Events in 2013 - what must brands do?

Demand for truly memorable experiences has never been higher. More and more brands are now recognising the value of attaching themselves to high –profile events due to their increasing array of opportunities to publicise products and services as well as their huge capacity to create compelling content. RPM's MD, Dom Robertson, warns that amidst a summer full of events, brands need to make sure they don’t get too complacent. After all, consumers may experience event fatigue once the hype of 2012 dies down. To counteract this, here are his five strategies to keep consumers engaged in 2013 and beyond.


1. Be creative
In order for brands to keep consumers engaged post-Olympics, they will need to approach experiential with creative flair, capturing the imagination of the public and topping the exceptional experiences of 2012. The more creative a campaign, the more consumers will talk about it, interact with it and share it with friends- they’ll be proud and excited to be part of the unique experience. Creativity provides a platform for captivating content, which can then be distributed over a broad range of brand channels, expanding the campaign’s reach and extending engagement post activity. As consumer expectations will be extremely high after the Olympics, brands must continue to think outside of the box and place creativity high on the agenda.

2. Develop deep insight into the psychology of your audience
The ‘build it and they will come’ approach simply won’t cut it, so brands need to carefully develop experiences that are heavily rooted within the psychology and social calendar of their audience. They must re-evaluate who they are trying to reach and where those consumers will be during the peak of the campaign. The key will be to find the right people to attract, give them a great experience to enjoy and turn this interaction into a long-lasting relationship to benefit your brand into 2013 and beyond.

Brands should never under-estimate the value of understanding the psychology of your audience. The campaign will always need to reflect the needs, desires and aspirations of the target consumer and should aim to enhance a major aspect of their life: whether that’s the end of term at university, England competing in Euro 2012 or their work Christmas party. Look at the defining moments in your audience’s social calendar and tailor campaigns specific to them.

3. Remain true to your brand values
Brands must stay true to their values and ensure that every experience is authentic to their brand strategy, relevant to their consumer and to their environment; enhancing and adding value to both. No matter whether the experiential activity is leading future brand comms, or laddering into wider activity, brands must ensure a consistent consumer journey is amplified over additional channels and not acting in isolation. In order for consumers to remain loyal, brands must build a relationship based on trust by sticking to their brand beliefs, and fulfilling brand promises that their consumers have come to expect.

3. Think Innovation. Think Big
Even established and market-leading brands are looking for new ways to stay fresh. Strongbow for example has dominated the music festival scene for 14 years and is considered to be the No.1 festival cider. That said the brand recognises that in order to stay current it must look for new ways to move its position forward and provide relevant and engaging consumer experiences. A key component of this is establishing dialogue with festivalgoer’s both inside and outside of the festival environment.

In 2011, Strongbow launched a strategic social media platform that recruited teams of lads via the Strongbow Facebook page to help build the Strongbow Pub, ‘The Strongbow Graft and The Glory’. In exchange for their ‘hard graft’ building the multifaceted structure, the lads received a V.I.P. festival experience including speedboat transportation, luxury accommodation and Strongbow on tap, and their progress was documented on Facebook. Through tapping into social media Strongbow was able to keep consumers engaged pre, during and post event and offer a clear value exchange.

4. Establish the FOMO Factor
The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is rapidly becoming a game-changer in how brands look to create and package events. In fact, it is the single largest emotional motivator amongst young people. Experiences have to be truly memorable and instil the, “I was there” mentality into the consumer.

The ability for brands to leave their mark is essential, but it requires them to build a community and connect with their audience on a level that they understand, appreciate and respond well to. In 2013 the bar will be set higher than ever and brands that aren’t ready for the challenge may well be for the high jump.