FOCUS - READER'S DIGEST SUPERBRANDS SEMINAR: Experiential advertising gaining in importance

First there was what is now called traditional advertising, consisting of print, television, radio and outdoor. Then, agencies had to add in the interactive elements with all the complexities associated with that. And, if that wasn't enough, there is now something else to think about in strategy and planning meetings: experiential advertising. The concept - creating advertising that points to a memorable moment and then producing that special time for the customer - is not new, but it appears that it is rapidly gaining in importance because there are so many similar brands in the marketplace with similar prices and benefits that the average person has difficulty telling them apart. Speaking at the Reader's Digest SuperBrands seminar in Singapore, Mr Han van Dijk, the head of strategy at Orange Brand Visions, said that from now on, leading edge companies would find that the next competitive battleground lies in staging experiences. He described an 'experience' as occurring when a company intentionally used service as the stage and goods as props to engage individual consumers in a way that creates truly memorable moments. Mr van Dijk cited Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic as an example. "You get picked up from your hotel by a Range Rover; driven to the terminal with express check-in, after which you're whisked into the Clubhouse, the Virgin Lounge, complete with a video games arcade. "On board, you find that the whole middle row of seats have been replaced by a standing bar in the front cabin and by two lazy couches in the second cabin, where you can have a manicure and a massage," Mr van Dijk said. He said most retailers cannot provide the experience because they just put out on display rows and rows of merchandise. They should learn some lessons from outlets such as Niketowns, he said. "Nike is almost in the experience business. This is almost where the athletes live, breathe, work out and perform. The whole experience in a Niketown is so close to what the brand stands for - athleticism," Mr van Dijk said. The changing business and societal worlds, brought on by the mass media and accelerated by the Internet has caused a change in mindsets; the old consumer, for instance, is synchronised, conformist and less involved and informed compared with the new consumer, who is individual, independent, involved and well informed. Mr Greg Paull, managing director of Ammirati Puris Lintas Singapore, said the importance of experiential advertising was underlined by the Internet where consumers can compare products, services and prices with effortless ease. "Simply having a product list and prices with fancy graphics no longer cuts it, because today's Web-savvy consumers don't want to be talked to, they want to be part of the dialogue." He said that building in a channel for dialogue gives all businesses a greater chance to establish long-term customer relationship. Dialogue can come in the form of on-line games, clubs and other activities. It can also be about providing tips related to products being sold or offering the latest TVCs on demand to show consumers how they can enjoy and receive benefit from a product. "This is effective in building repeat visits because it creates a sense of anticipation of new things that will be incorporated into a website in the future," Mr Paull said. Keeping in mind that the Internet is the only interactive platform for one-to-one marketing, Mr Paull said that websites have to give consumers a greater sense of pleasure, learning and fun. "If you do none of the above your potential consumer will never come back after the first visit."

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