Choose Experiential. Choose Digital.

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Hayley James

Experiential works. We know that. It provides brands with an unequalled opportunity to create an impactful and memorable impression via face-to-face interaction.

However, experiential campaigns are stronger when enhanced, amplified and prolonged with digital. Both communications are centered around discovery and interaction. Consumers that choose to engage with brands at events or online are doing just that – choosing. They are active, rather than passive, which is why experiential and digital are perfect partners.

Digital can be utilised to create awareness of an event, via social media, microsites, Apps, games and virals. Creating content at events is also key , allowing consumers to share their experiences, whether this be uploading a branded image to Facebook or Tweeting, reviewing the experience and generating WOM. Finally, digital should be used to ensure that the dialogue continues post event and the engagement continues. Consumers need to be rewarded for their loyalty and reminded of the experience, prompting emotional recall and nostalgia.

So, to ensure that experiential campaigns are stronger, live longer and have wider each, digital must be integrated.

We worked with one of our favourite clients – Topshop – and the lovely guys at Fresh Networks to create a live in-store experience. The campaign was amplified via social media, resulting in 5.3 million additional Facebook views and a years’ worth of Facebook activity in just 4 days. The total reach was a huge 7.5 million. Check out the case study here: http://www.freshnetworks.com/clients/topshop

Romance isn’t dead for us Experiential Specialists

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Kate Roche

Ahhh Valentine’s Day… Commercial hype? Or a romantic occasion for all?

Well this year us marketers are getting even more creative with selling “love” as it’s a leap year, so step up to the mark ladies – time to propose to your gents!

A brand that has jumped on the Valentine’s Day & Leap Year bandwagon with both feet is Hendrick’s Gin. With their old school Victoriana charm and quirky old fashion rules of courtship they are the perfect brand to help us ladies pop the question.

Not only are they kindly running the “Hendricks School for Scoundrels” and the “Ladies School of Nuptial Conquest” – creative events held in leading drinking establishments around the country in February to teach us normal folk a thing or two in the art of wooing a loved one, they have also created a very unique experiential roadshow – the “Hendricks Preposterous Proposal Throne”.

A creative but simple stunt – a pop up throne positioned in surprise locations around London allowing ladies to take full advantage of the fateful 29th February.

Interested in reversing the normal rules of courtship? Then book yourself in some time on the throne… http://reversecourtship.hendricksgin.com/index.html

Smartphones get Smarter in 2012

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Caroline Hart

If like me you are a little sad to be taking down the Christmas tree,
packing away the decorations and of course saying goodbye to the infamous red
cups, well you needn’t fear…Starbucks have come up with a new scheme to help
beat those January blues.

January 2012 will see the launch of the new Starbucks App in the UK! Starbucks will be
replacing its current pre-pay members card with a new and improved loyalty
scheme, offering customers the chance to pay for their coffees using the new
Starbucks iPhone App.

The ‘My Starbucks Reward’ programme offers customers benefits such as:

A free drink every 15 visits
An automatic upgrade to top level membership after 50 visits
with further benefits including free espresso shots and whipped cream

Starbucks will also be extending the use of the app to allow customers to pay via their
smartphone – by swiping their phone at the till!

http://starbucks.co.uk/card/rewards

Is this the future of Smartphones? We already know how useful they are in
complimenting marketing campaigns and experiential activity but it seems now
that these clever little gadgets will be even more important to our daily
lives! Maybe before long we really will be able to replace our credit and debit
cards with a simple swipe of the smartphone….not as far-fetched as we may have
once thought – but hey, Richard Branson is already planning his plot for the
Virgin Galactic Hotel on the moon…..

I guess anything is possible!

Get Taxi!

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Kelly Zuber

Whilst working in the Tribe office on a Monday morning, a new brief came in which I was oh so excited about.

It reminded me of an event I went to recently – it turned to the early hours and I experienced that dreaded thought that it was time to trek home in my heels! Not always the easiest thing when you venture out and there’s a queue round the street of people waiting to hail a black cab!

Well, don’t fear. Low and behold, the new and oh-so-convenient new APP GetTaxi is here to save the day!

http://www.gettaxi.com

GetTaxi is a revolution for a quick and hassle free way to hail down a cab.

So how does it work? Simply download the APP to your Smartphone, order your taxi and watch your taxi on a map in real time. No money left on you? With GetTaxi, you can pay for rides instantly and the invoices are emailed to you (recalling what you have actually spent as well!)

And what better way to promote the app than with experiential marketing? Our Brand Warriors have been out spreading the word in London giving out £5 vouchers, creating an unforgettable experience for the revolution of taxi flagging!

Until next time..

Engagement is the Journey, Loyalty is the Destination

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Hayley James

A recent study from US company, Loyalty 360, has shown that customer satisfaction can no longer be relied on as a metric to predict loyalty. It is a component of loyalty, but it is not the totality. For instance:

40% of satisfied customers switch suppliers without hesitation (Forum Corp).
More than 60% of defecting customers indicated they are satisfied right before they left (BusinessWeek).
65%-85% of customers who choose a new supplier claim to be satisfied to very satisfied with the former supplier (Harvard Business Review).
85% of customers claim to be satisfied, yet willing to switch to other suppliers (University of Texas).

If satisfaction is not an effective metric to predict loyalty, then what is? Engagement. The stronger and deeper a customer is engaged with the brand, the more loyal she or he will be.

Beloved brands such as Nokia, T-Mobile, Smirnoff, Pimms & Sony work hard to build deeper, more emotional, more meaningful and sustainable bonds between the customer and their brands. How experiences with a brand make a customer feel – which is critical because more than 70% of consumer loyalty and spending decisions are based on emotional factors – is what sets it apart from the competition.

Loyalty 360 have identified several key “feelings” that engage the customer, solidify the connection, and move the customer along the loyalty continuum. These drivers include:

I want to feel valued by the brand: Customers want to know that they can expect a company to go out of its way to support their needs and that the company values their business.
I want to be able to trust the brand: Customers want to know that a company is credible, honest, sincere and transparent.
I want the brand to be relevant in my life: Customers want a brand to integrate into their lifestyles.
I want a personal relationship with the brand: Customers want the brand’s message, offers and coupons to be tailored to their needs.
I want the brand to be humble: Customers want to know that brands are listening and are genuinely working proactively to fix the problems.
I want to feel part of the greater good: Consumers want, are willing to pay more, and willing to go further to buy products or use companies that support a cause.

As Howard Schultz, founder of one of our clients, Starbucks, is quoted as saying, “The art of marketing today is the ability to build this emotional connection. I am not going to tell people where they should be spending their money, but I would advise that all marketing be authentic, and relate to reaching into people’s hearts to let them know that you want to be part of their life.”

This is what creating customer loyalty is all about and that is where experiential marketing comes in…

See full article here: http://ht.ly/7qZ1G

QR Codes – Helping to drive Event & Experiential audiences online

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Siobhan Walters

I was at an event with a few friends recently when one noticed a QR code on the side of a bottle of Bulmers, with the tagline ‘Join the Experiment’. Out of our group only half had ever heard of or seen a QR code before, and fewer still had ever used one.

Don’t know what a QR code is? Download a free QR reader to your smartphone and give this one a try!

Since that conversation I have seen QR codes everywhere! They have them on TV cookery programs so you can get the recipe for the food, TV adverts so you can find out more about the products, magazines, ad boards, posters, trains, they’re practically anywhere that you have printed material.

We have also used them several times across our Experiential Marketing campaigns. It is a great tool to drive consumers to a website, especially if there is a call to action. We ran an experiential campaign for William Hill earlier in the year where the use of a QR code was successful in driving consumers directly to a webpage to download a new smart phone app.

It is a wonder then that more people don’t know about them, considering that you can’t miss them. They are so easy to create and can be done is seconds. They are also great for getting people to visit your website, join your CRM program and just getting people to find out more about your brand!

If you’re thinking about including a QR code in your next campaign, check out Mashable’s 5 steps to a successful QR Code Marketing Campaign – http://mashable.com/2011/11/11/qr-code-marketing-tips/

Pop-ups: PR stunt or Brand Experience…

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Hayley James

Pop-ups are the epitome of our high-speed, short-attention-span culture – a perfect concept for our hype-heavy society. They’re born from a strong fascination with the contemporary, with the here-today-and-gone-tomorrow, the idea of excitement, urgency and a dynamic interaction with (usually urban) spaces.

They allow brands to engage in face-to-face interactions with their consumers – and can act as an informal, unacknowledged market research project. Dan Germain, head of creative at Innocent, said the Innocent Five for Five café that ran in 2011 was “a no brainer. Put on a bit of a party for the people who buy the drinks, meet and hang out with them, and find out stuff you wouldn’t discover in some weird research group… We could just loiter in Sainsbury’s by the fridges and watch the people who come and buy our drinks, but we’d probably get kicked out”.

They’re also a positive way of making more intensive use of urban space, aiding regeneration. It’s estimated that 13% of all UK shops are currently empty – and that one in five of those may never be used again! This is a perfect opportunity for brands to make a genuine difference on a relatively small budget and standout from
competitors for doing something a little different.

Of course, there have been countless pop-ups appearing across the UK since the concept blew up in 2004 (Commes des Garcons) with pop-up gigs in laundrettes, restaurants in front rooms, films projected in disused petrol stations or on to hay bales in fields. Some of my personal favourites are the aforementioned Innocent Five for Five Café, Jacques Townhouse and the Marmite shop – I’m now a complete brand advocate
for each of these, telling all my friends, family and colleagues about the different experiences and spreading the word on Twitter and Facebook. This word-of-mouth equity is a brand’s power to generate messages that influence the consumer’s decision to purchase.

Pop-ups, when done well,surprise and engage consumers in new and more meaningful ways, guaranteeing exclusivity because of the limited timespan and the discovery-driven element. Yes, the reach is lower than the more traditional means of marketing (like an advertising campaign) but you’re getting a more intense return, forging relationships that will last a lifetime.

Innocent’s Five for Five Café:

Jacques Townhouse:

Marmite Shop:

Read more about pop-ups here: http://bit.ly/barvOp

The experts are not always right!

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Oliver Burgoyne

Experiential Marketing is a very forward thinking industry which allows us to think outside the box, push boundaries and innovate. As marketers, we can often be quite stubborn – we cling to myths and outmoded industry theories rather than recognising change.

A study called the Marketing Gap details what Marketers think consumers think VS what consumers actually think – the eye opening report highlight some very serious and interesting facts, which we as marketers need to take note of if we are to ensure we don’t unnecessarily waste budgets, which are becoming increasingly harder to win.

A couple of thoughts on the use of coupons!

As Marketers we often conclude that consumers don’t really use coupons and that they are in fact a thing of the past. The truth is that 88% of consumers redeem coupons.
There is a myth that people misuse coupons, the reason being that self-service machines don’t recognise whether or not you have actually purchased the product the coupon is allocated to. The myth is wrong as 72 % of consumers claim they don’t misuse coupons.

The report highlights the importance of insight – what we think is not always correct and therefore it’s crucial that we sense check our opinions against actual FACTS – a prime example of how expensive this can be is:

The war in Iraq – The former US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, admits in his memoirs that he made a mistake in claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction sites round Baghdad and Tikrit, one of the main justifications for launching the Iraq invasion.

Rumsfeld says now: “I made a misstatement.” What he meant to say is there were ‘suspect sites’.

The War in Iraq cost the US – 816 Billion and the UK 9 Billion – a rather expensive mistake to make.