Tips from NCM, verb., and Pinterest On Avoiding the ‘Sea of Sameness’ In Experiential Marketing

Successful experiential marketing has become more than just hosting a one-time pop-up event or providing guests with a photo opportunity.

In “Immersive Brand Moments: Designing Experiences That Captivate and Convert,” an ADWEEK House group chat presented by National CineMedia, panelists chimed in on making events stand out.

“There has just still been a lot of pent-up demand from the pandemic,” Pinterest senior director of global brand experiences Judy Lee noted. “And now, spend is fully back with a lot of brands, and it’s just a great way to extend a brand campaign.”

Shannon Simpson Jones, co-founder of brand experience agency verb., also noted the resurgence, saying of experiential marketing, “It’s back in the mix in terms of being a critical component of the overall marketing plan. We always talk about reimagining how consumers experience and interact with your brand, and it’s important to not treat it as a stand-alone tactic or an add-on after the fact, but really making it a part of the entire plan throughout the process.”

“I don’t even like it as an add-on,” Lee added. “I like it as the core of the idea.”

What’s the plan?

When asked about the early stages of planning experiential campaigns, Jones said, “The first step in the process is really starting with your why, and it can feel really basic, but why are we doing this? … Let’s be clear about who it’s for.”

Avoiding the feeling of “same-old, same old,” is key, as well.

“I was a business-to-business marketer for many, many, many years, and I think we can all agree that it starts to become a little bit of a sea of sameness,” said Lee. “And so for us, our main B2B strategy was: How do we ‘unboring’ that experience? How do we make it even more interesting?”

Avoiding the ‘sea of sameness’

For Jones, successful events are a holistic brand experience.