5 Awesome Experiential Campaigns

5 Awesome Experiential CampaignsExperiential marketing is the art of creating branded memorable experiences for prospective and current customers. When an experiential agency plays their cards right, the activations can result in unbelievable experiential marketing campaigns.

Today, we are exploring 5 cool campaigns, and taking a few notes along the way.

  1. Red Bull Stratos

Imagine flying 24 miles into the stratosphere in a helium balloon in order to free fall and parachute to Earth. Australian skydiver Felix Baumgartner completed this daunting task on October 14, 2012 as part of Red Bull’s Stratos event, a record-breaking event watched live by eight million people.

Key Takeaway: The sky is the limit – literally. Red Bull created a branded experience for their customers that defied the odds and resulted in a memorable experience for all who watched, tying into their adrenaline-fueled lifestyle brand.

  1. Anheuser-Busch

South by Southwest is known for their creative marketing exhibitions showcased during the Austin, TX-based event. Anheuser-Busch utilized exciting virtual reality technology to deliver a new experience for consumers.

A-B transformed Austin’s Ironwood Hall into Budweiser Beer Garage for SXSW. Attendees positioned the VR headsets in order to be virtually transported to Anheuser’s St. Louis headquarters. “Visitors” went on a journey that engaged all five of their senses.

What’s the Takeaway? The 5 senses play a key role in experiential marketing. Providing attendees with the opportunity to touch, feel, see, and hear what goes on at the A-B brewery – capping it off with a sample of the final product – lends a greater appreciation for the product. SXSW attendees claimed that overall, the A-B experience was their favorite experiential marketing event.

  1. Weber Mobile Grill Academy

Weber made a larger-than-life campaign from a grill on wheels. Weber’s Mobile Grill Academy tour hosted a fleet of three vehicles that hit the road and traveled across the nation.

The brand ambassadors stopped at 3-5 big box retail locations in each market they visited, offering 90-minute training sessions to store associates. The vehicles converted to an open-air setup, allowing associates to take a variety of classes featuring Weber grills. The following year, the tour continued and Weber began to host cooking classes in the trailers. In addition to consumers were now directly engaged with the brand. They simply signed up online and took part in an interactive experience.

Where to Take Notes: Weber’s team took their first year on the road to determine exactly what worked and what didn’t, and tweaked their tour the second year to directly engage consumers in their target market. Educated consumers are loyal consumers.

  1. American Express 2015 US Open Activation

American Express unveiled one of the most innovative and integrated sponsorships at the 2015 US Open. The exclusive fan experience included RFID enabled wristbands, an augmented reality pro cam, hologram, and text café.

Takeaway For Marketers: Through the use of innovative digital technology, American Express brought consumers into the experience, and provided abundant technology for tennis fans. It is not everyday you have the opportunity to pose with a hologram or to play against Maria Sharapova, so something like that tends to leave consumers with a memorable experience.

  1. Google Building a Better Bay Area

Based out of San Francisco Bay, Google introduced their Building a Better Bay Area initiative. Through the Google Impact Challenge, Google awarded $5.5 million to local Bay Area nonprofits in a number of categories. Top winners were chosen by public vote.

What You Need To Know: As a society, we love feel-good moments. Crowdsourcing public opinion on ways to better communities creates an emotional connection and adds an edge of relevancy against competitors.

Experiential marketing is pretty self-explanatory – you are creating a memorable experience.

The goal is to execute a flawless activation, which results in your brand being talk-worthy (AKA – being featured in the COOLEST Experiential Marketing Campaigns).

Hard work truly pays off in experiential marketing, because, at the end of the day, you created a memorable event.

What experience are you going to create?