Street Sampling Blog

[InnovativeWordofMouth]

Innovative marketing, often called experiential by nature, relates to a combination of methods to entice buyers. It is highly-valued because historically it is the most versatile, effective promotional method.

Innovative by nature, taking your marketing to the streets with brand ambassadors is highly effective. Types of marketing strategies defining word-of-mouth marketing include:

o Viral marketing
o Buzz marketing
o Blog
o Media of the social variety
o Interacting with the man on the street
o The use of brand ambassadors to interface with your potential customers

Experiential marketing means favorable reactions as brand ambassadors meet your client where they live and work. And, of course, your marketing must always maintain that narrow focus of gaining a new customer and getting the sale. Creating buzz nowadays is much more flexible than years gone by.

This take-it-to-the-street approach also works to some degree in cyberspace with places like Digg, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as solid examples. However, it is important to meet your customer head on – on the sidewalks and busy street corners where they live, work and play.

[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 »

[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.

[experiential marketing psychology]

Major advertisers like Levi’s, Volkswagen and Harley-Davidson are embracing experiential marketing as their preferred advertising medium. Instead of attempting to appeal to a prospective customer’s rational side alone to inspire a purchase, experiential marketing techniques get deeper inside the head of the prospect. Emotions are tapped, logic is tried and general thought processes are challenged to drive sales and establish instantaneous relationships between consumers and given brands. Connecting with the customer in a memorable and interactive way is the goal of experiential marketing (aka guerrilla marketing).

“Some people distinguish the psychological aspect of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service.” – Wikipedia.org

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Here’s an example of one of our experiential marketing campaigns in action (for Lord and Taylor of New York) – enjoy!

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When potential consumers are temped on both rational and emotional levels, the percentage of sales conversions skyrockets in comparison to simply attempting to appeal to the rational side. When those secret areas of the brain are stimulated that control the ideas for pleasure and comfort, and the consumer’s sense of practicality is aroused, the results are increased sales and instantaneous branding success. For this reason, it is important for the experiential marketer to firmly understand his or her target. The brand representative needs to be “in-touch” with the individuals that are being presented to.

Part 2 …. Coming Tomorrow – Stay Tuned!

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