13 Nov

The rise of experiential marketing

Sponsored content: In the digital age, brands need to provide increasingly relevant and engaging experiences, writes LookLook’s Frances Spencer-Barton

Content. A buzzword for marketing and a technique that has been driven by the growing popularity of social media. But how can we really harness the power of it? And how can we ensure that we are creating the right environments for this to happen naturally – enter the experience.

Previously referred to as ‘field marketing’ or ‘brand experience’, over the last five years experiential has seen a huge resurgence and is now enjoying an increase in focus and spend, with brands such as Carlsberg, Gillette and McDonald’s investing heavily in experiential in the last few months.

But why this shift in focus? As we continue to live our lives more digitally there is a need for rich, relevant and engaging experiences – it’s a complete shift in consumer behaviour.

It’s the consumer’s need to share what they have experienced that really makes this an interesting technique. With the adoption of social media into our daily lives, consumers want to share the most exciting parts of their lives with their friends and family. And naturally a cool event with something unique to interact with and ultimately share is a win-win for brands.

When you look at the stats it’s easy to see why agencies and brands are getting on board. A recent study shows that respondents are 96% more likely to purchase a product after participating in a branded event and 74% will have a more positive impression of the brand (study in 2016 by the Event Marketing Institute).

In this digital age, every pound spent on an event now has an ROI much greater than it ever used to be. You might have an event of only 50 attendees, but if they are sharing your branded event content with their followers, suddenly you are reaching audiences of thousands through the same event, at no extra cost.

We’ve worked on some of the best experiential and marketing campaigns of the last few months – from the award-winning Mentos campaign with The Walker Agency, to the Charlotte Tilbury UK-wide store launch and the iconic Macy’s window-takeover for a Halloween six-week long pop-up shop.

Our GIFGIF Booth, where a series of images are taken in short succession and then compressed into a GIF short animated image that can be shared online at the touch of a button, has become the must-have accessory to add interest and create a lasting impression of any 2016 event.

The exclusive technology, developed by LOOKLOOK, was launched earlier this year to great acclaim when beauty and fashion brands such as i-D, Charlotte Tilbury, Bobbi Brown, Canada Goose, Topman and Nike were quick to catch on and subsequently used GIFGIF to not only enhance and complement their traditional-style campaigns but to form the focus of their experiential events.

“Companies which understand that content is king are the ones booking GIFGIF,” said managing director Darran Barton.

“It is an easy, cost effective, slick way of getting influencers involved and has them spread the word and moving image via their social media channels. This is creating a seriously exciting ripple effect for brands and, of course, we are delighted to be a part of that.” Source: mediatel.co.uk

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