Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The New Frontier of Experiential Marketing

What is experiential marketing?

First, we explain what it is not. It is not event marketing, which it is commonly confused with. But, experiential marketing does share some things in common with their advertising cousin. It does allow for an interactive space where the public can engage with a brand. However, it goes one step beyond a simple promotional event and delves into the realm Ad execs love the most: the psyche of the consumer.


Experiential marketing appeals to the consumer's emotions and imagination. It also seeks to engage as many senses as possible. By breaking away from traditional advertising methods, like TV, Commercial, and Billboard, the experiential approach blurs the lines between a brand's message and the personal world of the consumer. When the two spaces converge, the consumer may realize that a particular brand's product or service fits perfectly into their lives. Experiential marketing provides a unique space where people can experience brands where they least expect to find them, and in ways they never have before.




The "living" billboard above is a perfect example of experiential marketing. While Natural England has still relied on a traditional advertising method, they have totally turned it on its head by making it interactive in a way that directly correlates to its message. Banrock is preserving thousands of acres of wildflower meadows, and the pedestrian can literally stop to smell the flowers. And, they can even water them.




The second example, above, also relies on the pedestrian and his or her nose. To promote fine Scottish Whisky, passersby are encouraged to experience the flavors for themselves by smelling four different varieties. This experiential ad particular targets those who consider themselves to be Whisky connoisseurs.




While it isn't out of the ordinary to see a vehicle placement in a shopping mall, this advertising company went one step further and positioned the car in a way that would be surprising. The car looks like it is just a part of the shopping cart's inventory of products. The ridiculousness of this scenario draws people's attention, as we can see by the small crowd that has gathered around.




Our final example of experiential marketing is a bus stop that has been taken over by Vodka Absolut. While waiting for the bus, the pedestrian can sit comfortably in a stylish chair while a lemon tree grows behind him, spreading its leaves and fruit-bearing branches out to cover the roof of the bus stop. A simple glance to the left, and the pedestrian will see a beautiful and seductive woman out of the corner of his eye, and a table with two glasses and a bottle of Absolut waiting. This mirage may be tempting enough to make the viewer want to stop by the liquor store on the way home.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Lady Gaga Graces Houston and Facebook

In less than two weeks, Houston will be graced by who may arguably be the feistiest Queen of Pop to ever don a meat-dress. Lady Gaga. Her highly anticipated "Born This Way Ball" kicked off five days ago in Vancouver and other chilly areas of the northwest. Houstonians will surely give her a warm welcome, given the buzz that has been surrounding her spectacular show(wo)manship, elaborate sets, and scandalous props. We've been dying to go to the show, but have settled on creating some awesome marketing materials for our wonderful client, Bel Furniture, who is giving away a pair of tickets to see Gaga.


Bel has teamed up with the popular radio station, 104.1 KRBE to offer fans a chance to enter and win tickets to see Lady Gaga at the Toyota Center on January 31, 2013. While 104.1 listeners can call in and win that way, Bel thought it would be fun to reward its fans and customers who follow them on Facebook. To enter to win, all you have to do is "like" their Facebook page and enter to win through their simple "Promos" tab. We've had a lot of fun building up the buzz!


While Bel Furniture and Lady Gaga may seem like an odd pairing, we thing it's a wonderful opportunity for Bel to reward its loyal customer and reach out to a new audience of younger Houstonians.



As we get closer and closer to the concert date, we'll continue promoting the pair of tickets on all of Bel's social media pages. The credit for these rockin' designs truly goes to one of our newest designers, Annette, who joined the Versa Creative Team a couple months ago.


Friday, January 4, 2013

What Marketing 2013 May Bring!


The year 2012 saw revolutions, political elections, art, and natural disasters that rocked the world, sending ripples across our interlinked economies and societies. We don’t expect anything less from 2013, the first year since 1987 to have four unique numbers in its sequence. While the integration of traditional and digital marketing enjoyed a phenomenal boost last year, it will only continue to gain leverage in the market place and in the hearts and minds of consumers. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are the perfect embodiment of this beautiful creation. We expect to see businesses, particularly top brands, continue to push their presence across the social media landscape.

In addition to the growth of the already giant social media scene, Amazon will continue its domination of the e-commerce market. And, they’ll be offering a few more things you may or may not have expected from them: an app lover’s store, a genuine Amazon tablet competitive with the top brands, a bulked up advertising platform, video streaming services, and…what’s that? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO! It’s an Amazon cloud computing platform. How they manage to juggle all of these new services will be interesting to see.



Here is another pinteresting development also worth mentioning for the coming months of 2013: Pin for the Win. Pinterest is quickly gaining as much popularity and mentions as Instagram. Will this pin-happy service be purchased by one of the social media giants? Does Facebook have them in their sights? Only time will tell.



The final trend to keep an eye on for the 2013 marketing world is something called, "native advertising." Ads "go native" by adopting the voice, format, and style of the specific platforms in which they appear. In other words, it is advertising that exists under the radar. Viewers no longer consider them to be an intrusion upon their web surfing experience because the ads do not disrupt the flow of viewing, nor do they scream "deals!" or "specials!" from the sidebars. This type of content shift will not be easy, but it will be integral to the success of smaller brands trying to compete with larger, well-established companies. 

At Versa Creative Group, we look forward to what's in store for the world of social media marketing and digital advertising in the year 2013. And, as always, we welcome any comments or opinions here or on our Facebook page.