Brand Experiences: Where Brand Marketing Meets Live Events

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When a client invests in producing any type of live event, one of the logical questions is, "What’s my ROI?"  While the quantitative elements are what keep companies (and their marketing departments!) in business, it’s the qualitative execution that resonates with the attendees. Creating a brand experience is not as simple as having a banner with the company logo suspended in a ballroom. It’s finding a way to creatively connect with, engage and fully immerse an audience in a live event.

Brand experiences are meetings, campaigns, incentive trips, conferences, product launches, awards shows or media events . . . just to name a few. They are any type of live program imaginable and are designed to engage and leave lasting impressions on an audience. The ability to connect with an audience is based on emotion: To inspire a sales force, recognize outstanding performance, create a feeling of solidarity, raise consumer brand loyalty, launch a product, or to promote brand stewardship. Brand experiences cross all business sectors, can be either B2B or B2C, can stand alone or be part of a fully integrated program or campaign.

Living your company’s brand should not be limited to just traditional marketing. Brand experiences can live in the digital world and cross over to the physical plane ("phygital!") such as with a campaign, meeting, incentive or strategic live event. In a well-done program, you’ll have multiple opportunities to touch and influence your audience, with the payoff being the live event. Brand experiences engage the senses, build momentum and, most importantly, deliver a message in the most dynamic fashion.

The brand experience model lets you be more than just a messenger; it gives you the ability to develop relationships, to get the audience to take action or "activate." And, truth be told, the only thing you’ll be limited by is your imagination.