USE EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
Experiential marketing has been called many things - engagement, guerilla, event, participation, or even on-ground marketing.
They all mean the same thing, though, and that's getting potential consumers involved with your brand. This type of marketing is very effective at creating loyalty to your brand because it makes people feel connected to you. They shared and experience with you and your company, which is vastly more tangible than just purchasing something from a retailing behemoth. Isn't that what we're all searching for? Tangibility? That's what makes people remember you. It conjures memories of tastes, smells, sights, and textures unique to you and your product. I'll wager you're thinking, "Great, that sounds like something I'd like to do with my wares, but how do I accomplish that?"
There are a few venues we can take here, depending on the type of product you offer. Is your product a luxury? Is it a staple of everyday life? Do you provide a service?
Let's say you're a haircutter.
You've been known to give a guy a haircut in five minutes or less, and not only that, people are super satisfied with your cuts. Why not take that promise to the streets in a mobile hair cutting studio. Picture it with me, if you will, a truck with your logo wrapped around it. A window on the side so people can see you at work. One chair. One sink. One mirror. You park by a busy bus or subway terminal and drop your sign down - "Haircut in 5 minutes or less. I know you lead a busy life and it's hard to take the time to get a haircut sometimes, so I'm coming to you to make sure you look as fly as possible today. Take my challenge and if you're not satisfied, or it takes longer than 5 minutes it's free."
The first gentleman walks by and he thinks to himself, "my hair is looking a little shaggy and I do have that big meeting today. The train is supposed to be here in 10 minutes, why not try this out."
He sits down. While you perform your hair magic a crowd begins gathering to see what's going on in your window. As you brush off the gentleman's jacket, a Capella barbershop music begins playing somewhere in the background (you wisely invested in a sound system to entertain passersby) and the next fellow lines up, eager to get in on the fun and convenience of a 5 minute haircut while he waits for his train. A woman asks for something you know with complete certainty that you cannot accomplish in five minutes. What do you do? Panic? No way - you're a smooth operator and know how to handle this speed bump. You tell her you'd be happy to set up a private hair appointment for her at any address in the city, and you slyly add in that if she gets five friends on board hers is free. She beams and begins texting away.
All of this happened because you took a chance on a hair cutting truck. Instead you could have been sitting in a physical location waiting for people to come to you. Forget that, that's old hat.
Go directly to your people and show them how awesome you are at your craft.
This can work for anyone in the service industry, with a few tweaks here and there of course! Let's switch gears and talk about selling physical goods out of a mobile retail store. For this example you're a wholesaler who gets new inventory in every week and always has some left over after dealing with your steady customers. Get creative with your approach. Make a joke on the old, 'it fell off the back of a truck' trope. Call yourself, "The Back of a Truck" so when people ask their friends where they got such a cool item for such a great price they can tell them, with complete sincerity, the back of a truck. It'll get them excited. It feels illicit but it's not. Some people will even get a chuckle out of the awful pun.
Maybe you sell ponchos and you happen to have a reliable weatherman in your city.
Why not sport a truck that's got a great poncho in a shield design on it called the Dryness Defender. You only show up when it's going to rain or snow in big public squares, and sell disposable ponchos to unprepared folks. Soon people will stop carrying their umbrellas and instead rely on you to keep them dry in inclement weather. It's super easy to get a poncho from you and slip if over their clothes than have to lug around a wet umbrella all day. Ugh, nobody wants that. They want to toss out the poncho at the office after it's all gross and wet. Maybe you're the Poncho Honcho. They sky's the limit with these trucks, guy.
Perhaps you sell seasonal goods and are tired of renting out stores for your Halloween costumes, or your Valentine's Day gifts. How about a costume shop that goes around suburban neighborhoods making sure all the kids have sweet costumes for Halloween. It sure beats having to lease a place every year, since your trucks can be re-wrapped and re-purposed into new ventures every season.
Contact us at 732-969-5400 and talk to one of our experiential marketing gurus to see how we could apply a mobile truck platform to your business today. Be the first in your neighborhood to try out this radical business concept and make an impression on your potential customers that lasts a lifetime.