Secret Ingredients for Experiential Marketing Success

A FOMO and serotonin love potion 

Experiential marketing is no longer a secret weapon in the battle for customer engagement. In fact, its ability to create memorable and meaningful experiences for those sought after consumers has made it wildly popular in the advertising and marketing world.  

But for your strategies to hit a home run, it absolutely must contain two key ingredients – Fear of Missing Out (FOMO to those hip Gen ZEDers) as well as something to get that serotonin pumping. FOMO gives anything the character of exclusivity, while serotonin will surround it with a fluffy, feel-good aura. 

From pop-up stores and installations, to festivals, brands are finding ever more ingenious ways to nab new consumers and bank their loyalty. The experiential marketing industry is evolving all the time, and here at mustard XP we’ve been having an interesting chat about what’s got the ultimate pulling power for grabbing customers’ attention. 

Before we launch into our Top 3, there’s one important thing that creative strategists and project managers focus on in any category, and that’s to establish an emotional connection between the brand and any potential fans. This is where the FOMO and serotonin come in very handy indeed. 

Here’s what you’ll need for success…

Pop ups 

Pop ups are still in at number one, because not only are they in-person, but they’re also in-yer-face. There are the added bonuses of increased sales and the maximised potential for brand engagement too.  

Our personal favourite was one of this year’s highly commended nominees in the Campaign Experience Awards 2023. Creative agency Haygarth came up with a beauty in the ‘REPLICA Memory Box’ for Maison Margiela’s luxury fragrance range REPLICA. Using the well-known and powerful link between scent and memory, Haygarth put the scents to work on the senses, as it were.  

“Through an immersive and multi-sensorial exhibition, we encouraged guests to delve into the sights, sounds, feelings, and scents of their chosen memory, building a keepsake memory box along the way.”  

Gold stars all round. 

Art installations 

Without a doubt, art installations are becoming increasingly bigger hitters in the business of brand promotion and awareness. In our social media addicted society, photo ops are the name of the game. They can be installed in shopping centres, parks, stations, and even the bus stop (if that floats your brand’s boat).  

If these photos give the selfie-addicted some much yearned-for kudos, then the publicity is almost endless – that one photo will be liked and shared with a potentially global reach. 

One of our firm favourites is still Sony’s 2019 offering, Affinity in Autonomy. It explored the future of robot-human relations by allowing a human interaction with ‘a field of white spheres that moved as if they had their own personalities.’  

No prizes for noticing that it was an interactive experience too, but top marks for anyone who can beat that particularly unique and emotion-inducing photo op/TikTok moment.  

We’d also like to invite you to click on this designwanted piece which features some other rather clever blasts from the past. 

Live in-person festivals 

Since the world’s scientific community helped kick the pandemic to the curb, festivals are back with bells on. From the biggies like Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, to smaller local offerings, all things music will sprinkle stardust, youth and excitement all over your brand.   

And last year, nobody created FOMO for social media followers like N2O did for The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar BlastWaves was another Campaign Experience Awards finalist, and it doesn’t take a genius to understand why.  

Activating Coca-Cola’s Above the Line campaign ‘Feel Every Beat of Summer’, the BlastWaves headlining piece saw rippling soundwaves emanating from the heart of the stand. Flanked by two immersive Beat and Sensory tunnels, festival-goers experienced the feel of music in innovative, playful ways with all the senses alongside the taste of Coke Zero. 

Not only was BlastWaves a towering monolith at every festival – the first thing the young and the beautiful saw – but its eye-catching boombox captured the hearts and minds of its Gen Z target audience at four of the UK’s most popular festivals – Wireless Birmingham, Truck Festival, Boardmasters and All Points East.  

As we said, FOMO.

Looking for more?

If you’re oozing with talent, and are passionate about brilliant and innovative marketing of the experiential variety, then rest assured that we’re 100% committed to finding you the role of your dreams. Our fabulous mustard XP team are waiting for your call, so get your dialing finger at the ready. 0117 929 6060 is the number you’re looking for.