Subscribe in a reader

Experiential Marketing Offers a Powerful Alternative to Traditional Media

Posted by John Roberson — Thursday May 1, 2008

It was difficult for the Wall Street Journal to write this headline:  Newspaper-Circulation Drop Sharpens (click here for the article).  The article describes how the only and largest gains in the sector were from USA Today (+0.27%) and The Wall Street Journal (+0.35%) {Whew, they made it!}.  Note the zero and decimal points in these percentages--hardly something that would energize the shareholders.  The article suggests that these trends are “a sign that the migration of readers online may be picking up speed.”  There was no information in the article to support this claim.  The New York Times, whose circulation is down (-3.85%), announced in February that it was cutting 100 jobs. Magazine subscriptions are also down (click here for the article).  

I do agree that people are getting their information in alternative ways these days.  Add to this fact that customers are exposed to at least (the counts vary) 3,000 marketing exposures per day. Traditional marketing media as we know it is dying.  If companies have really deep pockets then by all means they should invest marketing dollars in traditional media.  But for the majority of us, our marketing must actually reach our audience productively and effectively--not hope to reach our audience. 

A study released last week at the Experiential Marketing Summit points out that top marketing executives are faced with decisions of where to invest limited and flat budgets.  The study suggests that experiential marketing, especially event-based marketing, continues to rise as an advanced discipline within the marketing mix.  The study continues that if new funds are available to these marketing executives that most will invest the incremental funds in experiential marketing over other media. 

The benefits of experiential marketing are clear.  If the experiences are planned properly, their impact is more easily measured and audiences are more engaged in uncluttered, memorable, emotional, encounters.  Experiences shorten the traditional selling cycle and produce greater word of mouth results and a larger number of brand advocates.  You can download a copy of the experiential marketing study right here.

10 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Trade Show