Consumers of the new generation are online more and more as communication, education, and social interactions are taking place through a phone or computer screen. If you think about it, there aren’t many things in life that don’t require a device or a screen. Even with technology usage rising, this group still desires to feel connected with and engaged by brands in other ways. One great way to do this is through live activations and experiences also known as Experiential Marketing. So, how exactly does experiential marketing provide your community of customers with 360 engagement?

Let’s take, for example, one of our recent events with a long-standing client. For two and a half months, we were able to develop and execute a four-city event to assist the brand in building a national choir. When we began the project, it was just an idea. Here’s how we worked with their existing departments to collaborate and bring the event to life.

We’ve said this before about this client, but they have truly mastered the art of digital marketing. When we started the project, this department had no official presence on social media. Within days after meeting with the marketing team, a logo set and social media handles for multiple platforms were created. The brand also began generating demand by going live on Instagram and reposting existing content to tease the upcoming events. With each of these online appearances, excitement was mounting for a chance to participate, and the brand received hundreds of emails per day inquiring about the events.

Simultaneously, our team catapulted into execution mode by solidifying dates, venues, equipment rentals, and other details to ensure that the events felt engaging, relevant, and shareable. Before long, we had thousands of registered participants attending the live events, meeting the brand’s team up close, and participating in rehearsals and auditions. We carefully crafted each event so that participants could interact closely with one another for long periods. We also ensured that the staff would be involved as well. By doing this, we were able to promote a sense of closeness and belonging to a brand that every single participant already celebrated and bought into. Not only were these attendees able to vie for a chance to be part of something big, but they were able to experience a foretaste of the oneness and community that they would obtain if they were to be selected.

Because of the excitement and all-around experience, there was plenty of opportunity for the brand, the event participants, and its other raving fans to create and share content leading up to a larger more profitable event. During and following the event, this larger event was always mentioned and promoted. The content from the events we executed became sellable.

Although this brand possessed a loyal following even before the auditions events, you could see how the content created from the events could generate new excitement and add to the excitement about the tour event. Although we don’t have the numbers readily available for the tour sales, we do know that the event has been sold out nationwide and that the brand was able to meet its goals for choir member recruitment as a result of the live activations.

To summarize, there are three factors when creating 360 engagement for the Millennial and Gen Z community of customers:

Create demand generation through a digital presence.
Engage all five of your customer’s senses with live activatons.
Use the live activation to create sellable content.
Track your conversions to measure success, and improve upon the experience.

Marketing in the New Age