THE BENEFIT OF EXPERIENCE

What’s the number-one reason a consumer buys into our brand? Is it our stylish celebrity ambassador, clever viral or expensive awareness campaign? Or is it because they tried it one day, thought it was actually pretty good and, more importantly, good value for money?

We marketers too often forget what it’s like to be consumers. We love our brands, but consumers don’t have the same relationship. They’re interested in benefits – ‘What’s in it for me?’ This essay isn’t about rhetoric and opinions; there are tangible and proven reasons why you should invest your hard-won marketing budget in allowing consumers to experience your brand. Let’s start with what consumers, the ones with the wallets, think about experiential marketing.

• 97% would like to be able to ask questions about a brand before buying

• 89% of consumers actually want to try a brand before buying

• 73% have better brand knowledge after participating in experiential marketing

• 64% positively advocate experiential campaigns

• 58% say that experiential marketing encourages themto buy a product

Source: MyVoice Research, commissioned by iD Experiential

All of this, I’m sure you agree, is pretty intuitive stuff that we can easily relate to as consumers ourselves. So, if we accept that getting consumers to experience our products is vital to our success as brand-owners, why don’t we invest more in trial (and re-trial)? Perhaps we don’t reflect often enough on what trial can do for our brands. Here are some classic uses supported with real-life examples from iD clients…

To read the essay in full just click the link...