According to the Wikipedia description, experiential marketing is « a variation of marketing that provides the consumer the information needed to build an experience associated with the brand and its products or services. This experience can be anticipated, experienced and remembered by the consumer. »

I agree with this definition, although I find it somewhat vague. For me, experiential marketing is meant to involve the consumer in the centre of its strategy. An experiential initiative lives through the consumer’s involvement, wanted or not. Without it, it is futile. Thanks to the experience that’s been created, the consumer is able to associate a feeling or an emotion to the brand, which increases the impact of the message and the feeling of belonging. Not that traditional advertising method does not create emotion, quite the contrary, but experiential marketing allows accessibility and interaction with the consumer. Therefore, he or she has the opportunity to appropriate the mark through the transmitter of the experiment. We must not forget that consumers are seduced by your brand if you give « everything » they are looking for to fully enjoy their shopping experience.

Experiential marketing initiatives are wrongly categorized as « small deployment » and « short range. » This new mode of marketing can do a lot for your product when it is properly embedded in a marketing strategy. It applies to product launches, traditional displays, web, public relations, radio, contests, etc. Properly used as part of a « 360 degree » marketing strategy, it becomes an optimal catalyst for other marketing tactics. Consumers are at the heart of experiential initiatives in which we strive to make them live an experience that they can associate with the brand.

In sum, experiential marketing initiatives support traditional ones and help associate the product with a lifestyle by sharing an experience with the consumer.