, hands-on immersive experiential marketing programs and brand activations.

Within the canon of work we will explore the many exciting projects that leave lasting memories while feeding consumers valuable brand content. These types of projects deliver serious consumer engagement opportunities and build brand commitments that last a lifetime.

By the end of this project, we look forward to gathering valuable insights that will aid us in becoming professional experiential curators.

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// STATMENT OF THE PROBLEM Currently the experiential marketing industry has very little structure and even fewer quality resources that benchmark the industry. Between guerilla style street activations, pop-up events, immersive environments and hands on demos, there are many ways brands are trying to impact consumers.

T he problem is t h e re i s a l a ck o f cl a r i t y re g a rd i n g i n d u stry te r ms a n d t he phr ase “exp e r i e n t i a l ca mp a i g n s � i s b e i n g u s e d to e n c o mp a ss a v ar iet y of m ar ke t i n g t a ct i cs .

Nex t , are a few e xa mp l e s o f t h e t yp e o f e ve n t s we wa n t to stu d y. As y ou w ill see t h e re a re va r i e t y o f a p p ro a ch e s b e i n g ta k e n . To so lv e t he issue of c la r i t y we wi l l ca t e g o r i z e d i ff e re n t t yp e s o f e x p e rie n tia l m ar k et ing st r at e g i e s b y d e ci p h e r i n g wh a t s h o u l d a n d sh o u ld n o t b e labeled as ex p e r i e n t i a l .

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HBO SXSW Escape Experience Last year at SXSW HBO built life size sets of some of their most popular shows giving fans and attendees a chance to immerse themselves in the world of their favorite series while experiencing the HBO brand in a totally new way.

The sets were designed as escape rooms built for fans to engage with and ultimately solve their way out. This activation was fully immersive and generated a tremendous amount social media content.

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HBO SXSW Escape Experience In a interview with Adweek HBO VP said, “We still like to do traditional marketing, but going the more nontraditional path—and doing interactive, immersive experiences—allows the consumers to touch and feel the world of the show” (Maskeroni, 2017).

The event also double as a debut for the Game of Thrones wine. Participants could sample Game of Thrones Red Blend and Game of Thrones Chardonnay, after escaping the rooms and having their picture taken on the famous Iron Throne” (Maskeroni, 2017).

The was available for purchase & released into stores shortly after.

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It all starts with a NESCAFÉ In 2015 Nescafe launched its coffee-powered experiential campaign. To achieve this, NESCAFÉ reached out to city dwellers in Berlin – reportedly one of the world’s loneliest cities. They wanted to remind consumers about the importance of Human interaction while delivering a positive brand message by offering the chance to go back to basics: “a simple chat over a cup of coffee” (Davidge, 2015).

The Event was an absolute success engaging consumers while generating a wealth of social content while providing a genuine and authentic opportunity for consumers to experience the Nescafe brand.

According to Michael Chrisment, Global Head of Integrated Marketing for Nescafé ”A great cup of Nescafé is a natural way to start real connections, and w e w ant e d t o b r i n g t h i s t o l i f e i n a n unex pec t ed, in n o va t i ve a n d e n j o ya b l e wa y.

We are delighted to have triggered so many spontaneous social interactions that otherwise would not have happened” (Nestle, 2015).

The recap video proudly claims that the in one day, the campaign helped over 600 people connect over Nescafé coffee, sparked 33 high fives, 285 waves, 839 smiles and “countless” conversations.

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GE: Healthymagination This activation was a B2B marketing program illustrating that experiential event design can go beyond simply B2C. It also reveals that experiential marketing can be effective in tackling larger social issues which are much more challenging than product centric events .

Amanda Zantal-Wiener from hubspot said, “the point of Healthymagination was to get people talking about a pretty important, but uncomfortable issue: Access to healthcare in impoverished parts of the world” (Zantal-Wiener, 2017).

She goes on to say that when you create a way for people to become physically immersed in the issue, it also allows them to acknowledge a topic that isn’t always easy to talk about and that can have quite an impact (Zantal-Wiener, 2017).

This activation is a perfect example of why the level of engagement with an audience is so critical . GE and agency EA were so successful with this activation that it would later win a Business Marketing Association’s Tower Award, all while generating quite a buzz in the healthcare industry.

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Guinness Class In 2013 TRO worked with Guinness to bring their Guinness Class activation back for a second iteration.This contest based activation created an insanely memorable experience for consumers while maintaining Guinness’s authentic Brand personality.

The experience rewarded Guinness drinkers giving them the chance to win a trip to Dublin on a private jet. The instant win mechanic meant everyone who was drinking a pint of Guinness when the team were activating was a winner! (TRO, 2013).

This activation was extremely successful generating massive amounts of organic content while delivering a personalized brand experience , TRO released that in “over the 2013 campaign, 262 brand ambassadors reached 85,710 consumers across 4,936 venues and 23 UK cities (TRO, 2013).

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// Statement of the Problem Each of these activations were constructed with their own authentic approach. offering unique levels of engagement. However, the lack of clarity in industry terms makes it hard to categorize these different approaches and there are only a few resources available with best practices for producing similar high quality experiential programs.

Our team aims to solve this problem by building an indexing system establishing actionable steps for creating the best experience in each given category.

Additionally, our findings show that millennials demand authenticity seeking deep relationships with their products.

Stacy Firth from Cursive Content Marketing said, “It’s about more than the latest technology and hottest social network. It’s about authenticity. In other words, you can’t expect to create an account on Snapchat and instantly connect to the millennial generation. You have to work at building a relationship” (Firth, 2016).

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Our team aims to better understand how industry professionals ideate, manage, budget, handle risk and execute the authentic brand experiences that are shared and talked about around the world.

Additionally we want to highlight important milestones and risk evaluations points that should be considered in every project to minimize the number of failed activations.

In order to be successful in our pursuits, it is imperative that we understand the methodology behind curating unimaginable moments that drive brand awareness and ultimately impact consumer purchasing and viewing behaviors.

Unfortunately, our team has reached the limit of what can be learned within the curriculum within Ringling, so it is time to dive into the field researching the market r in a hands on way.

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// Review and Reference Since this is a new and evolving market there is very little scholarly material about the experiential marketing field. The two reports published that benchmark the industry are Event Marketeer’s 2017 Experiential marketing content benchmarking report and PQ media’s U.S. Brand Activation Marketing Forecast 2016. These are the most commonly cited documents regarding the industry.

They categorize types of events and provide insights on how companies are measuring ROI amongst a variety of other topics. After researching we found access to some of that material online, and we have reached out to PQ media in an attempt to gain access to the rest of their findings.According to an article from Press On the industry is expected to grow tremendously over the next five years.

According to PQ media, The U.S. Brand Activation Marketing Forecast 2016 projected that activation spending will exceed $740 billion by 2020, (Verbrugge, 2016). They go on to say, brand activation spending will keep outpacing spending on advertising and trade promotions over the next four years, (Verbrugge, 2016).

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This dramatic industry shift is the result of new consumer behaviors because millennials are driven by experience not possessions. Instead of buying material objects Millennials are spending their time and dollars on unique, memorable moments. According to Eventbrite, “72% say they would like to increase their spending on experiences rather than physical things in the next year, pointing to a move away from materialism and a growing demand for real-life experiences�

(Poll, 2014).

They want to be a part of something and they want to share their stories with the people around them.

This phenomenon is changing the way event marketers design events making them much more visually attractive incorporating multi-sensory elements that drive high levels of engagement.

Eventbrite Goes on to say, year over year, millennials are spending more time at live events, and companies, brands, artists and musicians are putting more resources into creating those experiences. The increased time, energy and money spent on experiences by both brands and consumers are the ingredients that make up the growing experience economy, (Poll, 2014).

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// Hypothesis & Assumptions We believe that there are a series of requirements to meet in order to successfully drive user engagement through experiential tactics and if those requirements are met the event or activation should in theory be successful.

We hypothesize that we will be able to break experiential campaigns into categories based on how they engage consumers and from that develop best practices for specific types of experiential marketing strategies. As a result our team hopes to learn what it takes to design an ideal experiential marketing campaign.

Our team, also, believes that brands collect valuable metrics in order to determine the ROI of experiential campaigns. Our findings will clarify how organizations are measuring that ROI and what metrics they use to collect that data.

Our team, also, hypothesizes that it is integral that experiential campaigns incorporate social media strategies in order to maximize engagement. We want to study how brands are using social media to generate valuable, authentic, organic content and what social handles are being used.

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Additionally, we predict that brands select geographically specific locations for experiential campaigns. We want to identify how these locations are selected and the role they play in the overall execution of brand initiatives.

Our team, also, seeks to understand what the future of experiential marketing has to hold. Preliminary observation of the industry has revealed that technology will play an increasingly more prominent role in the experiential landscape. Our team aims to identify what technologies will be used and how those experiences are going to be crafted.

By the completion of our project, the team expects to gather valuable insight into what millennials expect from experiential campaigns in order to better craft strategies for the future.

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// Purpose of the Project / Learning Objectives Our Exploration will serve as the core learning initiative of a semester-long research sprint geared at interviewing, observing, and analyzing the future of experiential brand marketing.

This project has 3 main objectives: Discovery: #1 Explore emerging trends and marketing tactics to gain a stronger understanding of how brands impact consumer decisions.

Research: #2 Study interactive booths and brand activations while interviewing top marketers to learn why branded experience design is so important.

Application: #3 Build strategic partnerships for internships and career opportunities, network with employers, colleagues, and potential clients while exploring how to apply knowledge from BOAD to become disruptive forces in the industry.

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In liniearty with the project, Emad & Devin are additionally responsible for individual areas of focus as well.

Devin- Responsible for all Front End EDE’s (experiential desing elements)

-Design of the space

-How they are Constructed

-Brand Presence

-Staff Presence

-Length of experience -Location -Indoor/Outdoor

-Event based/Stand Alone

-Relationship to Customer Experience -Interactive/Immersive

-Genuine or Forced

-Cost/ Budget

-POS locations

-Video/Media Installations

-Calls to action

-Clarity of Experience

-Quality of Experience

-Remaining TBD by research

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Emad- Responsible for back end EDE’s & Data Collection

-What is the expected ROI

-Metrics to measure success

-Social media strategies

-Influencers

-Social Handles

-Company Generated content vs. Organic

-Trend forecasting

-Content / Media Strategy

-Preliminary market research

-Remaining TBD by research

// Scope of work / Project Visualization This Research will yield 4 major deliverables each visualized accordingly: 1. A Publishable report in which we will outline our project and clearly communi cate our findings. The report will include but is not limited to the following:

Industry overview of experiential marketing

• Definition of experiential marketing

• Categorization of experiential strategies

• How much is being spent within the industry

• Effective strategies and best practices

• Metrics and tools to measure ROI

• Current & Future Trends

• Risk analysis planning

• The importance of generating content through experiential moments

• Any additional findings

A Model Canvas

• Contents to be generated by findings

• Rudimentary framework that simply lays out steps to create great

experiential strategies

• Actionable steps that ensure experiential strategies are effective

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2. Video highlight reel (Documentation) in the video we will showcase all of our learnings from SXSW or our contingent plans and guide viewers through our research project. We will cover our key findings and narrate how the project came to life.

3 . Application of learning and proof of concept, in order to do this we will use the 2018 Senior Show as a platform to test our findings. This will give us a real world opportunity to show how are findings can directly increase the effectiveness and quality of an experiential project.

4. Present findings, we will organize a BOAD presents event creating a platform to share our findings and answer any key questions students have about the experiential marketing industry. We will play our recap video and share valuable insights that were collected throughout the entirety of the project.

Submission of Research Package Once we have successfully completed our research, synthesized our findings, presented our insights and fulfilled our deliverables we will package the entire project and submit it to the BOAD department for final review bringing and end to the project.

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// Methods and Procedures Our team has designed a 4 Phase approach in order to accomplish our learning objectives.

Phase 1. Preliminary Research A. Build a set of criteria used to categorize types of experiential campaigns by gathering a sample pool of at least 50 Experiential Activations and evaluating their design, performance and engagement levels.

B. Collect and document Statistics about experiential spending, engagement, and key metrics to calculate ROI. C. Research Liabilities and Execution risk factors.

D. Collect information about future trends.

E. Research Softwares and Event Management Tools.

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Phase 2. Field Research A. Interview industry professionals regarding brand activations they have completed or have been a part of through Skype, phone,email, and in person interviews.

B. Travel to SXSW or Contingent locations to interact hands on with experiential concepts and study their design.In terms of how they are organized or built ,what is the purpose and what is the length of t h e a c t i v a ti o n F u rth e r re se arch will be c onduc ted th rou g h in t e r v i e w s with event organizers and the attendance of workshops on experience design.

C. Visit and interview local marketers on what are they doing and what they consider Experiential Marketing to further learnings our team will shadow job roles and evaluate the types of event software they use.

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Phase 3. Synthesis & Application/Proof of Concept A. Define and Categorize Experiential Strategies.

B. Generate a report with our findings (See deliverables).

C. Develop actionable best practices that can be implemented to ensure successful experiential campaigns.

D. Build canvas model for experiential marketing.

E. Test Theories.

F. Apply our findings testing them using the BOAD senior show as a case study.

G. Offer Consulting services to the Ovation hotel project.

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Phase 4. Recap and Close A. Submit final findings and results from proof of concept tests.

B. Follow up with industry contacts.

C. Evaluate and discuss feedback with BOAD department advisor.

D. Revise, finalize & publish findings.

E. Close Project.

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// Project Timeline Week 1-Week 9 | Data Collection:

Milestone 1 R&D (desk research) • Define Experiential marketing.

• Market analysis of the Experiential industry.

• Establish preliminary experiential marketing best practices.

• Identify key industry players, their approach, impact and spendings.

• Metrics of Success in Experiential Marketing.

• Research Softwares being used to manage experiential events.

• Compile initial research findings and outline remaining research initiatives.

Milestone 2 Field Research Planning • Finalize travel plans and logistics.

• Identify and prioritize event talks, panels, and workshops pertinent to research criteria.

• Panel (Q&A session) plan.

• Finalize paperwork needed before travel dates.

Milestone 3 Execution (Field research at SXSW or Contingent location) • Daily briefings.

• Attend assigned panels, events, interviews…

• Collect Data, collect footage.

• Report to Faculty Advisor.

• Discuss findings daily to help select refined data for the coming events.

• Network with Industry Professionals.

• Follow up with contacts formed during the trip.

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Week 9-Week 11 | Data Analysis:

Milestone 4 Data Processing:

• Categorize types of Experiential Campaigns.

• Build Actionable plans and establish best practices for experiential campaigns.

• Identify key industry insights and trends to be included in report.

• Review field research findings with faculty advisor.

• Compile research findings and build report.

• Build experiential model canvas.

Application / Proof of concept:

• Test insights integrating findings into the BOAD senior show.

• Provide consultation to Ovation hotel activation team.

• Publish article and solicit industry feedback.

Week 12-Week 13 | Recap and Close

Milestone 5

•

•

•

• •

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Submit final findings and results from proof of concept tests.

Follow up with industry contacts.

Evaluate and discuss feedback with BOAD department advisor.

Revise, finalize & publish findings.

Close Project.

// Limitations, Risks, and Constraints Time

The project must be completed by April 16th, 2018.

Resources

We are limited to the resources we have access to hear on campus Scholarly articles published in this field are expensive. As a result we will have to gather finding from other resources.

Funding

Funding for thesis projects is limited. In order to mitigate the need for support we developed extensive contingency plans.

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see contingency plans for actionable steps

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Contengency Plans

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// Abst ract Despite having a well thought-out research proposal, our team has additionally developed contingency plans as part of our risk assessment in the event that a problem arises regarding funding of the project impacting the ability to travel SXSW and its ancillary events.

Our team recognizes that our responsibilities and learning objectives still include all of the promised deliverables identified with the initial proposal regardless of our ability to fund the project

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// Pla n A To ensure we achieve the same research findings, learning outcomes and deliverables as described in our proposal we have decided to identify top Experiential Marketing agencies in one of the major creative hubs on the east coast.

We believe that if funding is unavailable for SXSW from the development fund that with supplement from the BOAD program and personal funds we should be able to raise enough money to accomplish this field research portion of our project.

We plan to solidify a list of top agencies in the industry and lock in at least 5 of them for in person interviews and tours of their facilities . As mentioned previously our team will produce all deliverables promised in the initial proposal.

This approach will allow us to visit ta major hub for professional experiential marketers. We will be able to interview, shadow and observe firsthand what is like to work with an agency in the experiential marketing field.

Location New York is known to be keeping a large share of the top Experiential Marketing Agencies. The City’s size and iconic sights give it an advantage for hosting these types of experiential campaigns. Below is a short example list of ideal organizations we would like to interview and visit.

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Sample of Selected Agencies: MKG GRADIENT RELEVENT WE’RE MAGNATIC THE BAIT SHOPPE

Timeline We plan to be in NYC for primary research during spring break,from 5th-10th of March.

However, this timeline is subject to change due to agency professionals’ availability.

The rest of the timeline parallels our initial proposal

Estimated Budget

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// P la n B O ur sec ondar y c ont i n g e n cy p l a n i s d e s i g n e d t o s u p p o r t ou r le a r n in g a n d meet t he requirem e n t s f o r t h e s e n i o r t h e s i s wi t h l i t t l e to n o f in a n c ia l su ppor t from t he sc h o o l o r t h e B O A D d e p a r t me n t .

After looking into a previous thesis project executed by motion design graduates Allison Maier and Barrett Brown we identified parallels and concluded that a similar approach to our own research will provide our team with the same quality learning as our initially proposed concept.

Their goal w as t alk t o a s ma n y s t u d i o s a s p o s s i b l e a b ou t th e p a in s o f cu r rent produc t ion m a n a g e me n t s o f t wa re a n d t h e i r re s e arc h sta rte d w ith a sim ple sur v ey. ( P o s t e d M a rch 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 b y Ju s t i n C o n e , 2 0 1 6 ).

In exchange for their findings upon completion Allison and Barrett worked with agencies around the world to collect valuable insights in there respective field.

To learn more visit ers-a-moment-please/).

(http://motionographer.com/2016/03/28/produc-

Our project would follow a similar framework geared towards the experiential marketing industry.

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Location T his plan w ould re q u i re mi n i ma l t o n o t r a ve l .

To supplement findings it may be beneficial to travel to Tampa,Orlando,or Miami to visit agencies and observe their operational strategies. This should be feasible requiring very little financial support.

Timeline The timeline for this plan parallels the timeline in our initial proposal. In lou of traveling to SXSW we would begin reaching out to and establishing relationships with industry leaders.

Budget T his plan require s n o f u n d i n g .

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// Significance of Project By the completion of the project our team’s goal is to be knowledgeable enough about experiential marketing to publish a credible resource including but not limited to best practices, insights and forecasts and actionable steps for event execution . Once synthesized, our findings will be the perfect platform to build upon at the graduate school level. W ith so many resource being spent on experiential marketing our knowledge and insights should be extremely valuable. As we continue our research, we look forward to being able to professionally offer experiential consulting services. This project will test all of the skills we have acquired during our time at Ringling and will ready us to enter the industry.

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SECONDARY RESEARCH

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A B S T R A C T

Dur ing our sec on d a r y re s e a rch p h a s e , w e c ollec t ed a li s t o f 2 5 e xp e r i e n t i a l c am paigns t o be t t e r u n d e r s t a n d t h e t y pes of ac t iv at i o n s b e i n g e xe cu t e d w it hin t he ex per ie n t i a l i n d u s t r y.

Additionally, our team created a survey aimed at targeting industry professionals.

The goal of the survey was to define experiential marketing, determine categories for experiential campaigns and determine the most critical elements to be included during in an experiential activation.

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QUESTIONS WE ASKED

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In your opinion, If not already doing so, how important is adding experiential marketing to an organization’s marketing mix?

In your opinion, Do you feel that experiential campaigns result in higher levels of brand engagement/product sales?

In order of importance please rate the most effective way to measure the ROI of an experiential campaign (please drag and slide to rate) When selecting a location to host an experiential campaign, what are the most important things to consider (please drag and drop to rate in order of importance) Which of the following categories does experiential marketing fall under?

(PLEASE select all that applies)

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25 Experiential Campaigns

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These 25 campaigns were selected and analysed against the following criteria.

Criteria1: Criteria2: Criteria3: Criteria4: Criteria5:

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Experiential Category Type of Activation Social Integration Context Part of another event or alone

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Chapter| 2

Field Research

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A B S T R A C T

The most integral part of our senior thesis research was getting out into the field to understand how brands are developing and using experiential marketing strategies. To gather quality insights, we determined that SXSW would provide the perfect environment where we could see brands in action while learning directly from industry professionals how to develop these types of campaigns. While we were there, we also wanted to understand why industry professionals believe there is so much potential value for organizations that invest in these types of campaigns, how they measure ROI, and what best practices lend themselves to the perfect experiential campaign.

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// I N T R O D U C T I O N Br a n d s f ro m a l l o ve r t h e wo r l d h a ve a p re s e n ce i n A u s t i n , a n d a t t e n d e e s h a ve t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o e xp e r i e n ce a n d d e t e r mi n e f o r t h e ms e l ve s wh i ch m a r ke t i n g t a ct i cs wo r k a n d wh i ch d o n ’t . O u r f i e l d re s e a rch t o o k p l a ce f ro m M a rch 8 t h t h ro u g h M a rch 1 5 t h, 2 0 1 8 . D u r i n g o u r t i me a t SXSW, we a t t e n d e d a ma j o r i t y o f t h e s i g n i f i ca nt b r a n d a ct i va t i o n s , a n d we i n t e r vi e we d 2 0 + o f i n d u s t r y p ro f e s s i o n a l s .

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// General Observations and Findings from SXSW SXSW was a prime location to gather a real understanding of the e x p e r i e n t i a l m a r k e t i n g i n d u s t r y. W h i l e w e w e r e i n A u s t i n , w e w e r e able to meet with event organizers and producers from a wide variety of industries. In fact, we came across activations that we would have never imagined.

As a result , w e we re a b l e t o a n s we r ma n y o f o u r orig in a l q u e stio n s and br ing find i n g s b a ck f o r f u r t h e r e xp l o r a t i o n .

A vast assortment of brands both recognizable and obscure relied on experiential campaigns. It reaffir med our initial expectations in that the experiential marketing industry is exploding and is a v a l u a b l e t o o l t o a d d t o a n o r g a n i z a t i o n ’s m a r k e t i n g m i x .

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// B r a n d s

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We

Networked

with

// B r a n d s

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We

Networked

with

As we ex plo red a l l o f t he d ifferent ca m pa ig n s , t here were so m e k ey insight s w e t o o k a w ay.

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// Understanding your Brand or Who You’re Working for.

When asked the most important thing to consider when designing experiential campaigns, time and again, industry professionals responded that brands need to have an honest understanding of t h e m s e l v e s . In a conversation with Marcelo Alba, director of brand activations for Google, he mentioned that when it comes to building an experiential event, brands should dig deep to understand who they are, what they believe in, and the value their product/service brings t o t h e p u b l i c . B y a n s w e r i n g t h e s e q u e s t i o n s g e n u i n e l y, a n a c t i v a t i o n should ultimately feel authentic in the eyes of the targeted audience.

This was true for all of the successful campaigns that we visited.

H o w e v e r, t h e r e w e r e c a m p a i g n s t h a t h a d n o t f a c t o r e d i n t h e s e considerations. The Guild, a boutique hotel referral group, for e x a m p l e , h a d a n a c t i v a t i o n t h a t d i d n ’t m a k e a n y s e n s e a t a l l . In a l l h o n e s t y, w e d i d n ’ t t a k e a n y t h i n g a w a y f r o m t h e e x p e r i e n c e e x c e p t a free drink. I t f e l t l i k e t h e y d i d n ’t u n d e r s t a n d t h e i r p u r p o s e . It was as is if they knew having an activation at SXSW would be beneficial, but they missed on the execution; they didn’t know how to deliver meaningful brand content to visitors.

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// Understand your Audience and their Needs.

D esi gn i n g for the ri gh t a u d i e n ce i s cr i t i ca l t o t h e su cce ss o f a g i v e n ac ti vati on. As w e e val u a t e d t h e e x p e r i e n t i a l ca mp a i g n s w e v i si t e d , we dete rm i n e d that Bose did t h e b e st j o b d e si g n i n g w i t h t h e a u d i e n c e i n min d. Thei r acti vati on w a s t w o - fo l d , cre a t e d t o fa ci l i t a t e b o t h B2 B a n d B2C i nte racti on s. To acco mp l i sh t h i s, Bo se d i v i d e d t h e i r a ct i v a t i o n i n to t wo tracks. For consumers, Bose built a low context, reasonably quick experience designed to showcase their proprietary technology. O n t h e B2 B si de, h o w e v e r, B o s e c r e a t e d a n i n - d e p t h p r e s e n t a t i o n f o l l o w e d by a reveal of the prototype, a series of demo stations and a walk a r o u n d A u s t i n t o f e a t u r e t h e p r o d u c t s a b i l i t i e s . Dividing the experience made total sense, especially after we learned that Bose’s primary goal was to develop partnerships with people who could help them develop their technology.

Anoth e r exce l l e n t exam p l e o f a b r a n d u n d e r st a n d i n g i t s a u d i e n ce c a m e f rom Merc edes. T h e c a r m a k e r t o o k o v e r a n e n t i r e p a r k , c r e a t i n g a p a v i l i o n w i t h i n w h i c h a t t e n d e e s t o i m m e r s e t h e m s e l v e s . In d i s c u s s i o n with Liganova, the group who designed the pavilion, one designer e x p l a i n e d t h a t y o u n e e d t o c o n s i d e r a n d a n t i c i p a t e y o u r a u d i e n c e ’s needs, you need to create spaces that lend themselves to the goal o f y o u r a c t i v a t i o n . For Me rce d e s, i t w a s a b o u t e x p o su re . A s a res u l t, Liga nova de si gn e d a spa ce t h a t i n v i t e d v i si t o r s t o e x p l o re . To fa ci l ita te t hat sens e of di s cove ry, t h e y i n cl u d e d cre a t u re co mfo r t s t h a t ma d e i t easi er for th e cons u mer t o sp e n d mo re t i me w i t h i n t h e sp a ce su c h a s wif i , food, and l ou n ge sp a ce .

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We real ized t ha t t hese t y pes o f co nsider a t io ns a re w h at mad e s p e c i f i c experiences feel genuine, w hile o t her s seem ed ho l lo w b y c omp ar i s on .

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// Design with Geographic Location and Culture in Mind.

When designing for an activation, it is hugely important to take into consideration not only the physical geographic location but equally important is having a clear understanding of how your campaign and t h e b r a n d ’s p e r s o n a l i t y l e n d s i t s e l f t o t h e c u l t u r e o f t h a t l o c a t i o n .

T his w as someth i n g w e ha d n ’t t a k e n i n t o co n si d e r a t i o n u n t i l i t ca m e u p in ou r di scus si on w i th Ma rce l o Al b a , G o o g l e ’s b r a n d a ct i v a t i o n d i re c to r.

H e sai d, w h e n Googl e deci d e d t o cre a t e i t s S X S W a ct i v a t i o n a ro u n d th e G oogl e As si s tan t pl atform, t h e y w a n t e d t o ma k e i t fe e l l i k e i t b e l o ng e d in Au sti n . Aus ti n h as a ve r y “ k e e p i t fu n a n d k e e p i t w e i rd ” st y l e a b ou t i t and Googl e u sed thi s to t h e i r a d v a n t a g e , i n t e g r a t i n g fu n , l i g h t - h e a rte d elements i n to th e i r acti va t i o n .

Anoth e r m arvel ou s e xamp l e o f t h i s w a s t h e S o n y Wo W a ct i v a t i o n . We discus sed thi s strategy i n d e p t h w i t h t h e G e n e r a l ma n a g e r o f Bra n d Str a tegy for S ony, w ho s a i d S o n y h a d a t a l e n t e d i n - h o u se d e si g n te a m t hat h e l ped create m os t o f t h e si g n a g e a n d b r a n d e d ma t e r i a l s w i th i n t he ve n u e . To h e l p ens u re t h e i r a e st h e t i c fi t t h e mo o d o f A u st i n , Tex a s , Sony e n l i ste d th e h e l p of a l o ca l a g e n cy t o d e si g n t h e i r i n t e r i o r sp a c e .

T he re sul t w as a beau ti fu l l y mi n i ma l i st w o r k sh o p t h a t l e n t i t se l f t o th e ac ti vati on and bl e n ded s e a ml e ssl y i n t o A u st i n ’s l a n d sca p e .

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// If you Think Experiential Isn’t for You, You’re Wrong!

We w e r e a b l e t o c o n c l u d e t h a t r e g a r d l e s s o f y o u r b r a n d i f y o u d i g deep, you can create special experiential moments for audiences. Our t e a m d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e F o r t Wo r t h N o w a c t i v a t i o n s o l i d i f i e d t h i s idea.

We had neve r l ooke d a t a ci t y a s h a v i n g a b r a n d e d i d e n t i t y. Th e c i ty o f Fort Worth , h ow eve r, t o o k a v e r y fo r w a rd - t h i n k i n g a p p ro a ch cre a ti n g a n e xpe ri enti al ve n u e tha t sh o w ca se d e v e r y t h i n g t h e i r co mmu n i t y h a d to offe r. In si de th e s i te, g u e st s co u l d l i st e n to keynote speakers, experience flying in an Uber AirTaxi, or operate an F35. Outside, Fort worth had Local bands playing, small business owners with pop up shops and plenty of Fort worth schwag. Th i s w a s a l l a mp l i fi e d w i t h st r a t e g i c a n d w e l l - d e s i g n e d si gn age an d brandi n g .

Because we had never expected to see an activation for a city we a s k e d M i t c h W h i t t e n V i c e p r e s i d e n t o f m a r k e t i n g f o r V i s i t F o r t Wo r t h , t h e c i t y ’s t o u r i s m b u r e a u , w h y h e t h o u g h t , t h e s e t y p e s o f e x p e r i e n t i a l campaigns were so valuable. He went on to state that people don’t b e l i e v e a d v e r t i s i n g a n y m o r e , so Ft. Worth took part of their advertising budget and focused on engaging people i n a u t h e n t i c s t o r i e s , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e i n d u s t r y.

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“We wanted to connect people with people and facilitate authentic connections, and that’s why we brought the city of Fort worth to SXSW�

-Mitch Whitten, Vice president of marketing for Visit Fort Worth

This type of thinking was invigorating as it reminded us that creating authentic engagement opportunities is the most valuable thing an organization can do regardless of its nature.

In closing, the learning here was that anyone could apply the experiential tactics to create invaluable o p p o r t u n i t i e s fo r t h e i r o rg a n i za t i o n .

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// Measuring ROI is an Industry-Wide Problem.

Measuring the ROI of an experiential campaign is challenging but not i m p o s s i b l e . I n r e a l i t y, i t m a y e v e n t a k e a l i t t l e g u t i n s t i n c t t o k n o w that the strategy is paying off.

This was probably one of the most important things we took away f r o m A u s t i n . We h a d a p r e t t y g o o d i d e a g o i n g i n t o t h i n g s t h a t t h e r e w a s t r e m e n d o u s v a l u e i n t h e e x p e r i e n t i a l m a r k e t i n g i n d u s t r y. T h e question we were struggling with was, how brands are developing K P I ’s a n d m e a s u r i n g t h e R O I f o r t h e s e t y p e s o f c a m p a i g n s .

So, to find a solution, the question of how to measure the success of a campaign became an integral part of our research. The exciting development was that almost every industry professional we interviewed gave the same response.

Th e con sens u s w as th a t d e t e r mi n i n g R O I i s a v e r y t r i ck y p ro p o siti o n .

One reason it is challenging to draw conclusions regarding ROI is that e x p e r i e n t i a l c a m p a i g n s a r e r e g u l a r l y i n e f f a b l e . Measuring the emotional impact of an experiential tactic is tough. From this perspective, it is almost like going back to basic economics and the util system. F o r i n s t a n c e , h o w do you quantify the feeling attached to receiving a gift from a l o v e d o n e ? T h i s i s w h e r e g u t i n s t i n c t , w o r d o f m o u t h , a n d consum er e n gagem e n t com e i nto p l a y.

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Another challenging hurdle is that an organization might not see the R O I i m m e d i a t e l y.

I n f a c t , a s w e l e a r n e d f r o m C l a r a L u o , C h i e f o f S t a f f f o r Yo u n g & R u b i c a m ’s d a t a a n a l y t i c s g r o u p , v e r y o f t e n e x p e r i e n t i a l c a m p a i g n s t o o k t i m e t o y i e l d s u b s t a n t i a l r e s u l t s . L u o s a y s t h a t s o m e t i m e s i t ’s not necessarily the specific metric that makes a campaign successful, but how the campaign affects your brand overall. Add i t i o n a l l y, t h i s b rand lift might not be instant. At Y&R , it s common to not see a m e a s u r a b l e l e l i f t f o r s i x m o n t h s t o a y e a r, s o y o u r b r a n d s h a v e t o b e patient.

H o w e v e r, w i t h t h o s e m o r e p e r c e p t u a l r o a d b l o c k s c o v e r e d , w e w e r e able to drill down a few concrete methods that at least provide some quantifiable data.

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Firstly, keep a record of foot t r a ffi c a n d co n v e r si o n r a t e . I n d i scu ssi o n wi th Ya n n i c k D ietr ic h, a producer from Li g a n o v a g ro u p , h e me n t i o n s t h a t k e e p i n g a c l o s e e y e o n co nvers i on i s one of th e be st w a y s fo r t h e i r o rg a n i za t i o n t o g e t a n i d e a o f h o w m a n y peo ple th e y i mpacte d throu g h t h e i r e v e n t .

This wa s al so the case for Eri n R i ch a rd K u n k e l , d i re ct o r o f so ci a l me d i a f o r H e rb a l i f e nutr it ion. Kunkel explained that because they were sampling product, they kept diligent records of how much product was given away to determine how many interactions their activation generated.

S e c o n d l y, a n d p r o b a b l y m o s t i m p o r t a n t i s , e a r n e d m e d i a c o v e r a g e . T h i s i s o r g a n i c u s e r- g e n e r a t e d c o n t e n t t h a t c a n b e u s e d t o g a u g e t h e q u a l i t y a n d e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f a n e x p e r i e n t i a l c a m p a i g n . W e t o u c h o n t h i s i n a n i n t e r v i e w w i t h M o r g a n M i e r, a n e x p e r i e n c e d e s i g n p r o d u c e r f r o m E d d l e m a n a d v e r t i s i n g a g e n c y. S h e s a y s , a n o r g a n i z a t i o n c a n d o a s o c i a l p o s t o r m a k e a c o m m e r c i a l , b u t i t ’s n o t t h e s a m e as having someone experience something unique, something memorable and then g e t t i n g t h a t e a r n e d m e d i a c o v e r a g e , w h i c h i s w h a t i t ’s a l l a b o u t . S h e g o e s o n t o s a y t h a t i t ’s a b o u t b e i n g a b l e t o t r a c k h o w t h i n g s a r e g o i n g v i r a l o r b e i n g s h a r e d a n d learning f ro m t h a t d a t a .

Stacy Scarcella from Plaid Pony productions echoes this point, saying that she continually monitors social media, paying close attention to what type of buzz is generated about her campaigns.

In closing, we concluded that useful ROI measurement is a combination of all of these things; it is foot traffic, it is engagement, it is generating excitement, and it is earned media. That is definitely not to say that these are the only metrics to determine the success of a campaign, in our opinion the ROI is as unique as the actual campaign itself. With that said, we believe that if an organization sets out to e n g a g e c o n s u m e r s i n a g e n u i n e a n d a u t h e n t i c w a y, t h e n i t g e n e r a l l y s h o u l d r e s u l t in a successful campaign.

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Case Studies For thes e case s tu d ies, w e w i l l b re a k d o w n e a ch e v e n t b y o u r l e a rn i n g o b j e c ti v e s .

Al thou gh w e are no t d o i n g a ca se st u d y fo r e v e r y e x p e r i e n t i a l c a m p a i g n we we re a part o f, w e e v a l u a t e d e a ch o n e u si n g t h e sa me c ri te ri a .

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01 A n

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E x p e r i e n c e

W o r t h

t h e

U l t i m a t e

P r i c e

/ / OV E RV I E W HBO partnered with creative agency Giant Spoon to create a totally immersive experience to promote the second iteration of their show, Westworld.

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WESTWORLD l i v e

w i t h o u t

l i m i t s

//THE EXPERIENCE

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The experience began at a restaurant/bar a few blocks

After catching your breath and a cold drink you were

from downtown Austin, the hub of SXSW activity.

escorted back down to the first floor were charter

From the moment you arrived, you were engaging

buses awaited your arrival. You then embarked on a

with the Westworld IP. The venue was very rustic

15-20 minute ride to an undisclosed location outside

looking and totally matched the aesthetic of the show.

of Austin.

Attendance was limited as there were only 4 ways to gain admission to the attraction: 1. Very limited RSVP through the website which was communicated through Twitter

//THE EXPERIENCE To set the stage, the entire goal of this activation was to give SXSW attendees an opportunity to experience what it would be like to take a trip to Sweetwater, a fictional town in HBO’s hit series Westworld.

2. Wait in a standby line for the chance to grab an unclaimed RSVP slot 3. Use a very limited Lyft code that was released via twitter 4. VIP invitation

Westworld trailer played across the buses video monitor.

It was scripted as if we were actual visitors to Westworld and as we arrived before exiting the bus we were given 2 Westworld branded drink coins.

The second location was nestled in a very derelict and rustic field.

This tactic was extremely effective creating a

As attendees made their way off the buses, you were

lot of buzz around the event, while giving it

greeted by Delos Employee who beckend you towards

a very exclusive feeling.

a set of stairs that were curtained off at the top. After

As you waited in the queue, you were greeted by

opening the curtain and stepping through, things really

attendants who were in character as Delos employees.

went to the next level.

The actors checked you in capturing all of your contact information before taking your picture and escorting you to a rooftop bar. This space was decked out with a player piano identical to the one in the show stroking music away and simple brand related details for you to feast your eyes on.

Once upstairs, you were presented with the option of a black or white cowboy hat, very much like the ones worn in the series.

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About 5 minutes before we arrived at the destination a

Top of stairs was a room with black hats to one side and white hats to the other. In the middle, a cabinet filled with weapons like the ones used in the show and a host who officially greeted you and welcomed you to Westworld. The room was designed very similarly to one seen in the series pilot episode.

After walking through the room, you exited a door which

Everywhere you turned there were actors playing out

led you directly into a vintage cowboy era train car.

scenes and interacting with guests.

The music score playing was identical to that laden throughout the series. From this point on everyone you interacted with was decked out in vintage cowboy

Additionally, the post office and sheriff’s station were both very special touches.

garm and maintained host like communication, slightly

At the post office you approached the counter and told

dejected but always pleasant and country.

them your who you are after which you were presented

As you made your way through the train car, a character gave an outline of some of the activities you were encouraged to participate in. Attendees

a letter personalized with your name on it. Each letter was different and contained clues about characters you were supposed to interact with.

then exited the train car which acted like a portal to the town of Sweetwater.

The town was something truly special Over the 2.5 acre field, a life like replica of the town of Sweetwater had been constructed. The event organizers built approximately 20 buildings including a barber shop where you could get a shave,an era style photo studio to have your picture taken in and they left enough space for horses walking around on lead They even included iconic locations from the series like the Coronado and Mariposa saloon and if you poked around enough you could find a hidden room where they were “creating a new host.”

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Source: SXSW Website

At the sheriff’s station they had cho-

After spending about an hour

In this final act there was a huge standoff

sen images from the pictures that

exploring and interacting with

that led to the shooting of Frank, one of

were taken when we arrived to the

characters, a huge ruckus broke out

the parks notorious hosts. As real gunshots

first venue to print out on wanted

directing our attention to the middle

rang out shooters who were actors, acting

posters and we were encouraged to

of the town.

as if they were real guests in the park with

find those guests and turn them in for a reward (a specialty drink token designed with insignia from the upcoming season).

This was the final scene for the actors and signified that you had probably seen all that was to be seen in the town.

the ability to shoot and kill hosts emerged ecstatic that they had just completed one of the parks toughest narratives. When they asked a host for a photograph some of the actors began “glitching” until the infamous line “freeze all motor functions” was yelled.

This stopped all of the host/ actors in their track, frozen until “May you all rise to a new day“ was yelled out which basically reset all of the hosts bringing an end to the narrative. Following this showdown, you were free to continue exploring or leave the park.

A few days after the experience, we received emails thanking us for visiting that included our photograph on the wanted poster, our picture from the Sweetwater photo studio and an electronic version of the letter that

Source: Business Insider

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we picked up from the post office.

The event lasted 3 days and was only open to SXSW Badge holders

// Design of the space This activation occupied two spaces. The initial reception venue and the remote venue which was offsite. Both areas were designed to match the aesthetic of the show. The level of detail was incredible there wasn’t a single

Source: Business Insider

visual detail out of place.

// Location

// Staff Presence

This event took place in 2 locations

If you were working at it you could

The reception venue was a pre-existing

1. Downtown Austin

spot a few of the producers running

BBQ restaurant and bar converted for this

2.Remote location 15-20 minutes

around making sure that everything

activation. The Remote venue had actually

outside of Austin.

was running according to plan. Aside

// Construction

been built from the ground up.

// Length of experience

from that you really only interacted

// Brand Presence/Signage

with Actors/ Characters on the set.

This activation had no HBO brand affiliated

// Interactive/Immersive

The intended length of the experience was

signage at all except for the westworld logo

about 1.5 hours including the commute

Westworld themed details like the bever-

This event was about as immersive as it gets.

to and from the remote location. However

age coins. This was a very well thought out

The creators almost literally transported us to

with that said there was no fixed amount of

decision because the overarching goal of

a fictional town.

time as you were invited to stay as long as

this activation was to remove the consumer

you like.

from reality.

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This event was tied directly to SXSW

// Genuine or Forced

// Expected ROIs

// P.O.S. Locations

This was a really organic and genuine activa-

Although we have been unable to confirm

There were no Point of Sales’ locations

tion.Being that it was an entertainment based

this we imagine that the ROI’s include;

campaign it made total sense to create this

+ Hight amounts of foot traffic/ attendees

type of activation.

+ High levels of engagement on social

// Clarity of Experience This experience was extremely clear. From the get go you are told that visiting this experience is a chance to “Live without limits & escape reality.” They do a great job of following this motif throughout the entire experience.

// Quality of Experience This experiential campaign was extremely high quality. No expense was spared and the level of detail proves it.

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platforms + Tons of earned media coverage

// Indoor / Outdoor This was both indoor and outdoor activation

// Influencers They decided to capitalize on influencers craze at every level. One strategy they incorporated was a media influencer reveal during which they sent a number of social

#HBOWestWorld

media, mainly Twitter, influencers to experience Westworld the night before the opening.

// Social Media Strategies They have used multiple social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to create buzz about the experience. In fact, we had to create Twitter accounts to keep up with the RSVPs process to attend this activation. During the experience, they incorporated a limited use of Snapchat filter.

// Areas for improvement The live music area seemed detached. The whole experience felt as if we were transformed into a different reality. Unfortunately because all of the performing artists were very modern it felt a bit out of place, when passing by the live music, it brought us back to Austin rather than being immersed in Sweetwater.

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l i v e

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w i t h o u t

l i m i t s

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SONY // OVERVIEW

Sony overtook a massive 20,000 sq ft warehouse in the heart of Austin right next door to the convention center, the main hub for SXSW activity.

Inside, attendees were WoW’ed around every corner as they experienced all of Sony’s latest technology in are a really fun and unique setting. This activation was Sony’s second appearance at SXSW.

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//THE EXPERIENCE

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// THE EXPERIENCE The Sony WoW experience was a beautifully designed immersive environment built to showcase Sony’s most recent innovations.

Inside the venue, Sony incorporated 10 of their proprietary products across 12 experiential engagement stations.

In an interview with head of brand strategy, Simon, he says “normally Sony doesn’t introduce or disclose the underdevelopment testing or prototypes to the public but here at SXSW, we want to externalize our open innovation.”

The entire experience was self guided allowing you to explore, wonder and play as you please.

The experiences within the venue included Page 79

// AI Robotics In this station Sony showcased two pieces of innovative technology Xperia Hello! & Abio.

Xperia Hello! is communication robot designed with many of the same features as Amazon’s Echo except with the ability to react to facial expressions and gesture. In addition, the robot takes pictures and videos as well as end and receive messages. Sony Built a station where you could engage and “dance” with the robo.

Abio is sony’s entertainment robot designed as an AI puppy.

In this station you could pet, take pictures and even play fetch with the technology.

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// Augmented Reality A(i)R Hockey This station was an AR hockey table built for 3 players to engage in simultaneous gameplay.

Sony’s high-speed sensor tracked the puck and paddle in real time and the unique predictive algorithms enable projections based on the movement. The incorporation of haptic technology enabled players were to actually feel hitting a virtual

Interactive Tabletop projector This technology was a showcase of sony’s ability to create public and interactive AR. In this installation Sony arranged 3d printed musical instruments across a large table ,when queued attendees placed their hands over the table enabling the musical instrument. The instruments were illuminated using 3d motion mapping technology and projection.

Sony then gamified the experience allowing players to orchestrate a song together.

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// Projection Mapping Xperia touch message board

Superception, a Sony Headlight Experience

Sony placed Xperia touches throughout the

In this station, attendees demoed Sony’s Head

entire venue. These projections had been gamified

Light Technology. This technology projected first

and invited attendees to complete a drawing using

person POV content on the walls as the viewer

their finger within the projection space. After com-

moved around the space. As a result viewers

pleting your drawing you were prompted that

were immersed in a mixed reality experience

it would be uploaded onto a large interactive

including audio and video elements.

projection mapped canvas near the exit.

The Xperia xz1 3D Creator At this activity, participants had their head scanned by a robotic arm equipped with an Xperia Xz1. After the scan was completed your head was uploaded and rendered as a 3d model. After participants scanned a QR code which contained a link to their render for later viewing, the image was uploaded onto a giant gamified projection mapped wall.

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The Interactive cube The interactive cube was a pretty large activity situated at the back of the venue in the buildings largest space. This was a strategic decision because the cube doubled as a stage later to be occupied by a DJ. Inside the interactive cube, participants could compete against each other in a series of projection mapped games. The cube included haptic technology which reacted to player’s movement creating another touchpoint for the activation.

When the DJ took control of the cube, lyrics to the songs that were being played were projection mapped across the front creating a really visually stimulating show.

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Sony incorporated 2 unique sound design activities. Ghostly whisper and Acoustic Vessel Odyssey.

These activations relied on similar technology, however ,they were structured very differently giving Ghostly whisper a lower context position and giving the Acoustic vessel a very high context position.

Additionally, Ghostly Whisper was tucked into space alongside other activations and was unguided while the Acous-

// Sound Design Page 86

tic vessel required its own area attached to the venue as a result of its design and was staffed with a representative who told the attendees about the experience before they entered.

Acoustic Vessel This activity was also a collaboration between Sony, who provided the speaker technology , Evala who designed the audio and Kimchi and Chips who created the visual installation This activity was secluded from all of the other happenings within the WoW studios due to the nature of its design. Visitors walked a corridor that led outside where you made your way to the entrance of the exGhostly Whisper This activity was a collaboration between Sony and Universal Creative.

Attendees lined in front of a video monitor where they were enveloped by sound generated by sony’s proprietary intuitive audio software. Inspired by universal’s Halloween horror nights the the experience simulated a series of paranormal activities.

perience. At the door you were briefed by an attended about the purpose behind the activation the technology that had been integrated and some of the technologies applications. Additionally you were asked not to touch anything as the activity doubled as an art installation.

Inside the Acoustic Vessel, 576 Sony speakers coupled with proprietary Sonic Surf VR (Sound field synthesis technology) Created the sensation of totally immersive sound. Sony’s idea was that “The “Odyssey”is a spaceship that travels through space via a universe of sound”. By setting foot on the ship you are transported and in an instant you are enveloped in sounds reminiscent of the city, the forest ,moving through water, and moving through outer space with shooting stars.

The exhibition also included a stunning light show displayed over a series of over 500 individually strung wires. The lights amplified the experience really giving the impression that audio could be visualized. As the demonstration ended you exited back into the main hub within the Sony WoW studios.

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// Free-Viewpoint Hero Generator Here, participants were invited to try Sony’s Free-viewpoint 360 degree visual technology. This technology allowed participants to step into the space and be recorded as a 3D avatar. In this particular instance guests had the chance to be the protagonist in a comic book script.

After the render was complete, it was sent to the participants phone to commemorate the experience. The intention behind this installation was to give guest the chance to experience what it would be like on virtual reality movie set.

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Source: SXSW Website

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This activation occupied a warehouse broken to multiple sectioned spaces. Both the modern aesthetics designs and the plywood prototype-like walls hinted to the message they are trying to send. Each space was presented with great signage that gave high-contexts to the space. The light and colors used are very integrated to represent almost four different sections.

// Design of the Space

An entrance, which had dimmer light with vibrant accent details and colors. Outside area that had its own audio and visual setup. A high context engagement area. In this area, waiting times are longer leading attendees to que in lines. For that reason, they used brighter/more lit areas. A low context modern arcade like area. With a neon-vibrant colors took over most of the space and decorated by a beautiful wall projection of drawings sent by attendees using Sony’s touch screen projection technology placed in different spaces within the Sony WoW activation.

E v e r y t i m e a new drawing is sent, most of the warehouse is notified through a brilliant design solution; A PULSE like visual illumination through a tube, placed on the ceilings of each section, represented by a wave that travels to the wall of projections by changing colors.

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// Construction Each area at the Sony WoW activation was built in a warehouse using plywood to as walls to break the space into multiple rooms. And, a shipping container that was set on a platform to host the Acoustic Vessel activation. The shipping container was used in the outside area due to the nature of this activation.

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// Staff Presence

// Length of Experience

There was an interesting mix of local staffing and a staff that

The intended length of the experience was between and

flew all the way from Japan. There was a big staff presence

hour to 1.5 hours. However with that said there was no fixed

that tried to make sure that people around the space were

amount of time as you were invited to stay as long as you like.

well informed about the products and technologies.

// Brand Presence/Signage

// Interactive/Immersive

There was a big brand presence throughout the space. Sony’s

The product/top of the line technology presented were highly

signage was well integrated within each space, and within the

interactive. The environment design was really playful and im-

products featured to the schwag handed.

mersive specially in the Acoustic Vessel section.

// Location

// POS Locations

Downtown Austin

There were no POS locations

This event was tied directly to SXSW2018

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// Clarity of Experience Because of the nature of the space, it was really great to explore and wonder. If you are tired of exploring, the great staff and well designed signage do guide you to be involved.

// Expected ROIs According to the Head and General Manager of brand strategy at Sony headquarter, their measurable ROIs for this activations are as follows:

+ Media Coverage

+ High amounts of traffic

+ Number of feedbacks recorded

// Genuine or Forced This was a really beautifully designed, well thought out product presence and genuine activation. It was a fun and gamefied engagement based campaign.

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# SonyatSXSW

// Social Media Strategies They have used multiple social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to create buzz about the experience. During the experience, they encouraged participants to take a picture with Sony branded signage to get a Sony hat or T-shirt the picture is posted to instagram.

// Areas for improvement The waiting lines for the bar were endless. In fact, the que wrapped around multiple other activations. This long queuing led to a disturbance of flow within the space.

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/ / OV E RV I E W Bose partnered with Plaid Pony productions to unveil their new Audio AR Platform. This activation was designed to facilitate and foster B2B relationships while giving the general public a sneak peek at what Bose is working on in the labs.

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//THE EXPERIENCE

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//THE EXPERIENCE

//

B 2 C

The venue itself was very modest, a small house, with

Inside the shipping container, Bose gave consumers

a bar built into the side, along with a yard big enough

the chance to get a glimpse of what life would look

for networking and a few Bose signs.

like with Bose’s new AR audio eyewear. While a short video demonstration of the product’s capabilities

As you arrived at the venue you were asked if you had

was running, participants had a chance to try on 3D

registered for the extended product demo. We later

printed prototype eyewear with the technology built

learned that this was because the experience was

in. The Prototype glasses were semi-functional providing

strategically split aimed at two target demographics

all of the audio for the video presentation.

B2B and B2C. If you had not registered, you were directed to a shipping container located in the front of the venue with

After completing this portion of the demonstration

the Bose AR insignia on the side.

guests were directed around to the other side of the container. Here, participants had the opportunity to learn a little more about the product’s capabilities.

Once the secondary presentation was complete attendants stood at the ready to help answer any additional questions and solicit pre-order leads and capture feedback about the experience.

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//

B 2 B

The B2B portion of the activation took place

Following the presentation, guests were given

Attendees then took a 10 minute guided

inside the venue and was much higher context.

a chance to get hands-on with the technology

walk around Austin that showcased a ma-

in a series of demonstrations.

jority of the platform’s capabilities before

As guests arrived, they were checked in at

In the first experience, guests were given a set

you returned to the venue to complete the

the entrance before being escorted inside of

of Bose’s noise-canceling earbuds with the AR

experience.

the venue. Once a group had gathered Bose

software loaded into them. Participants then

representatives began an in-depth presentation

moved through a series of demos that replicated

Once participants had returned to the ven-

of the reasoning behind this activation, the prod-

the product’s capabilities.

ue Bose representatives stood at the

uct’s capabilities and some of the products future

ready to answer any questions about

applications. About halfway through the presentation,

In the second portion of the activation, guests

the product while gathering valuable

Bose revealed a 3D printed prototype of

were given a set of the prototype glasses that

insights about future applications or

their product.

had presented earlier in the presentation.

suggested changes.

//

Bose

Bose was very clear during these presentations that its primary goal at SXSW 2018 was to engage with potential partners or developers to expand the Audio AR Platform. This was reaffirmed later in a conversation with Daniel Morton, leader of Bose’s project management and partnership teams. He states that “Bose’s Primary objective is finding developers at SXSW and finding people that are excited about the partnering on the platform. We imagine there are a lot of other people who could do really great things on this platform. So we’re engaging with a lot of people and partners who we think could that.”

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Additionally, this was the first time Bose had

Both the B2B and B2C activations served as

ever done this type of activation before. It

more than just an opportunity to showcase

wasn’t surprising to learn that they were

the new products. Bose was able to develop

extremely happy with the results. Dan

strategic partnerships and gather valuable

Morton goes on to say that he thinks the

feedback about how people would react to

activation was fantastic. He says, “not only

this type of technology and what consumers

have we reached many of the people we

think would make it that much better.

expected to reach, we’ve found people and experiences we didn’t even think of and were talking to partners that we would have never imagined, not to mention the user feedback has been invaluable.” He closes by saying that this type of event was much more valuable than a digital campaign because it is extremely difficult to market an audio product through strictly digital mediums. Activations like these provide consumers the ability to get hands-on with the product, hear what it can do, and see it in action, which was extremely rewarding for the Bose team.

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// Design of the space

were guided to a lab-like space to give

Since this activation was aimed to engage

attendees more information about future

both B2B and B2C audiences, the layout of

applications for the product while Bose

the space was different.

revealed a prototype version of their AR

//Brand Presence/Signage

eyewear. Bose strategically designed the

There was a significant brand presence

second showcase space like a garage. This

throughout the space. At the entrance

For the purpose of informing the community,

created a workshop like feeling which

large Bose speakers cranked out music.

this activation included two spaces with sim-

lended to the presentation of the

There were Bose insignia throughout the

ple and clean designs. After the interaction

prototypes. Following this, attendees

activation along with Bose signage that

with the two space the customers get to chill

were guided to the next experience

was well integrated within each space.

in a lounge area that provided snacks while

where they had built three stations

Additionally, Bose representatives were

interacting with Bose representatives

within the backyard of the venue. The

bradend

about Bose’s new Audio AR platform

three stations were placed in different corners of

throughout the venue.

and its application possibilities. There

the backyard giving participants the chance to

were three informational panels positioned

actually have the initial interaction with possible

within the chill lounge area.

applications of the platform, before taking

//Staff Presence

participants on a walk around downtown

Bose came ready to develop relationships

austin with their eyewear

and network with potential partners. As a

B2C space

B2B space: Bose’s Primary focus Bose wanted to inform developers on their

potential clients or partners.

and

they

were

sprinkled

result, there were a plenty, if not a few too

audio AR platform to seek potential part-

// Construction

nerships. To facilitate this, they took us on a

Bose used shipping containers and

both audiences were well informed. You

private tour to demo their products. They

physical enclosures to separate demo

could tell that they wanted to be staffed well

designed a high context presentation

spaces for the Audio AR Platform. This

enough to answer questions regardless of

aimed directly at acquiring potential

was a bold move that lended itself to the

the volume of attendees.

partnerships. They presented in-depth

aesthetic of the activation. Because Bose

information about the platform using vid-

came to showcase a rough prototype,

Additionally Plaid Pony had a noticeable

eo monitors within a dynamic showcas-

using an industrial workshop like design

presence with enough staff present to ensure

ing room. After the product brief, we

seemed like a fitting option to entertain

the perfect execution of the project.

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many, Bose representatives to insure that

This event was tied directly to SXSW2018

// Length of Experience

it felt that there was a rush to deliver a

For the B2C section, the experience was

lot of information in one station while

approximately 10-15 minutes. And for the

interacting with the 3D printed eyewear

B2B section it took a little longer; 45

prototype and almost just talk about the

minutes to 1 hour.

experience with Bose’s representatives in the lounge area. In the contartry, the B2B

// Interactive/Immersive The Audio AR eyewear were extremely interactive.

// Genuine or Forced This activation felt very organic and

section was highly engaging and very clear to what they want and imagine the platform could turn into.

// POS Locations There were no POS locations.

genuine. The activities didn’t feel forced and the branding inside the environment wasn’t overwhelming. In our opinion we believe this was one of the best activations targeted at feeding information about a new platform. It help that the nature of the technology was fun and exciting.

// Clarity of Experience There is a lot of information related to this technology, therefore audiences need to interact longer with a product

// Expected ROIs According to the Lead of project management

partnerships

teams at Bose, Daniel Morton, their measurable ROIs for this activations are as follows:

+ Leads on developers inter

ests and partnerships

+ High amounts of traffic

+ Number of feedbacks recorded

and get an in-depth presentation about

// Location

the possibilities. For the B2C section,

Downtown Austin

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and

// Social Media Strategies

# BoseAR

Surprisingly, the Bose’s activation didn’t have any signage leading attendees to follow a hashtag to take action on social media. During a secondary research we have noticed that some people used #BoseAR to post about their Bose’s experience.

// Areas for improvement Because this was a guided activation, the flow needed to be seamless. When in the backyard, it took long to get to these stations although there weren’t many attendees.

One of Bose’s goals were to get consumers buzzing around the product, with a shareable element like this Bose should have included hashtags and/or social media signage.

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Page 105

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Chapter| 3

Synthesis of Findings

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//

A B S T R A C T

Our team believes that Experiential marketing is one of the most effective elements to include when prioritizing a marketing mix.

The challenge we identified was that a systematic framework did not exist for designing experiential campaigns. For this reason, we set out to create our own Experiential Marketing Canvas.

The goal of this canvas is to provide an easy to use guide for curating the perfect experiential campaign.

We believe that any organization trying to impact consumers through branded experiential tactics could apply our 12 building blocks to aid in the curation of a flawless experiential strategy.

This Canvas framework is the product of many years of combined knowledge, practice, research, and industry insight. In order to refine the inner workings, our team evaluated a variety of experiential campaigns, interviewed countless industry professionals, and completed field research to study how brands are executing in real time.

In this document, we will include some of the key elements we believe make experiential strategies so successful and we will walk readers through how to use our model canvas.

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// I N T R O D U C T I O N To begin, le t ’s t a l k a b o u t o u r a u d i e n ce . We ch o se to f o c u s o u r t heor ies on t h e mi l l e n n i a l d e mo g r a p h i c. T h a t i s n o t to sa y, o u r t ac t ic s w oul d n o t b e e ff e ct i ve f o r i mp a ct i n g a dd itio n a l ta rg e t mark ets. We believe that well-designed experiential campaigns could offer effective results for a wide variety of consumers; we just chose to focus on the segment of consumers with the largest purchasing power.

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// General Observations and Findings Ac c ording t o P e w re s e a rch , “ M i l l e n n i a l s a re e xp ec te d to o v e rta k e B oom er s in po p u l a t i o n i n 2 0 1 9 a s t h e i r n u mb e r s sw e ll to 7 3 millio n and B oom er s d e cl i n e t o 7 2 mi l l i o n . ” However, this shift in purchasing power also presents new challenges for marketers.

As m illennials h a ve b e co me s ke p t i ca l o f b i g b r a n d s a n d tra d itio n a l adv er t ising, re s e a rch s h o ws t h a t mo s t f o r ms o f ma rk e tin g a re h ig h ly ineffec t iv e w it h t h i s t a rg e t d e mo g r a p h i c. A c c o r d i n g t o A g e n c y E A c o - f o u n d e r F e r g u s R o o n e y, 8 9 % o f a d c o n t e n t i s i g n o r e d b y t h e c o n s u m e r, c r e a t i n g a n o b v i o u s b a r r i e r b e t w e e n b r a n d s a n d t h e i r i n t e n d e d a u d i e n c e . H e r e ’s w h a t t h e r e s e a r c h s a y s ;

Of Millennials

59% SkipYouTube Ads

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2

out of

3

Use an Adblocker

67% more likely to be cord-cutters

// General Observations and Findings

M illennials lik e b r a n d e d e xp e r i e n ce s ;

9 out of 10

re s p o n d e n t s s a i d , ‘ t h e y f e l t b r a n d e x p e rie n c e s deliv er strong face-to-face interaction and more compelling brand engagement.�

65%

of the consumers surveyed said live events helped them have a better understanding of a product or service, vastly surpassing digital efforts and TV advertising as methods of recognizing and learning about a brand.

98%

of users feel more inclined to purchase after attending an activation.

80%

of attendants echoed, live demonstrations and free samples significantly help define their purchasing decision.

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It is for these reasons; our experiential design strategies take a new approach to engaging with consumers. Industry professionals agree saying, “Experiential is a uniquely fast and effective way to build brand awareness through one-to-one connections with consumers. It engages all five senses, sparking emotions that f o r m l a s t i n g m e m o r i e s w h i c h h a v e b e e n s h o w n t o d r i v e b r a n d l o y a l t y. � we bel iev e, in order t o re a ch mi l l e n n i a l s , b ra n d s n e e d to f o c u s o n c re a t in g g e n u in e engagem ent oppo rtu n i t i e s ra t h e r t h a n s p e n d i n g o n p re d ic ta b le a d v e rt isin g .

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// How do we define Experiential Marketing?

Before diving into how to use our experiential model canvas, we think that it is probably best to first define what we consider an experiential campaign. T his d e f i n i t i o n wi l l u n d o u b t e d l y b e d e b a te d , a s th e re is an endless numb e r o f a r t i cl e s a n d o p i n i o n s o n t h e ma tte r. F o r o u r t eam , an am al g a ma t i o n o f f i e l d e xp e r i e n ce , i n s i g h ts f ro m in d u stry professionals a n d t h e co mp a r i s o n o f h u n d re d s o f a rtic le s h e lp e d shape our defi n i t i o n .

We Believe

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Experiential Campaigns are multisensory marketing tactics driven by a brand or organization, with the goal of developing a long-term relationship with consumers.

These campaigns go far beyond that of a traditional advertising, including but not limited to, elements of immersion, high levels of consumer engagement and deep emotional storylines.

So, what does this mean?

T he per fec t e xp e r i e n t i a l ca mp a i g n h a s t o d e l i ve r h ig h q u a lity o f br and c ont ent , i n cre a t i ve , e xci t i n g , a n d n e w i mme rsiv e w a y s.

I t ’s n o l o n g e r e f f e c t i v e f o r b r a n d s t o r e l y s o l e l y o n t r a d i t i o n a l advertising campaigns. In fact, we strongly agree with an insight collected during our research. “At t his point a l l o t h e r f o r ms o f a d ve r t i s i n g a re simp ly p rime rs f o r experiential opportunities. By turning to branded experiences, organizations c an f o st e r d e ep and long-lasting consumer relationships that generally turn into long term customer loyalty.� -Yannic Dietrich

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// Key elements to be considered when designing Experiential Strategies

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When designing for an experiential campaign, it is critical to remember that the most important task to accomplish is creating a holistic experience.

So, for thes e re a so n s, w e b ro k e d o w n 4 fo u n d a t i o n a l e l e m e n ts th a t we be l i e ve u l ti m a t e l y sh o u l d h e l p g u i d e t h e p re mi se fo r a n y e x p e ri e n ti a l s trate gy. These fo u n d a t i o n a l e l e me n t s sh o u l d b e e st a b l i s h e d b e f o re j um pi ng i nto t h e a ct u a l e x p e r i e n t i a l ma r k e t i n g ca n v a s. T h i s s h o u l d h e l p you, the read e r, g e t i n t o t h e r i g h t fr a me o f mi n d w h e n th i n k i n g a b o u t your ow n exp e r i e n t i a l st r a t e g y.

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1

Understand your brand.

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Time and time again we asked industry professionals what the most important thing to consider was when designing experiential campaigns. Their responses were that brands need to have a deep and true understanding of themselves in order to create a great experiential campaign. I n a con ve r sa t io n w i t h M a rc e l o Al ba, di re ctor o f b r a n d a ct i v a t i o n s fo r G o o g l e , h e me n t i o n e d th a t wh e n i t comes to bui ld i n g a n e x p e r i e n t i a l e v e n t , b r a n d s sh o u l d re a l l y d i g d e e p to unde rs tan d w h o t h e y re a l l y a re , w h a t t h e y b e l i e v e i n a n d th e v a l u e th e i r produ ct/service b r i n g t o t h e p u b l i c. By t r u l y a n sw e r i n g th e s e q u e s ti o n s , an activation should ultimately feel really authentic in the eyes of the targeted audience.

Brands who deliver these types of campaigns in a high quality and genuine way will ultimately be most successful in achieving their return on investment.

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Addi ti o nal l y, b r a n d s ca n ’t fo rce i n t e r a ct i o n s w i t h co n su m e rs a n d e x p e ct posi ti ve enga g e me n t . A s w e st a t e d b e fo re , mi l l e n n i a l s h a v e d e v e l o p ed ad bl ockers s o i f t h e a ct i v a t i o n i sn ’t d e si g n e d i n a h o l i s ti c , g e n u i n e way, then brands sh o u l d fo rg e t a b o u t b e i n g su cce ssfu l i n re a c h i n g th e i r ta rg et market.

Successful activations generate organic interest enticing consumers to explore and engage on their own accord.

Clara Luo and Olivia Collins From Young & Rubicam advertising agency said that in order for a campaign to be truly successful, they have to increase value for the brand. They went on to say that delivering on brand content is integral to the design of the experience. Luo says that it’s not enough to just organize an exciting or flashy activation but that designing an authentic experience that delivers real brand value is where the magic’s at.

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This is the premise for any experiential campaign and is the first of four foundation questions that must be asked repeatedly throughout each o f o u r 1 2 b u i l d i n g b l o c k s . W h e n p l u g g i n g i n fo r ma t i o n i nto th e f ra m e wo rk us e rs need to co n t i n u a l l y a sk t h e mse l v e s i f t h e st r a t e g y o r to u c h p o i n ts ass oci ated with any given activation add value to the brand o r the consumer.

If the ans w e r i s y e s t h e n t h e e l e me n t i s p ro b a b l y j u st i fi e d , i f th e a n s we r i s no or e ven m a y b e t h e n t h a t sp e ci fi c e l e me n t sh o u l d p ro b a b l y b e re v i s i te d .

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2

Understand your audience and know how much to feed them.

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The second idea that is important to remember as you design a campaign is, in order to successfully execute an experiential strategy, marketers must have a deep understanding of the audience they are targeting and they must carter experiences around their audience’s needs.

This is the entire reason for developing an experiential campaign in the first place. By incorporating these experiential strategies into a marketing mix, brands should expect to engage with consumers in a really intimate way. For this reason, it is critical to ensure that you know who you are marketing to and why.

The other thing to consider is, what level of context needs to be included to successfully meet the KPI and ROI demands.

So first let’s talk about context...

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We believe there are 3 levels of context High context, Low context, and Equal parts.

An analogy from Marcelo Alba does a great job at illustrating this point. He said, “context is like candy and vegetables.� In this analogy, vegetables are high context. They are loaded with detail and information. Candy, on the other hand, is flashy, entertainment or pleasure based content.

He mentioned that marketers need to determine early on how much context they need to provide to meet key performance objectives.

High Context activations provide large amounts of information or engaging content to the attendee.

They generally solicit high levels of thought or interactivity. Examples include, but are not limited to, product demonstrations and Immersive and interactive environments.

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Low Context activations are primarily entertainment based. These activations require very little thought from the consumer standpoint.

There are no product demos or presentations. These activations are designed for people to just have fun while engaging with the brand.

Equal Part activations pretty much speak for themselves.

These have equal parts high and low context information.

This would be similar to an activity that encourages high levels of play or interactivity, included elements of entertainment, while feeding you valuable information from the brand.

We feel that activations with equal parts high and low context information, candy, and vegetables, are most successful. The trick is providing enough candy to get a consumer excited then keep them engaged with high context vegetables.

With this said, we feel that it is necessary to also say that there is perfect ratio for context. It really comes down to who you are trying to impact and what you are trying to accomplish.

Now, let’s talk about choosing an audience...

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To break this down, we believe that there are 4 major umbrellas to consider when determining how to structure an experiential campaign in relationship to the audience.

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B2B These campaigns are primarily focused on fostering relationships between a brand and outside organizations.

These activations tend to be higher in context because they generally provide a lot of information to the consumer. More Vegetables, less candy.

For example, at SXSW 2018, Bose showcased their augmented reality audio platform. Now, while this experience did involve a B2C element, in an interview with Dan Morton Director of their partnership team we learned; Bose primarily designed their experience to showcase all of the applications they recognized for the platform and foster relationships with developers who could help them build out these ideas. As a result, Bose built a highly detailed and dynamic activation where they provided lots of context in a fun hands-on way.

Thes e B2 B acti v a t i o n s a re a g re a t w a y t o e n g a g e p o t e n t i a l p a rtn e rs , th e y faci l i tate a pl a t fo r m i n w h i ch t h e y ca n e x p e r i e n ce w h a t y o u r b ra n d i s a l l abou t on a per so n a l l e v e l .

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B2C These activations tend to be more candy and fewer vegetables. It’s more about engaging the consumer in a fun way while generally providing more entertainment than substance.

Let’s use Viceland as an example here. Viceland uses a branded party bus to engage with consumers at festivals and major cultural events. From what we noticed the bus provided very little context to the consumer. Although there was music pumping and plenty of shwag, there wasn’t anything really substantial about their activation. There was no information about programming, or what Viceland stands for, but they did include a photo opportunity with baby goats.

In a nutshell, the activation was all about having a great time and creating a memorable moment that exposed people to the brand.

That is not to say that B2C experiences can’t be extremely high context.

To illustrate this let’s take a look at HBO’s experiential campaign for their Westworld IP. Recreating totally immersive interactive sets, HBO gave consumers the chance to explore their show as if they were in it. This campaign had a deep storyline, included high levels of detail and was extremely high context soliciting high levels of engagement.

What separates this category is there is no give back to the brand, its all about providing for the consumer.

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BLENDED Blended experiences incorporate elements that facilitate both B2B and B2C interactions.

Parallel to equal parts context theory These types of activations regularly encourage high levels of play or engagement and include elements of entertainment that feed attendees valuable information from the brand.

Sony WoW studio’s campaign is a perfect example of this. Sony uses the Sony WoW studio to showcase beta and prototype products to the public in a unique hands-on, workshop style, kind of way.

Sony’s director of brand strategy Shigeki Simon Mori said, “normally Sony doesn’t introduce or disclose the under-development testing or prototypes to the public, however, the WOW studio provides a platform where they can externalize their open innovation.”

The activation is self-guided allowing you to explore, wonder and play as you please while Sony’s staff stood present to help answer any questions.

The goal of the activation was 2-fold. Primarily, Sony wanted to create a platform where people could experience some of the exciting things their brand had to offer. Secondly, they were actively fostering B2B relationships, soliciting feedback and looking for potential partners who may want to incorporate their technologies.

It was the integration of both B2B and B2C elements that led us to use it as an example for blended activations.

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CAUSE-BASED Cause based campaigns are kind of an outlier, nonetheless, an important thing to consider.

These activations generally have a strong call to action or are designed to solicit donations or support.

We gave caused based initiatives their own category because they aren’t really trying to appeal to a specific consumer and they aren’t aimed at developing B2B relationship they just seek engagement.

A great example of this is Feed the World’s pack a bag of rice activation.

Feed the world designed a trade show booth that educated people about the world hunger crises. As part of the activation, visitors had the chance to pack a bag of rice that would feed a family of 6. Aside from aiding the cause, there was no ask from the brand simply an engagement opportunity. There was no reward for the consumer and Feed the world wasn’t actively seeking B2B relationships Another example would be a themed collegiate fundraising event. The college is not marketing to consumers nor is it soliciting industry relationships. Their intent is to raise awareness, solicit support and raise funds for their program.

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The type of au di ence yo u t a rg e t a n d t h e a mo u n t o f co n t e x t y o u p ro v i d e th e m wi th i s to ta l l y depe n dent on th e acti va t i o n ’s K PI s o r t h e b r a n d s/ cl i e n t a sk s w h i ch we wi l l ta l k a b o u t n e x t.

We just suggest that as you continue to keep this in mind as it is the second foundational question that must be revisited throughout the development of an experiential strategy.

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3

Understand Your objectives.

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The ASK

The 3rd fou n d a t i o n a l e l e me n t t o co n si d e r w h e n d e si g n i n g e x p e ri e n ti a l campai gn s i s t h e cl i e n t a sk o r t h e ch a l l e n g e , a s w e l i k e to c a l l i t. T h i s i s th e actual IP yo u a re d e si g n i n g y o u r e n t i re e v e n t a ro u n d .

When evaluating the challenge, it is important to remember that this is the initial exposure to the KPI’s and expected ROIs for the campaign.

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F o r a n e v e n t p r o d u c e r, t h e s e a s k s g e n e r a l l y c o m e i n t h e f o r m o f a n R F P as we learned from Stacy Scarcella Executive Producer for Plaid Pony Productions.

Af ter revi e w i n g al l of ou r d a t a , w e b e l i e v e t h a t t h e first question to consider when deciphering the product or brand challenge i s d e t e r m i n i n g i f t h e pro d u ct you are acti vati ng i s tang i b l e o r i n t a n g i b l e .

Ta n g i b l e b e i n g s o m e th i n g l i k e f o o d o r a p i e c e o f te c h n o l o g y.

Intangible being something like television content, where you can’t actually touch the product.

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A d d i t i o n a l l y, i t i s i m p o r t a n t t o c o n s i d e r w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e o b j e c t i v e of the product challenge includes developing customer relationships or strategic partnerships. This is often the case for B2B activations.

Our te am con cl u d e d t h a t w h e n re sp o n d i n g t o a p ro d uc t c h a l l e n g e th e m os t i mportan t t h i n g t o co n si d e r i s a d e e p a n d h o l i st i c s to ry l i n e .

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L e t ’s u s e G o o g l e a s a n e x a m p l e h e r e . G o o g l e c r e a t e d a n a c t i v a t i o n t i e d t o i t s M a k e G o o g l e D o I t c a m p a i g n t o s h o w c a s e i t s G o o g l e a s s i s t a n t t e c h n o l o g y. A f t e r s p e a k i n g w i t h t h e e v e n t ’s p r o d u c e r, w e l e a r n e d t h a t t h e o b j e c t i v e b e h i n d t h e campaign was to foster B2B relationships.

To bring the project to life, Google transformed an entire house into an activation showcasing all of the different things the Google assistant can help you accomplish.

The entire aesthetic was bright and poppy, the activation was lighthearted and for lack of a better term “Googly.”

This activation was really well put together, it was engaging, it provided valuable brand content and most importantly it felt complete. It felt like Google really understood who they are, what they were trying to accomplish and how they wanted people to engage with their brand, while staying true to their Google brand image.

Br a nds and producers n e e d t o a sk t h e mse l v e s, d o e s t h e a ct i v a t i o n f e e l a u th e n ti c and com pl ete .

If the answer is yes then you have most likely successfully broken down the product challenge. If the answer is no then you need to revisit the ask and dig deep to understand what the brand is trying to accomplish.

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In short, the product challenge is the centrifuge for ideation which is why we included it as the 3rd foundational element for experiential campaigns. It is here, where team breaks out the whiteboard and starts brainstorming unique ways to create valuable and authentic, branded engagement opportunities.

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4

Establish ROI Bank Long-term

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The last foundational element to consider before jumping into our Experiential marketing canvas is determining the expected ROI for an activation and establishing KPIs that will later be used to determine the overall effectiveness of an experiential s t r a t e g y.

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After interviewing countless industry professional, we concluded that this is probably one of the most difficult things to do.

It is challenging to draw conclusions regarding ROI because experiential campaigns are regularly ineffable. Measuring the emotional impact of an experiential tactic is tough. From this perspective, it is almost like going back to basic economics and the util system. F o r insta nce, how do you quantify the feeling attached to receiving a gift from a loved one?

T h i s i s w h e r e g u t i n s t i n c t , w o r d o f m o u t h , a n d c o n s u m e r e n g a g e m e n t c o m e i n t o p l a y.

A n o t h e r c h a l l e n g i n g h u r d l e i s t h a t a n o r g a n i z a t i o n m i g h t n o t s e e t h e R O I i m m e d i a t e l y.

I n f a c t , a s w e l e a r n e d f r o m C l a r a L u o , C h i e f o f S t a f f f o r Yo u n g & R u b i c a m ; R u b i c a m ’s data analytics group, very often experiential campaigns took time to yield substantial results. Luo says that sometimes it is not necessarily the specific metric that makes a c a m p a i g n s u c c e s s f u l , b u t h o w t h e c a m p a i g n a f f e c t s y o u r b r a n d o v e r a l l . A d d i t i o n a l l y, this brand lift might not be instant. At Y&R, its common to no t see a measurable lift f o r s i x m o n t h s t o a y e a r, s o y o u r b r a n d s h a v e t o b e p a t i e n t .

L i k e w i s e , Ya n n i c k D i e t r i c h , a p r o d u c e r f r o m t h e L i g a n o v a g r o u p e c h o ’s t h i s , s a y i n g t h a t experiential campaigns like the one he helped create for Mercedes at SXSW 2018 was not about hard KPIs at all, it was about developing long-term relationships. He added,”at an event like this it would be impossible to measure the ROIs using a metric like cars sold bec a u s e n o o n e i s a c t u a l l y b u y i n g a c a r. B u t t h e R O I m a y c o m e i n 1 0 y e a r s w h e n s o m e o n e w h o e x p e r i e n c e d t h e i r a c t i v a t i o n h a s a c t u a l l y b u y i n g p o w e r. ” H ow ever, w i th tho se mor e p e r ce p t u a l r o a d b l o ck s co v e r e d , i t mi g h t b e p o s s i b l e to i n c o rp o ra te some co ncrete m ethods t h a t a t l e a st p r o v i d e so me q u a n t i fi a b l e d a ta .

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F i r s t l y, k e e p a r e c o r d o f f o o t t r a f f i c a n d c o n v e r s i o n r a t e . I n a d i s c u s s i o n w i t h Ya n n i c k Dietrich, a producer from Liganova group he mentions that keeping a close eye on conversion is one of the best ways for their organization to get an idea of how many people they impacted through their event.

This was also the case for Erin Kunkel, director of social media for Herbalife nutrition.She said that because they sample product, they kept diligent records of how much product was given away to determine how many interactions their activation generated.

The best part about monitoring foot traffic and activity conversion is that the method used to do so can be incorporated into the experience design using technologies like RFID. A g r e a t e x a m p l e o f t h i s w a s G i a n t S p o o n ’s i n c o r p o r a t i o n o f R F I D t e c h n o l o g y i n t h e i r R e a d y Player One experiential campaign. Not only were they monitoring how many people actually attended the event, they were able to link the trackers to activities within the experience to m o n i t o r e n g a g e m e n t l e v e l s . A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e y w e r e a b l e t o u s e t h e t e c h i n a h o l i s t i c w a y linking the badge to attendees’ emails to send them home with pictures from the scan stations throughout the activation.

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S e c o n d l y, a n d p r o b a b l y m o s t i m p o r t a n t , i s e a r n e d m e d i a c o v e r a g e . This is organic user-generated content that can be used to gauge the quality and effectiveness of an experiential campaign. We touch on this in an interview with Morgan Mier, an experience design producer from Eddleman advertising agency. She says, “an organization can do a social post or make a commercial but it’s not the same as having someone experience something really unique, something memorable and then getting that earned media coverage, which is what it’s all about.” She goes on to say that it’s about being able to track how things are going viral or being shared and learning from that data.

Similarly, owner and executive producer of Plaid Pony, Stacy Scarcella echoes this point saying that she constantly monitors social media; paying close attention to what type of buzz is being generated about her campaigns.

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In closing, we concluded that effective ROI measurement is a combination of all of these things, it is foot traffic, its engagement, its excitement, and its earned media.

That is definitely not to say that these are the only metrics to determine the success of a campaign, in our opinion the ROI is as unique as the actual campaign itself.

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Experiential Marketing Canvas

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Now that you’ v e t a k e n t h e se fo u n d a t i o n a l i d e a s i n t o con s i d e ra ti o n , y o u are ready to b e g i n u si n g o u r e x p e r i e n t i a l ma r k e t i n g ca n v a s .

The canvas model was designed for you to easily plug in and prototype experiential strategies; We broke it into 12 easy to use building blocks.

Remember! In order to get the most

out of the canvas and your experiential campaign, it is integral to always reference back to the 4 foundational questions. Who is the brand, Who is the audience, what IP are we designing for and what are we hoping to accomplish.

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Experiential Marketing Canvas

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Key Partners Key Resources Key Stakeholders

Experience Design

The Golden Idea

The Challange

Understand the Brand

Marketing Strategy

Channels of Communication

Understand the Audience

Event Timeline

Risk Strategy and Rollout

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Cost Structure

ROIs and KPIs

Building Block #1

Understand the brand

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This section is all about understanding the brand or whoever you are creating an experiential campaign for. The most important thing to remember is that consumers are seeking deep and meaningful engagements, so it is critical that brands or marketers have a deep and honest understanding of their organizational values and the value they provide to their consumer. To better understand the brand, we suggest looking at key brand traits; how does the brand engage with consumers, how does the brand represent themselves, are they quirky or are they straight edge. These are things that need to be considered because they will ultimately help shape the experiential strategy you design.

Additionally, it is critical to ensure that all key stakeholders really buy into this in order to deliver truly unique engagement opportunity.

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Building Block #2

Understand the audience

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In order to desi g n t h e p e r fe ct e x p e r i e n t i a l ca mp a i g n , y o u h a v e to h a v e a deep u n dersta n d i n g o f t h e a u d i e n ce y o u a re t a rg e t i n g . To e x e c u te a re a l l y succes sfu l stra t e g y, y o u n e e d t o b e a b l e t o a n t i ci p a t e t h e c o n s u m e r’s n e e d s and expectati o n s.

Having a clear understanding of who you are designing for is essential to the construction of the experiential strategy as it shapes the way brand will engage with the consumer throughout the activation.

We believe that target audiences fall into 4 categories. B2B ,B2C ,Blended Cause based.

B2B activations are about fostering business to business relationships. B2B strategies generally have some kind of ask from other organization.

B2C activations give consumers a physical way to engage with a brand or IP. They don’t expect anything in return from the consumer.

Blended experiences cater to both B2B and B2B interactions. Activations like these allow general consumers to engage with a brand, while industry professionals solicit feedback or strategic partnerships.

Cause-Based Activations have a strong call to action and/or expect something like a donation from attendees. Think a themed fundraiser for an aquarium or an experiential campaign for an animal shelter.

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Building Block #3

The product challenge |The Ask|

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This building block is all about determining what the brand or organization is trying to accomplish and what IP they are hoping to activate. The question one has to ask is, what is the real goal of the activation; Is it to showcase a product, is it to form a strategic partnership or is to immerse attendees in a piece of content, what is the purpose for taking on an experiential strategy.

Firstly, as a marketer, you need to determine if the activation is for a tangible like food or a piece of technology; or intangible like television content or a movie.

It is also important to identify if the brand is trying to develop relationships beyond the activation that will be something that needs to be considered in the design phase.

This building block should also give valuable insight into the expected KPIs and the organizations expected ROI. Additionally, this building block should also inform how much context needs to be considered to successfully meet the demands of the KPIs. This is where your teams should break out the whiteboard and really get creative brainstorming unique ways to create meaningful authentic, branded engagement opportunities.

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Building Block #4

The Golden Idea |The Value proposition|

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This is where the magic really happens. Once you’ve taken a deep dive into understanding the brand, the targeted audience, and the product challenge, you are ready to begin crafting your golden idea.

Th i s i s a bi g p i ct u re o v e r a rch i n g t h e me t h a t w i l l i n fo r m a l l o f th e d e s i g n ch oi ces th at yo u r e x p e r i e n t i a l st r a t e g y i n cl u d e s.

In this building block, you are ideating the strategy that you know will deliver a deep, long-lasting memorable impression on the consumer. This is where you dream big and get really creative. Our findings show that brands that take risks generally are rewarded with higher levels of engagement.

It is critical that this idea is developed in a holistic manner and in order to be truly successful, it has to meet the criteria of the first 3 building blocks.

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Building Block #5

Designing the Experience

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Des i gni ng th e p e r fe ct e x p e r i e n ce t h a t re a l l y sh o w ca se s th e b ra n d i n a n authenti c way is v e r y c r i t i c a l . That’s why, when designing and experiential event, it is very important that you understand the core principles to whom the space is curated for. It is in fact, u n d e r st a n d i n g t h e b r a n d , th e a u d i e n c e , and the produ ct ch a l l e n g e a n d d e si g n i n g fo r t h e m i n a h o l i s ti c a u th e n ti c man n e r. Th e re a re mu l t i p l e e l e me n t s t h a t h a v e t o b e i n cl u d e d a n d a s e ri e s of ques ti on s th a t h a v e t o b e a n sw e re d i n o rd e r t o d e si gn s u c h m e m o ra b l e experi ences . Every design choice within this building block should be crossed checked with the Golden Idea along with the first 3 blocks.

Doing so ensures that the strategy delivers quality on brand content at every touch point.

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Building Block #5

Consider the following areas

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Individual Experiential Components This is where you list all of the individual touchpoints that will bring your golden idea to life.

This would include elements like a photo station, a DJ, products you’re including in your activation; any individual component within your activation would live here. By establishing these components, you will be able to assess the remaining building blocks accordingly. Additionally, each individual component should be cross checked against the foundational principles and the golden idea to ensure continuity.

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Cultural Location consideration To create a genuine experience, brands should really have a holistic understanding of the culture attached t o t h e g e o - sp e ci fi c a re a t h e y a re a c ti v a ti n g . In order to create a seamless experience, brands should position themselves to fit within the culture. They should integrate some details about the place.

Au sti n ’s spi ri t, fo r e x a mp l e , i s k e e p i t w e i rd a n d i f b r a nd s wa n t to c u ra te an experi e n ce i n A u st i n , t h e y sh o u l d co n si d e r i n co r p o r a ti n g th a t i n to th e e xpe ri ence.

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Venue To ensure higher engagement rates, brands should strategically lock locations that are not only relevant to the activation, but also, relevant to the audiences they are intending to reach. Brands should identify if the experiential event is within a bigger event or standing alone to really consider their physical positioning. If the experiential event is within a bigger event/festival, then it is very critical for brands to position themselves around a site that results in higher engagement.

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Time/ length Length of exper i e n ce When de si gn i n g a n e x p e r i e n t i a l ca mp a i g n , i t i s k e y t o i d en ti f y th e l e n g th o f the e xpe ri ence t h a t w i l l b e e x e cu t e d .

Ti me of exe cu t i o n Timing is everything when it comes to creating an experiential campaign.

Determining the actual execution window for an experiential strategy is directly impacted by the client ask. So, in this section you determine when it makes most sense to actually implement your experiential strategy.

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Guided or Unguided It i s i m portant t o d e t e r mi n e t o t h e d e si g n i n g o f a n e x p e ri e n ti a l e v e n t to actually decide whether the experience is guided or unguided. Deciding on a guided approach vs. an unguided one really does change the design and flow of the space. Staffing, signage, and design of space are a few things to take into consideration.

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High or low context A brand that wa n t s t o a ct i v a t e a p ro d u ct , a se r v i ce , a ca u s e o r f o r a n y o th e r re as on shou l d co n si d e r w h a t t h e y w a n t t o d e l i v e r t o t h e i r a u d i e n c e a n d h o w are they de l i ver i n g i t . Th a t sa i d , o rg a n i za t i o n s n e e d t o d ete rm i n e h o w m u c h conte xt th e y n e e d t o i n cl u d e t o me e t R O I o b j e ct i v e s.

High Context activations provide large amounts of information or engaging content to the attendee.

They generally solicit high levels of thought or interactivity. Examples include, but are not limited to, product demonstrations and Immersive and interactive environments.

Low Context activations are primarily entertainment based. These activations require very little thought from the consumer standpoint.

There are no product demos or presentations. These activations are designed for people to just have fun while engaging with the brand.

Equal Part activations pretty much speak for themselves.

These have equal parts high and low context information.

This would be similar to an activity that encourages high levels of play or interactivity, included elements of entertainment, while feeding you valuable information from the brand.

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Social media touchpoints Experiential marketing activations are intended to build long lasting relationships, and to ensure that, they have to drive their audience’s engagement beyond the experiential event. Incorporating social media marketing into the experiential strategy provides two insights: 1. Build long-term engagement with the audience 2. Gather quantifiable measures that track audience engagement with the brand

When designing an experiential marketing strategy, you should consider the holistic approach to social media as it will reach the bigger audience that were not attending the activation. Using geofilters, hashtags, live-streams and other social media tracking tools within the designed spaces is of great importance.

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Brand Presence/Signage Experiential events are aimed to bring awareness to the audiences they are trying to engage with. For that reason, integrating brand identity within the experience is of an essence. This is where you need to determine how much branded material you want incorporate d i n t o y o u r e x p e r i e n t i a l s t r a t e g y. I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o r e m e m b e r t h a t the goal of an experiential campaign is to create something that feels organic. For this reason it is critical to evaluate how saturated the environment is with branded material.

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Staff Presence Staffing is yet another important element to consider when designing your experiential campaign. The amount of staff on hand is generally impacted by the the asks of the client.

This is determined by a number of factors, but it regularly comes down to the desired amount of customer engagement. If you have a lot of staff on site, it should be because you need them to engage with consumers. If a brand is trying to have lesser staff presence, they may want to consider plain clothes employees.

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Building Block #6

Key |Partners, Resources & Stakeholders|

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Th i s bui l di n g b l o ck i s a l l a b o u t w h o y o u ca n p a r t n e r w i th to h e l p c re a te mem orabl e m o me n t s a n d w h o i s g o i n g t o h e l p y o u fa ci l i t a te y o u r i d e a s .

K e y Partners Th e se te n d to b e o t h e r b r a n d s t h a t y o u r a ct i v a t i o n ca n s tra te g i c a l l y a l i g n w i th to create mo re h o l i st i c a n d me mo r a b l e a ct i v a t i o n s. T h i n k p a r t n e r i n g w i t h U b e r o r Ly f t t o p ro v i d e s p e c i a l i z e d r i d e e x p e r i e n c e s f o r i n v i t e d attendees. These strategic alignments should be cross-checked with t h e f i r s t 5 b u i l d i n g b l o c k s t o e n s u r e c o n c e p t l i n e a r i t y.

K e y Res ources Th e se res ourc e s a i d i n fa ci l i t a t i n g t h e e x e cu t i o n o f y o u r a c ti v a ti o n . Ke y re sou rce s i ncl ud e t h i n g s l i k e sa n i t a r y, p o w e r p ro v i d e r s, C o n tra c t l a b o r a n d 3 rd party vend o r s l i k e ca t e r i n g t o me n t i o n a fe w.

Key Stakeholders These are people who have a deep and vested interest in your project. These parties have to be considered and be on board when designing experiential campaigns.These people may not have a direct hand in the project, but they are the most important people to take into consideration. Generally, these are major financial backers or overarching brands.

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Building Block #7

Marketing

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Marke ti ng for t h e e v e n t i s b ro k e n d o w n i n t o 3 se ct i o n s P re - e v e n t, d u ri n g and Post-eve n t ma r k e t i n g .

It goe s w i th out sa y i n g t h a t i f y o u w a n t p e o p l e t o a t t e n d y o u r e x p e ri e n ti a l acti vati on you n e e d t o p u b l i ci ze i t . S o , b y i n cl u d i n g ma rk e ti n g s tra te g i e s for al l three p h a se s o f t h e a ct i v a t i o n y o u w i l l b e a b l e to e n s u re q u a l i ty brand exposure .

It i s i m portant t o re me mb e r t h a t t h e ma r k e t i n g n e e d s to f e e l a s g e n u i n e as the experi e n ce a n d t h e st y l e o f ma r k e t i n g n e e d s t o b e c a te re d to th e targete d audi e n ce .

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Pre-Event Marketing These are all of the marketing tactics you plan on employing to ensure your experiential campaign is noticed by your intended audience. These could be paid social posts, a landing page with brand-generated content, web banners, billboards, street teams; any way you plan on attracting the consumer pre-event should be listed here. One tactic we find especially effective is the activation of Social Influencers. They have skyrocketed in value as they have a direct organic reach to large audiences.

Marketing During the activation Marketing during the event is just as important as pre-event marketing.

It is a great way to generate buzz and earned media coverage. This could include tactics like press access, live streams, or active event social posts amongst many others. Any way that you engage with the consumer during your event should be listed here.

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Post-Event marketing Post event marketing is something that is often times overlooked and undervalued.

We believe this is actually one of the most valuable assets an organization can capitalize on when expecting long lasting relationships from an experiential campaign.

Earned media is the number one way to establish measurable engagement metrics and how are consumers going to share their epic experience if you don’t provide them with quality assets.

People want something high quality that they can share with their friends, give it to them.

This is also a great way to increase the longevity of impact. 6 months down the road the content can easily be repurposed for follow up advertising, #TBT for example. Hire videographers and photographers, capture footage and don’t miss this valuable asset.

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Building Block #8

Channels Of Communication

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In this building block, you need to establish how you’re going to handle both internal and external communications.The question here is; how are you going to communicate to your audience and how are you going to communicate to internal stakeholders.

Internal communications For this, event organizers need to ask themselves, what is the most effective way to communicate with all key stakeholders. Via email, event management softwares, Google platforms; whatever it is, those strategies should be listed here.

External communications This is where you need to determine how your brand is going to speak to the targeted market. The important thing to remember here is that the decision must be informed by the previous building blocks. The communication channels must feel authentic and organic. Channels could include but are not limited to, social media post, emails, blog posts, radio, television or web ads, any way that you plan on communicating externally, should live here.

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Building Block #9

Event Timeline

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This building block is where you break down the activation timeline.

Sometimes the execution dates will be concrete like with a festival o r a h o l i d a y, o t h e r t i m e s i t i s u p t o e v e n t o r g a n i z e r s t o d e t e r m i n e when the best time to launch a campaign is. It is important to include key execution dates like the launch of marketing or the beginning of the activation or any other date that is valuable. This is another time where brands and event organizers need to cross reference the initial building blocks.

L e t ’s u s e t h e h o l i d a y s e a s o n a s a n e x a m p l e . I f b r a n d s w a n t t o a c t i v a t e to draw attention to their products they need to activate fairly early in the season. This gives the marketing time to reach intended audiences before holiday shopping dies out.

These dates should be clearly outlined, they should meet the demands of the product challenge and be agreed upon by all Key stakeholders.

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Building Block #10

Risk Strategy/Operations Rollout

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Brands and event organizers need to plan extensively for risk and operations procedures. In fact, the success or failure of an activation could come down to this building block.

Risk Strategy | Risk planning is all about covering the bases in case an element of your experience is in jeopardy of failure. For example, what if you have an incredible outdoor immersive experience and it rains? Or what if you have an event that requires a high powered computer and the one you have gets damaged in transit? Or maybe you have a projection display and the wind kicks up. These are all things that need to be considered.

Insurance is critical and reserve funds should be set aside to quickly p i v o t i f n e c e s s a r y.

Operations Rollout | Here, you need to determine what permits or approvals you need to execute your campaign. Police, fire and city codes are all things that need to be addressed.

Additionally people like sanitary experiences, so sewage and garbage are also things that need to be taken into consideration. All of those details will live here

On a final note, there isn’t an industry where this could be more true, but at a certain point if things begin to fail to understand that in this field, excuse the language, but, shit happens. If you can see that event failure is imminent then pull the plug early before you ruin the customer relationship.

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Building Block #11

Cost Structure

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This building block is all about allocating finances. It is important to clearly outline where budgets are going to be distributed so that Key Stakeholders can be notified if any changes occur. This building block includes advertising spending production spending, insurance, and liability costs; permitting fees all the way down to duct tape. Additionally, we feel that it is important to mention, setting aside reserve and emergency funds are of extreme importance.

In closing, the cost structure will be informed by your experience design, your marketing strategy and your risk and rollout building blocks, make sure to

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Building Block #12

Determining ROI and Establishing KPIs

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This is the last building block in the experiential marketing canvas. We did this because we believe that every building block before this informs its construction.

Additionally, we believe that, for anyone trying to justify spending on experiential campaigns, should lay out some of the metrics they will later use to determine the overall effectiveness of that strategy.

This could be metrics like foot traffic, how many people actually visited the activation, leads generated during the course of the campaign or it could be number of the units sold.

It could also be virtual, like how many social media engagements the activation generated or how many pieces of earned media coverage were identified.

These KPIs and expected ROIs should be a direct reflection of the product challenge building block. If any of the requests from the brand are not being considered, this is where that will be reflected.

These will also be how one determines if a campaign was successful, so set realistic goals and establish valuable KPI’s.

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Conclusion

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By taking the time to give each of these 12 building blocks the attention they deserve we believe that any user can create a successful experiential strategy.

Our research has shown that the experiential marketing industry is ready to explode so we hope that this easy to use guide provides value.

To wrap things up we have a few final thoughts.

Rem e mbe r tha t a l l st r a t e g i c d e si g n d e ci si o n s sh o u l d mak e th e c o n s u m e r’s perspe cti ve . M a r k e t e r s n e e d t o a sk t h e mse l v e s, d o e s t h e c a m p a i g n I ’ m d e s i g n i n g a d d v a l u e t o t h e b r a n d a n d t h e c o n s u m e r. T h e y n e e d to a s k i f the acti vati on w o u l d b l o w y o u a w a y o r i f i t s g e n e r i c. Th e y n e e d to a s k wh a t w oul d de l i ver so mu ch v a l u e t h a t so me o n e w o u l d b e co m e a c o n s u m e r f o r l i fe. Thes e are t h e d e e p q u e st i o n s t h a t h a v e t o b e a sk e d .

We now encourage you to get out there, put our canvas to the test and create the next unimaginable experiential campaign.

For more information about our research or the development of our experiential marketing canvas please visit our website.

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R e t r i e v e d J a n u a r y 2 2 , 2 0 1 8 , f r o m h t t p s : / / w w w. c n b c . c o m / 2 0 1 6 / 0 5 / 0 5 / m i l l e n n i a l s - a r e - p r i o r i t i z i n g - e x p e r i e n c e s - o v e r- s t u f f . h t m l K e r c h e r, J . ( 2 0 1 7 , A u g u s t 2 4 ) . R e a c h i n g T h e U n r e a c h a b l e : H o w E x p e r i e n t i a l M a rk e t i n g Ta r g e t s B r a n d - S a v v y M i l l e n n i a l s . R e t r i e v e d J a n u a r y 2 2 , 2 0 1 8 , f r o m h t t p s : / / w w w. f o r b e s . c o m / s i t e s / f o r b e s a g e n c y c o u n c i l / 2 0 1 7 / 0 6 / 2 0 / r e a c h i n g - t h e - u n r e a c h able-how-experiential-marketing-targets-brand-savvy-millennials/#657f19b63add Maskeroni, A. (2017, March 13). HBO Built Fun, Intricate Escape Rooms at SXSW f o r Ve e p , S i l i c o n Va l l e y a n d G a m e o f T h r o n e s . R e t r i e v e d J a n u a r y 2 2 , 2 0 1 8 , f r o m h t t p : / / w w w. a d w e e k . c o m / b r a n d - m a r k e t i n g / h b o - b u i l t - f u n - i n t r i c a t e - e s c a p e - r o o m s a t - s x s w - f o r- v e e p - s i l i c o n - v a l l e y - a n d - g a m e - o f - t h r o n e s / Davidge, J. (2015, November 19). A coffee-powered experiential stunt from NES-

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Video links h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = 3 1 6 A z LY f A z w h t t p : / / w w w. l v t h n . c o m / w o r k / t e s t - s t r i d e / h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = o 2 f 7 U o x p d p I h t t p : / / w w w. a d w e e k . c o m / b r a n d - m a r k e t i n g / c a s p e r- t h e - s t a n d a r d - h o t e l - a n d - t e s l a tur ned-this-retro-motel-into-a-crash-pad-at-sxsw/ h t t p : / / w w w. a d w e e k . c o m / b r a n d - m a r k e t i n g / e x p e r i e n c e - e i n s t e i n - t h r o u g h - a u g m e n t ed-reality-at-national-geographics-sxsw-activation/ h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? t i m e _ c o n t i n u e = 1 2 8 & v = 8 N H - j v n u m O Y h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = X h z F I l 5 5 V U Q h t t p : / / w w w. a d w e e k . c o m / b r a n d - m a r k e t i n g / w a t c h - p e o p l e - g e t - r e a l - t a t t o o s - s u i c i d e - s q u a d - c h a r a c t e r s - w a r n e r- b r o s - s x s w - a c t i v a t i o n - v i d e o - 1 7 0 1 7 6 / h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? t i m e _ c o n t i n u e = 4 9 & v = j z I B Z Q k j 6 S Y h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? t i m e _ c o n t i n u e = 1 0 4 & v = K f A N s 2 y _ f r k h t t p : / / w w w. e v e n t m a r k e t e r. c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 1 6 / 0 5 / 2 0 1 6 E v e n t Tr a c k E x e c S u m m a r y. p d f h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = H G Y U i L x o J FA https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/bayarea2015

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EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING