Street Sampling Blog

[experiential word of mouth marketing]

On the 14th, you’ll note my post about holidays in general, and Valentine’s Day in particular. Each holiday is announced well in advance. The idea being to generating upcoming interest by merchants to make sure that during the lead up and the event customers show up at their doors.

Word-of-mouth communication tends to make people feel that they are being told the truth without any ulterior motives. Honesty is perceived and the receivers of messages are moved to perform the intended call to action at significantly higher rates than when approached by various other communication techniques. This is true because there is no perceived reward for the person that is speaking positively about the product, service or message at hand.

If you missed this video, it’s an excellent example of real one-on-one word of mouth marketing. Connecting directly with your intended audience. (Be sure to click “read the rest…” I’ve got more to say and the video to watch).

Read the rest of this entry »

[experiential/buzz marketing]

As memories of a fantastic Superbowl begin to fade, my mind was quickly distracted today by the grand stunt by Denny’s Restaurants. In case you have been under a rock, today Denny’s offered a free Grand slam breakfast at all locations from 6 am to 2 pm. Denny’s has been around since 1953 and originally founded as a donut shop. Sure that yellow sign pops up on many a road trip, but when was the last time you actually ate there? For me it was in Orlando, near International drive years ago. When I want breakfast, it never seems to be during breakfast hours and living in Washington, I tend to find myself in a local diner to satisfy the pancake craving.

Now Denny’s spent a lot of money to announce this experiential campaign, what with a Superbowl ad mocking the childlike fare offered by competitor IHOP, and the full page ad in USA Today. Then there was the issue of their website crashing many times today as consumers tried to locate a restaurant. I even heard reports of some locations running out of eggs and being forced to close the doors while sending staff to buy some more. According to a published interview with the CEO, they expected to serve two million Grand slam breakfasts today alone. I have to believe when the final numbers are in they will have exceeded that number.

This program had many inherent risks; Read the rest of this entry »

[continuation of yesterday's experiential marketing discussion]

As promised yesterday, here is the rest of my discussion regarding guerilla marketing versus traditional marketing methods:

… Traditional advertising methods have been proven conclusively to actually drive consumers away now.

Modern advances in technology have opened up new realms for shopping to all people and they have become very unappreciative of time-consuming techniques that attempt to make them feel responsible to make certain purchases. Instead, they will act far sooner with the proper mental buttons pushed – and they will look back on the experience with pleasure and happiness associated.

Back in the 80’s when guerrilla (i.e., experiential) marketing was officially introduced, it was thought to be best geared towards small businesses on smaller budgets. The emphasis was on money-saving, creative approaches to shock buyers into purchasing. Through the direct evolution of the brand marketing art, today it is utilized more and more commonly by major advertisers like Nokia, General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Levi’s, Volkswagen and many others.

Guerrilla marketing has been accepted by the advertising world as a super-effective, aggressive and entertaining promotional system.

You can learn so much more about the exciting realm of guerrilla marketing today by visiting our main web site, Street Sampling. There you will find psychological tactics that will act to ensure the lucrative success of your future advertising campaigns – and they will be far more cost effective than the outdated techniques that traditional marketing firms continue to drive into the ground.

Imagination, creativity, emotional stirring and unbound avenues to tap into the minds of your targeted audience all act in seamless conjunction. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, experiential marketing works to drive your sales through the roof and get you branded faster than you ever thought possible.

[Experiential Marketing]

Note: This post picks up where the last one left off.

Having an accurately-preconceived notion of what the target will respond like allows the guerrilla marketer to stay a step or two ahead and lead the consumer the desired action – normally making a purchase. The marketer begins and ends the sales process by steering and consistently guiding the prospect to take the action desired. A desire to make an impulse purchase is created within the minds of prospects – that is experiential marketing in a nutshell.

It is important to appeal to as many of the consumer’s senses as possible in a simultaneous fashion. Brand marketers use visual aids, audible aids, memory-stimulating tricks and several other psychologically-tempting strategies to complete each sale. The goal is to make the prospective buyer remember pleasurable events and associate them with the message or product at hand. These customer-unique experiences are then naturally associated with the brand or product being represented and surges in sales are commonly seen. In addition, grass roots word-of-mouth advertising takes off like wildfire and is very difficult to slow. This equals advertising gold.

Time is of the essence in experiential marketing as well. People have become very resistant to traditional advertising approaches. Messages not only have to strike the emotional centers of potential consumers – they have to do so within a few seconds at most. The brand marketer must deliver a blow to the subconscious of the target that instantly compels them to take further notice of the message or product being presented. A rapid and seamless connection with the psyche of the target is essential for success.