Experiential marketing connects consumers with brands in face to face experiences which create personal memories that endure.
With consumers bombarded by traditional advertising and becoming more likely to listen to ‘non-stop music’ radio stations, watch ‘on demand’ television and flick past print adverts, 2013 proved to be a blossoming year for experiential marketing.
The trend continues in 2014. Over 20,000 experiential marketing activities have been implemented in Nigeria alone so far.
Experiential marketing, what used to be an afterthought, is swiftly becoming a key tactic in campaigns. Its budget increased by 7.6 per cent in 2013, against economic growth of 1.6 per cent, and it is predicted to skyrocket even further this year.
Quality over quantity
Oracle Agency Chief Executive Officer, Felix Eiremiokhae, defines experiential marketing as “real conversations and meaningful impressions you can count.
“On the surface, it looks like experiential produces smaller numbers, but experiential is about quality over quantity, and they’re authentic numbers.”
This is the difference between big data and real data, he said.
“Half a million people could read a newspaper, but does that mean half a million people read the advert inside? No. Traditional has a larger potential reach but experiential gives a realistic impression count based on direct engagements,” posited experiential marketing expert, Ororo Azemhobor.
On the 2014 Amstel Malta ShowTime in Lagos tagged “The Rush”, Azemhobor said “you must have a good story; when you have a good story, you now talk of production.”
In terms of production, he added, “what we have done is to create a multi-functional stage. We have two layers of stage, then we open it where we have performances. When it comes to the ShowTime, that is the last stage.
“What we did was to use a multi-functional stage to deliver a single story and create different scenes passing different messages, and of course dovetailing to one message which is all about ‘keep going, you will get to where you are going.’”
Tough act to follow
Oracle Experience has redefined the art of storytelling in executing simple brand activation.
The past three editions of ShowTime were boring, with consumers asking for the programme to end before it began.
Apart from a craft that came with ShowTime this year, Oracle masterminded mouthwatering activations in Gulder Club Ultimate, Gulder Ultimate Search 11 unveiling, Nescafe Hot Air Balloon, the launch of three brands in one stage, and Peak Milk one million signatures.
According to a senior industry practitioner, who prefers anonymity, Oracle has set a new height for others to follow and is a point of reference in terms of pitch. “Clients now ask if you can deliver like Oracle,” he said.
This year’s Amstel Malta ShowTime featured entertainers like Sound Sultan, Phyno, Gordons, and others who took Lagos by storm with superb performances at the finale in the indoor sports hall of the University of Lagos.
The entertainers featured in the Lagos edition of the concert drama directed by Ice Nweke, tagged “The Rush” – which fused artistry by ballerinas, singers, actors, fire eaters, jugglers, dancers, rappers, instrumentalists, comedians, et al – told the story of a young man’s journey to success in brilliant theatre.
Also performing with them were five young talents selected via auditions: a singing duo (male and female), instrumentalist duo (a violinist and a guitarist), a dance team of four, a comedian, and a rapper.
Just as was seen in Enugu, a few talents who impressed the judges but did not make it to the top five got the chance to perform.
Sound Sultan, who also served as a judge and mentor on ShowTime this season, said the experience “has been worth every single hype.” He expressed delight “to be a part of this” and reiterated that Nigeria is blessed with unique talents.
“We saw variety at the auditions both in Enugu and Lagos. So much so that we had an extremely tough time making our final pick, and so had to give a number of talents the opportunity to perform even though they didn’t make it to the final five.
“Big thumbs up to Amstel Malta for putting this together.”
Prospects for market research
Amstel Malta Brand Manager, Hannatu Ageni-Yusuf, expressed pleasure at the success of the 2014 edition of ShowTime.
This edition, he noted, “has been the most explosive we’ve ever had and we are very glad as a brand that we decided to do this. We thought of a way to give young talents a better opportunity to showcase themselves, rather than just compete and walk home with cash prizes.
“The mentorship sessions were intense and we are confident that this experience will help launch these talents to the right path in their careers.”
He said judging from the experiences and the way the industry is progressing, experiential marketing will become a new form of market research this year.
With the consumer right in front of brand ambassadors, it is easy to gather more information in the midst of engagement. It is live. It is quick. And it goes a long way to improve understanding of consumer behaviour.
