In today’s fast-paced Instagram world, experiencing a product and brand is more important than ever to consumers. While experiential marketing is not a new tactic for marketers, it has certainly increased in the past few years due to social media usage, and the rise of selfie photos showing consumers interacting with brands and products.
In the past year there were thousands of pop-up experiences and stores around the country. Some of the more well-known ones are the Museum of Ice Cream, 29Rooms, and products such as Peleton bikes. Other pop-up experiences have come from retailers such as Birch Box, Tiffany, Adidas, Samsung, Amazon, Dior, Payless Shoes, and even HBO show ‘Game of Thrones’. In the past, we might have called these ‘kiosks’ but that doesn’t do justice to the full experience offered by the new world of pop-ups. In their new iteration, the pop-ups may offer a brick-and-mortar experience (such as Museum of Ice Cream) or include another form that offers a fully immersive experience.
For today’s Millennial shoppers, content is key. These shoppers not only check their phones continually, they also generate their own content at a high rate!
What experiences do you want?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the different forms that experiential marketing can take.
- Show several examples: 29 Rooms: http://www.29rooms.com/
- Museum of ice cream: https://www.museumoficecream.com/
- Rose’ Mansion: https://www.rosewinemansion.com/
- Poll students: What has been their experience with pop-ups and immersive experiences?
- Divide students into teams. Assign each team a product, or let the teams select their own products.
- Have each team develop an experience for that product.
Source: Ramirez, D. (12 March 2019). Creating experiential that stands out in a crowded industry. Ad Week.
