Experiential marketing builds emotional connection with consumers

There is a shift from traditional marketing to experiential due to change in consumers’ lifestyle and behaviour. Marketing requires to start understanding Gen Z’s behaviour and adapt based on their needs

Muzaffar Rizvi

Published: Sun 8 May 2022, 2:44 PM

Experiential marketing creates unique experiences that allow brands and their consumers to build an authentic and emotional connection which is one of the most powerful methods of marketing to date, says an expert.

Advertising

“Consumers become closely involved in brands’ identity and the storytelling behind each product or services, Kaassamani told Khaleej Times during an interview.

Focus on Gen Z

He said the term experiential marketing emerged during the rise of Gen Z era.

“The shift from traditional marketing to experiential is based on their lifestyle and behaviour that craves experiences in their lives by investing their time to create trends. Marketing requires to start understanding Gen Z’s behaviour and adapt based on their needs,” he said.

Authentic connection with the brands’ audience

Kaassamani said experiential marketing creates an authentic connection with the brands’ audience on grassroots level. He said the effectiveness of consumer involvement throughout the brands’ experience provides brands the opportunity to collect fundamental insights that allow them to evolve and modify their products/services based on the market needs.

“Another effective tool is the word-of-mouth communication, that results from event and experiential marketing is significant, and the brand impact is powerful. According to the consumers, 96 per cent of consumers that tell a friend or family member about their experience mention the company or brand running the event,” he said.

RoI on experiential marketing

In reply to a question how to measure return on investment (RoI) after implementing experimental marketing strategies, Kaassamani said the top measurement factors and criteria according to brand case studies are attendance, social media activities, and number of leads or data collected.

“Brands take part in building experiences based on four main objectives; RoI/increase in sales, awareness, launching products/services and generating leads. Given the measurement factors, brands can develop and identify a RoI driven experiences in order to meet their objectives,” he said.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com