BRANDING BY EXPERIENCE.WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T MEASURE EXPERIENTIAL?

When planned and implemented effectively, experiential is one of the most measurable marketing channels.

It might not always be possible to measure experiential ROI in terms of linear £-for-£ sales, but as specialist experiential marketers, we believe the longer-term impact on brand value created by strategic and engaging experiential campaigns is highly measurable. And it’s these measures, which have been proven time and again to have the ultimate impact on sales. If anyone tells you differently, well they’re talking nonsense.

Read on to find out more.

Why experiential?The best brand strategies are the ones that find a way to tap into people’s feelings and emotions. Most consumers don’t just buy products, but the personalities and stories associated with them. This is what makes experiential a hugely important part of the marketing mix. It provides a way to dazzle consumers’ senses, touch their hearts and excite them in a way that functional benefits and product quality claims never can.

Most brands know that an immersive experience or event participation, is vital to engage consumers. However, they often don’t understand the real value or potential of it, let alone how to measure it.

Measuring experientialMeasurements do exist, and this is something that brands should be investing in, just as they do with more ‘traditional’ media channels.

Marketers need to look beyond the immediate ‘activity measures’ (the number of samples, interactions and immediate sales) to measure the ‘value’ the experiential campaign has added to the brand longer term.

Whilst it might be tempting to look at immediate sales as the key ROI measure, this spike will not drive long-term brand buy-in. We believe, the key measures are:

1.Extended reach and advocacyLook beyond the reach of the experience itself to measure two forms of extended reach generated by experiential marketing:

a. Word of mouth (WOM):Few would argue that WOM is the holy grail in terms of ‘how’ we go about reaching our consumers, who according to McKinsey & Co. are heavily influenced by their peers. 50 to 80% of consumers (category dependent) say WOM has the biggest influence on purchase.

There’s no doubt that a successful experience drives extensive WOM, both online and offline. The average consumer will tell 15 people about an experience - American Express. Surely, this is a far higher quality of reach than standard TV ad views?

Fundamentally, experiential leads to longer relationships and increased advocacy that pays off in terms of extended, quality reach over time.

thoughtreport#2

“The idea that business is just a number affair has always struck me as preposterous. For one thing, I’ve never been good at numbers but I’ve done a reasonable job with feelings. And I’m convinced that it is feelings – and feelings alone – that account for the success of the Virgin brand”

Richard BransonThe Lynx Fever brazilian hot mud wrestling saw entire audiences of guys filming on their mobiles and uploading to youtube, generating 10,000’s views of consumer generated content and a real post event, online buzz. Real, measurable, WOM advocacy.

www.theloungegroup.com/lynx-case-study/

b. Content:

With the rise of on-demand radio & TV services, the question is really whether ads are even getting the views and cut through. It’s no wonder then that brands such as Smirnoff are spearheading a trend towards experiential providing the ‘content’ for digital and ATL communications.

2. Quality of reach/interactionDon’t compare quantitative measures, such as reach, with traditional media. The quality, and value, of the interaction is totally different.

• Experiential provides a direct, tangible and memorable experience of both the brand and the product or service itself.

• When based on real-world consumer insights, it can provide consumers with a tangible benefit, which builds resonance and a meaningful connection with the brand.

• It allows more time to be spent with consumers, observing their reactions, interacting with and learning from them.

• It inspires more rapid behaviour change and action from participant

The real impact on sales

We believe there are three ‘quality’ measures, which will have a tangible impact on ultimate sales. These should, and can easily be assessed to gauge the success of an experiential campaign: Brand Perception: What did they take out of the experience? What feelings did it create about the brand?

Propensity to Recommend: Telling others about the brand in a favourable way - increasingly important in a social media age

Purchasing Behaviour: Are they more likely to buy subsequently?

Aim for and measure the longer-term value generated for the brand as this will result in brand loyalty and repeat sales vs an immediate but short-term sales increase spike.

The Lounge’s tips for achieving and measuring experiential ROI

1 Focus on your consumer

Don’t think of your experience as a brand activity, but as a consumer benefit. Think about what your consumer is driven by, what they need, what motivates them and thus, how your brand can add real value through an experience. 2 Know your ROI before you go live

Don’t create in isolation from the target audience. Test and refine in partnership with your consumers to understand the likely ROI before you go live. 3 Think beyond immediate sales

Sampling and immediate sales drivers can be a part of the experience but more important is the longer-term emotional engagement. Understanding why your brand is for them vs a competitor, will drive real loyalty. Experiential is the most effective channel for this. 4 Encourage and motivate action

No, not just a basic coupon. Give participants a reason to continue the engagement. For Havana Club we set up partnerships with high end bars and included clever mechanics to drive people in- bar, to encourage in-home consumption and to continue the dialogue online.5 Invest in ROI measurement

Don’t scrimp on measurement, it’s what will allow you to tweak and make the next iteration more successful, providing the metrics to the business to allow for greater future investment in the ultimate brand engagement channel.

Consumer insight revealed that Havana Club’s audience share the Habaneros’ mentality of creating what they want and need out of what they have – or ‘upcycling’. So we created urban Mojito mint gardens in 4 cities using upcycled items and engaging off and on-trade mechanics resulting in a 49% yr-on-yr sales increase.www.theloungegroup.com/mint

Our Santander experiential campaign, built on real consumer insight, doubled the number of school leavers accounts opened yr-on-yr for 3 yrs.

The Lounge Group is a brand experience agency that uses intelligence and insight, through our network of 10,000 consumers, to develop effective ideas that connect with your audience.

Interested in maximising your experiential ROI? Drop a line to sara.gil@theloungegroup.com to chat about what we can do for you.