Michael Cullen asks Jonny and Paddy Davis to explain what Imagine offers
Some people call it event marketing. Others might label it live, on-ground or participation marketing. Essentially, experiential marketing is about creating a closer bond between the consumer and the brand by immersing them in a fun and memorable experience. It has nothing whatsoever to do with ads or one-off PR stunts – but it’s every bit as strategic.
Experiential is all about staging brand events which stir positive emotions in consumers. It means they are more likely to associate those emotions with the brand, which is more effective than just exposing them to something they see with a TV or press ad. Jonny Davis, 34, launched Imagine 11 years ago. He was later joined by his brother, Paddy, 27.
For the Davis brothers, experiential is simple. “We aim to create brand experiences which drive consumer desire, loyalty and advocacy,” Paddy Davis says. “It involves smart thinking on our part and coming up with ideas which deliver memorable live moments. Using digital, mobile and social, we help brands create long-lasting consumer relationships – that’s it.”
Brand connectors: Imagine directors Paddy and Jonny Davis. Brad Nierenberg of RedPeg Marketing in the US says experiential marketing is the live, one-on-one interactions which allow consumers to connect with brands. The days of street marketing and managing events are over. Now it is far more complex, with virtual reality, sponsorships, data analytics and more in the mixer.
Take Spin 1038 Sandstorm. The client brief was provided. The youth station’s listenership was getting older and media buyers needed to be told. The normal thing would be to put on a party in a nightclub for media buyers, station sales staff and the radio DJs. It has been done numerous times. Spin is different and wanted to challenge the norm. So what’s the answer? In challenging stereotypes to agency media buyers, Imagine created Sandstorm, a 5km adventure race on Dollymount Strand. It was the first adventure race on sand in Ireland. The plan was to have 800 Spin listeners enter the event and allow media buyers to see the station’s typical audience live and in the flesh and not just in JNLR report sheets.
To further engage with media buyers, Imagine created Sandcamps in the six weeks before the event where media buyers turned up on Sandymount Strand for a bootcamp with a personal trainer to get fit before the event. It generated agency interest in the campaign and allowed quality face-to-face time between the Spin sales team and the media buyers.
Recruitment for the race got a healthy response. It was Spin’s most entered promotion ever. It was fully subscribed after two weeks on air, online and social media promotion. Radio listeners were kept engaged throughout the campaign by DJ on air promotions and tips for the event. It was backed up by Spin’s social media network which totals around 500,000 people.
The IPA Bellwether Report for Q2 was a downer for adland – apart from experiential and digital/social activity. Experiential marketing budgets rose by 6.8 per cent, with internet rising by 9.8 per cent. The popularity of social media combined with the ever increasing demand for new and engaging content shows experiential is taking centre stage.
Jonny Davis says millennials see digital as the norm and value experiences above everything. The marriage between experiential and digital means campaigns now live as much online as offline. It allows for increased measurability and a tangible return on investment. It is something experiential agencies have struggled with up to now.
Changed times. Experientialists are also into immersive technology, such as virtual and augmented reality. “We can offer new experiences from the comfort of their armchair,” Paddy Davis says. “It’s incredible. The future of brand marketing lies in digitally enable experiences. Clients now put a greater emphasis on owned channels above paid channels.”
Success will be in completing the loop of ‘on-live’ experiences, where online and live work together seamlessly. Technology, whether through immersive and wearable technology or geo-fencing, is paramount. Things have come a long way since American Gary Reynolds formed the Miller Band Network in 1979 as the seminal experiential marketing moment.
In Japan, Tohato launched two new snacks, Tyrant Habanero Burning Hell Hot and Satan Jorquia Bazooka Deadly Hot, in 2007 in an award-winning campaign which broke new ground in engagement by combining multiplayer online gaming with advertising on a mobile phone. Consumers were urged to join nightly battles in a virtual game, on behalf of either snack brand, to determine the winner of the ‘World’s Worst War’. The games ran at 4am.
Almost everything Red Bull does is centred around experiential marketing, from its Air Race, to its Formula 1 team, to its extreme sports events. But nothing compares to the global attention the energy drink got for its Stratos Jump as Felix Baumgartner passed the speed of sound and broke a 52-year-old record for the highest recorded parachute jump.
News channels around the world carried live coverage of the event. As part of its support for the 2012 Olympics in London, Samsung hosted events at various venues around London, including Heathrow T1 departure lounge, Canary Wharf and St Pancras International. The Samsung Studios campaign focused on demos for the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note phones.
Visitors could play with Samsung’s Olympic Games app or have their photo taken on the Galaxy S3 and which is instantly turned into a personalised badge. There was a competition to win an S3 and an around-the-world trip if people for those who were bothered to return every day to collect special pin badges. Note, no products were sold at the various studios.
Analysis showed that half the visitors spent between six and ten minutes at the Samsung Studio, while the average interaction was seven minutes 45 seconds. For those in the market for a new phone, the average interaction was eight minutes 15 seconds. Nine out of ten visitors said they were more likely to consider a Samsung phone as a result of the interaction.
Who are the Davis brothers?
Jonny Davis is MD at Imagine and Paddy is the agency’s client services director. Both are sports fans. Johnny admits to being constantly disappointed by Arsenal and Mayo GAA with the odd success from Leinster Rugby thrown in for light relief, while Paddy plays rugby for Wesley and lives in hope for greater things from the new-look Manchester United.
Their parents are Special Olympics boss Mary Davis and FleishmanHillard director Julian Davis. Imagine clients include Renault, Deliveroo, Nivea, Musgrave, Spin 1038, Dublin Bus, Mars, Valeo Foods, Keogh’s Crisps and Dropbox. Not bad going for such a young agency. Yet the Davis brothers do not plan to sit on their laurels. From helping Nivea shower festivalgoers at Electric Picnic they tackle tasks for Renault at the Ploughing Championships.
Greg Ippolito, former creative director of US agency Annodyne, said the big difference between engagement marketing and other forms is that the former is anchored by a philosophy, rather than a focus on specific tools. The philosophy is that audiences should be engaged in the sales process when they want and by which channels they choose.
A study by Jack Morton Worldwide reported that 11 out of 14 consumers prefer to learn about new products and services by experiencing them personally, or hearing about them from an acquaintance. The Davis brothers believe in engagement. As evidence, Jonny recently proposed to his girlfriend on Croagh Patrick. To his delight, she accepted.
Now, that’s engagement.
