Leveraging Experiential to Express Brand Purpose
09.07.22
By Evan Strange, Strategy Director
Leveraging Experiential to Express Brand Purpose
We all know the pandemic changed many things about the world we live in today, but one shift in consumer behavior that stands out the most is the desire of people to do business with brands who share values and actually care.
About the world.
About their employees.
About making a real difference.
Soon after the pandemic began, we immediately saw that change. One study showed that consumers were four to six times more likely to purchase, protect and champion purpose-driven companies and that seems to be holding over time.
This shift paired with the fact that 85% of consumers are likely to buy after participating in events and experiences makes it clear that experiential marketing provides a unique opportunity for brands to bring their purpose to life in face-to-face experiences and drive great return on their experience investment while they’re at it.
Know and lead with your “why.”
When it comes to purpose, the most important question to ask is “Why?”
Why are you executing that tactic? Why is that your audience? Why does your business exist in the first place?
You can’t physically manifest your purpose if you’ve not yet been able to answer that most important question. When you know the “Why” behind your brand, or your purpose, then you can lead with it in all you do.
One more tip: If you have trouble answering, spend some time with a toddler and you will become a pro at distilling complex information into its most basic form to answer “Why?”
Get physical.
Sometimes purpose, values and corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be heady topics in general, but experiential marketing allows brands to turn them into something more easily digestible.
Experiences are great opportunities to create physical manifestations of your brand values and brand purpose through activations, experience design and environmental branding.
A great example of this happened in May at Dell Technologies World.
Dell Technologies has set a moonshot goal for sustainability, and has expressed a desire to shift the world to a circular economy, where Dell Technologies is recycling the majority of its products and packaging:
“By 2030, for every product a customer buys, we will reuse or recycle an equivalent product. 100% of our packaging will be made from recycled or renewable material. More than half of our product content will be made from recycled or renewable material.”
Enter the Circular Oak:
This interactive installation was created using completely recyclable materials, which would transform every time an attendee would interact with one of the kiosks underneath that helped tell that sustainability story.
It was a complex brand value brought to life in a fun, interactive and digestible way.
Walk the walk.
At the end of the day, it is that simple.
Your purpose and values should not get buried on your website. Purpose should guide all that you do, including how you activate at experiences and how attendees interact with your brand during their journey onsite.
If sustainability is a main priority for your company, but there are plastic giveaways left lying around the conference center; or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is one of your brand’s core values, but all your speakers look the same…you are not living your brand values.
Post-pandemic, the number of people who make purchasing decisions based on the impact a brand makes in the world has increased dramatically. Brands can leverage experiences to showcase their purpose in impactful ways, make impact with their target audience and differentiate from the competition.
At InVision, we are helping our clients every day manifest their corporate values and brand purpose, whether that is through creation of a showstopping Circular Oak for Dell Technologies, or DEI activities for a major Midwestern utility. Reach out to your InVision Communications account director, or email Evan Strange at evan.strange@iv.com to learn how InVision can help you clarify your brand purpose, and effectively express it in your experiential activities, including in how you craft your employee experience.