“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.” –Seth Godin
Trade show marketing is experiencing the stories in your immersive 3D space.
Storytelling has always been a major part of human culture, and it’s a crucial part of today’s marketing mix.
You can tell your story through advertisements, social media and product labeling. But there’s nothing like allowing consumers to learn and experience your story first-hand. Use a mix of in-person interaction, digital media, tactile experiences, interactive displays or whatever feels most appropriate to convey key messages you want consumers to absorb.
Immersive marketing campaigns appeal to people’s hearts rather than their heads. Because of their interactive and tactile nature, experiential marketing campaigns are powerful ways to reach consumers on an emotional level. Do that, and what you say or do in the future won’t have nearly the same impact. That’s because they’ll never forget how you made them feel.
Well-produced and well-executed events build brands, reinforce culture, educate, create affinity and much more.Yet, they’re seldom designed to achieve all these things at once. Without first understanding what an event is supposed to achieve, it’s impossible to create a format and approach that will deliver this goal.
It doesn’t matter whether an event is in-person, online or in-between. What’s important is that the format/theme supports the objective. |
When it comes to formats, technology now exists that can replicate in-person experiences in the virtual world and seamlessly blend both together—offering everything from panel debates to breakout rooms and audience polling to social media integration. And yet, too often, events are being built around the technology, rather than the technology being deployed to suit the organizer’s goals and the audience’s wants and needs.
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Now more than ever, event organizers need to think about “purpose” from the outset, build their event from the ground up and, crucially, set clearly defined, relevant metrics for how event success will be measured. It’s time to move beyond attendance—who showed up—and consider elements such as: Who learned what? Who was convinced? Who left a happier customer or employee than when they arrived?
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In January 2020, New York-based candy artist By Robynblair and neon studio Name Glo launched their artists-in-residence installation at Bergdorf Goodman’s flagship store in New York. For two months, visitors could experience the shoppable installation, which included a rainbow hallway and a retro ‘70s-inspired room.
Photo: Courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman |
While event technology has been around for several years, companies have often used it as an add-on for those unable to attend in-person rather than deployed it to engage the entire audience equally. Historically, virtual exclusion has been commonplace.
New technologies are emerging that improve participation and audience immersion while also creating a consistent experience for everyone, irrespective of how they’ve chosen to attend. It allows everyone to see the same speaker presentation in the intended format, to answer the same questions, access the same supportive content, even to wander around the lobby (a virtual lobby to coexist with the in-person lobby) and navigate the event in the same way. |
For every commentator predicting that the future of events is virtual-first, there is another point that, in the post-COVID world, people will be desperate to get out and meet in person again. For event planners, the priority is to avoid such distractions and adopt technology that supports and enhances the audience experience in both contexts, with the goal of making all events more immersive.
Immersive events are about involvement and participation, making audiences feel connected to one another and their hosts. Following a lengthy pandemic, that sounds like the perfect tonic for everyone. |
The best experiential marketing events are those consumers remember long after they’re over. Many factors can contribute to that, but one of the biggest things your brand must do is give consumers in your target audience something they desire. Do they want to meet celebrities? Attend the biggest and best parties in town? Give back to people in need with every purchase? Try out the latest and greatest technology? If you can deliver, they’ll develop very strong and positive feelings toward your brand.
Creating a campaign that differentiates you from your competitors is vital. You want consumers to remember that it was YOUR brand that gave them that amazing experience, not just “some airline”, or "some artificial intelligence company", or yet "another SAAS company."
Your customers have lot of experiences competing for their attention. The best way to ensure they’ll select yours over another one is to create something distinctively unique — they’ve never seen and can’t possibly skip.
Creating a campaign that differentiates you from your competitors is vital. You want consumers to remember that it was YOUR brand that gave them that amazing experience, not just “some airline”, or "some artificial intelligence company", or yet "another SAAS company."
Your customers have lot of experiences competing for their attention. The best way to ensure they’ll select yours over another one is to create something distinctively unique — they’ve never seen and can’t possibly skip.