Experiential marketing has been growing in popularity across Europe over recent years. More and more marketeers are turning to experiential marketing to connect brands directly with consumers and to increase awareness of what they are promoting. Customer retention is something which is often overlooked, but with the realisation that it is as valuable to retain existing clients as it is to get new customers, brands are utilising experiential marketing to build long lasting relationships and to increase brand loyalty and recognition. The personal interaction with consumers, which experiential marketing involves, is an influential marketing tool and allows for a stronger degree of emotional engagement with the client and allows for immediate feedback. It creates memorable consumer engagements and real experiences which initiate word of mouth and social media mentions, helping the campaign to grow organically.
Vandemoortele worked with the EFMP’s Dutch partners, PSfm, to create exposure for Gouda’s Glorie Lichtste Pondje spread and thereby stimulate trial of this product. The campaign targeted health conscious people to encourage them to stick to their New Year’s resolutions for 2019 with regard to their health-related goals. Current trends within FMCG demonstrate that people are becoming more health conscious and that they are looking for brands that clearly demonstrate their commitment to making healthier life choices. What better way to relay this message in the promotion of Gouda’s Glorie Lichtste Pondje spread than to connect directly, face to face, with consumers to provide them with a positive product experience, which inevitably provokes positive brand emotions and encourages sales.
In order to do this PSfm had to develop an original, creative and fitting activation that appealed to their target audience while portraying the message: “What are your new year’s resolutions?.” PSfm brand ambassadors approached customers as they entered stores to engage them to assess their level of health consciousness, to find out about their New Year’s resolutions relating to health and to inform them about the health benefits of Gouda’s Glorie Lichtste Pondje. They also detailed the in-store activity, which took the form of a game in which they could participate. It would give them the chance to win a great prize by simply purchasing the product!
Once customers had purchased the product, customers were eligible to ‘play the game’ by choosing a number and opening a locker which could potentially, and often did, have a prize inside. Pictures were then taken of the prize winners and posted online via various social media platforms which served to promote the product to a wider group. Excited customers could also share their winning moments via their own social media which further spread the brand message organically; yet another benefit of these activations.
By adding a playful element to the activation by means of the game strategy and by encouraging customer participation by offering prizes, PSfm had more time to spend with the target group of potential customers. This enabled them to not only reinforce their brand message but also, importantly, to leave the customer with the memory of an informative and fun-filled interaction.
The activation was acknowledged as a great success by Vandemoortele and further enhanced the EFMP’s belief that this type of marketing really works.