Team Perspective: Digital Challenges of the Ever-Evolving Experiential Marketing Beast

Let's talk digital with Umarah, Digital Strategist from Lush Life Productions.

Now that the pandemic is officially a distant memory *cue praise dance* (whether or not we’re all still getting sick), beverage and spirits brands are turning their attention, better yet budgets, to experiential marketing. Experiential marketing is essentially bringing brands to consumers in-person. We see this all the time. Aperol claimed their spot as an official partner of the US Open with plenty of photogenic spritz to sip while Coco became the champion. Bacardi and White Claw set the tone of what a liquor sponsor should be doing at festivals with their pop-up bars and lounges. Pepsi created an entire pop-up diner for their 125th anniversary. 

Courtesy of Forbes. Aperol patio bar at the 2023 US Open - RONNIE KOENIG.

Brands are not only showing up in-person, but are trading their wallflower token for an opportunity to be the life of the party. More than a third of CMOs said they plan to spend 21% to 50% of their budgets on brand experiences over the next few years. Experiential marketing is evolving from the Red Bull cars that drove around college campuses. With larger budgets, brands are able to fully immerse consumers in multi-sensory experiences that introduce new lines of communication between products and key audiences. Brands are increasing personalization by tailoring experiences from person to person. They are also walking the walk by integrating sustainability, environmental consciousness, and other social responsibility issues into their activations.  

With all that said, consumers are thirsty for it. With over 78% of millennials preferring to spend money on experiences over products, I don’t blame companies for putting money where the opportunity is. 

Courtesy of Lush Life Productions and the AV Club. Attendees at PDXCW 2023.

The evolution of experiential marketing brings a new set of challenges to the digital landscape. We live in a world where content is queen and data is as invaluable as those Beyoncé tickets y'all were fighting so hard to get. A major digital challenge of experiential marketing is being able to translate the impact and return on investment for elusive data.