You’re Doing Experiential Wrong. Here’s Why.

This is my Jerry Maguire manifesto on what’s wrong with Experiential Marketing programs. Short answer for people who aren’t going to read more than the first paragraph: you’re focused on the client, not the customer. The end.

Now that we’re moving on, what inspired this thought was a recent article in AdWeek “Brands aren’t always getting a strong ROI because their experiences aren’t connecting with fans in a meaningful way.”

Duh. Those experiences aren’t designed to connect in a meaningful way. They’re designed for agencies to hit the numbers and check the boxes the client wants checked so everyone in the food chain client-side and agency-side can keep a paycheck rolling in.

What does Connecting With a Customer in a Meaningful Way mean?

It means having conversation and solving a problem. It means talking WITH people instead of AT them. Experiential isn’t a billboard that people can walk through, it’s a chance for a brand to actually touch the people who need their solution to a problem.

You know where loyalty comes from? Solving problems. It doesn’t come from engagement or impressions.

Why is everyone doing Experiential wrong? Because the least important person in the Experiential experience is the actual customer. Who’s talking with the customer? Your lowest paid, youngest, least trained, least experienced, least supported, and least respected people.

Where are highest paid, the smartest, the most experienced, the most respected people on your team? They’re in client relations, because the client signs the check. Where does the client’s money come from? The customer.

Doing Experiential right means taking advantage of the most precious moment you are going to get as a marketer: a face to face meeting with the customer where they are paying attention to you. That is gold, people. No brochure, no website, no slick graphics program on tablet or monitor is ever going to have the impact of a conversation between two people.

Where the ROI in Experiential Marketing comes from is not the tools:

 “ROI is never about the tool, it’s about the mechanic using the tool”.

– Gary Vynerchuk

Your mechanics are your staff onsite talking to the customer.

Doing Experiential right means the creative team shouldn’t be sitting around a conference table; they should be out talking to the customer and learning about who the customer is and what they care about so they can create the experience that transforms the customers’ relationship with the brand.

Your BA’s don’t need scripts; they need deep training on listening, brand management, solutions, and customer psychology. No docent is going to transform a customer relationship.

Experiential is not advertising. Experiential is a conversation between the brand and person with a problem. It should be a transformative experience.

Doing Experiential right means putting the customer interaction first and the ROI to the client will follow.