How to integrate experiential into campaign planning?

Publication: ET_Bangalore; Date:2008 Feb 23; Section:Business Of Brands; Page

Number 4

How to integrate experiential into campaign

planning?
For years, it was all about the TV spot: brands treated
experiential activity as simply an extension of their
advertising. However, the success of branded events such as
Nike’s Run London shows that big experiential activities have
captured marketers’ imaginations and consumer participation
Robert McLuhan LONDON

AS A RESULT, more experiential agencies are getting involved in the early stages of campaign
planning - a welcome development, as they are no longer forced to shoehorn the client’s ad
concept into the activity, using only a fraction of the budget.
The execution is vital, but behind the scenes the detailed insight, planning and strategy involved
in experiential marketing are winning over advertisers. February is a prime planning time in the
sector, so how do agency planners and clients ensure their campaigns target the right people at
the right time - and create a longlasting dialogue with consumers?

FIND THE BIG IDEA

Discovering that elusive idea guaranteed to work across all media and channels is not always easy.
But being involved at an early stage at least helps experiential specialists ensure they have
something good to work with. ‘One would struggle to come up with something based on a theme
such as Cadbury’s “Gorilla” ad,’ admits Mark Whelan, creative director at Cake. ‘You need to start
with the strategic thought behind a campaign, for example the pleasurable feelings that the
product creates. Then you’ll ultimately create a sensual experience.’
A case in point is travel website Expedia’s Blue Sky Day. The brand’s ad theme of blue skies and
‘letting go’ lent itself well to an experiential approach in which consumers in London’s Trafalgar
Square last June were offered a chance to express themselves artistically on blue canvases. A
growing number of clients are recognising the value of experiential agencies’ work. One is Disney,
whose campaign to promote the Nicolas Cage film National Treasure: Book of Secrets includes a
competitive treasure hunt in Paris, London and Washington. The contest is organised by Beatwax,
which is present alongside other agencies at all the release planning meetings. According to
Disney’s UK marketing director, Lee Jury, Beatwax establishes partnerships for experiential work,
such as with MTV.
‘The experience is the hook to secure media value and has to be high quality to attract partners,’
he says. Face-to-face activity is typically complex to design, requiring detailed insight and
preparation. Agencies start by establishing clear objectives; which consumers to target, where to
find them, and how to get their attention. ‘If you don’t know these things at the outset, all the
planning in the world will not be enough,’ says BEcause operations director Alison Nolan.

SET THE BUDGET

In most cases, the size of the budget and length of campaign will be established at an early stage.

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How to integrate experiential into campaign planning?

From that can be determined other elements, says Nolan, such as how many consumers to engage
with and how much time can be spent on each encounter. Last month, BEcause launched a
national roadshow on
behalf of the COI, with a branded double-decker bus parked in strategic locations to educate
both workers and employers about national minimum-wage rates. The agency first used Acorn
data to select cities with the highest level of the target audience’s profile, based on factors
including economic status, ethnicity, marital status and age. It then looked for ideal locations such
as key shops and Post Offices. Lastly, field staff were provided with a list of characteristics that
would help them spot people to target.

GAIN INSIGHT
At the planning stage, agencies also need to get to grips with their client’s business, brand and
market. The client can help here, as they are often sitting on a wealth of potential information,
although they do not always recognise its value. ‘What we really need is detailed information on
what a brand’s customers are interested in, how they relate to a product or service and how it
answers what they are looking for,’ says Bruce Burnett, managing director of i2i Marketing.
As in other disciplines, research tools such as TGI are used to gain insights into consumer
perceptions and purchasing behaviour. The internet is also a good place to get inside the
audience’s head. Published surveys can help build a profile of demographics, market trends and
competitors’ positioning. To check whether
an activity and environment will actually
work, agencies often set up focus groups.
Achieving relevance is key, according to Rob
Wilson, planning director at RPM. ‘If you go
to an event such as a classic car rally or music festival, you have to have something consumers
really want, because you are interrupting what they are doing,’ he says. The value of this was
demonstrated when RPM researched a campaign for Smirnoff targeting 18- to 24-year-old
drinkers. A focus group revealed that they prefer to drink vodka at night, so the agency developed
its ‘Original nights’ campaign, highlighting interesting clubs and bars, rather than the more obvious
choice of an all-day presence at a music festival.
Focus groups were also used by Sledge for the Natural Confectionery Company, which,
unusually, relied on experiential marketing for its launch. As well as talking to mothers, the agency
consulted children’s entertainers about ways to sample products. ‘Setting up an experiential
campaign is a collaborative process,’ says Sledge strategic director Jez Paxman. ‘You might seek
advice from all sorts of unusual people.’

FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Brand ambassadors should be chosen with care. Closer is among the agencies that have their own
staffing division to ensure the field staff are selected on the basis of the audience with whom they
will be interacting. Older people, for example, can be a critical target, being more change-resistant
and so more readily influenced by direct engagement. ‘We tailor our staff to the job,’ says Closer
staffing director Lucy Braybrook.
A case in point was the agency’s work for Panasonic’s Viera plasma TV range, for which it chose
more mature brand ambassadors as these were considered best able to deliver key technical
messages to a big audience. In contrast, a Dairylea campaign required younger staff to interact
with families. Big events such as the Innocent village fete also require the involvement of third
parties, namely the police and local officials. This can slow down the creative process. ‘You need to
know how to engage them,’ says Paxman.

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How to integrate experiential into campaign planning?

MEASURE EVERYTHING

Accurate metrics are another element that must be built in at the planning stage. ‘Clients need
to be able to demonstrate ROI and build a business case for experiential, but it is important that
the measurement is appropriate,’ warns Fiona Mitchell, business development director at Exentio.
With sampling activity aimed at boosting sales, the agency uses measures such as EPOS data to
monitor the ongoing effect of the work. Third-party researchers use control stores to help isolate
its impact from other aspects of a campaign. Brand experience activity means measuring changes
in perceptions and behaviour. Here, Exentio uses parent company CPM’s telemarketing agency to
gain consumer feedback, with an ROI model developed with market researchers. This establishes a
pre-experience benchmark, then examines changes. This sort of sophistication is winning a
growing number of companies round to the idea of faceto-face activity. Clients are also starting to
recognise that experiential concepts need to come out of the initial planning process if they are to
work. The industry is embracing its new-found pivotal role.
Marketing(C)Brandrepublic

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