Advertising is by no means the only way to market. In October my partner Ian may well rearrange your thinking
I took the picture in Bristol on my way to the train. There are table tennis tables dotted all College Green outside the cathedral.
They’ve got all sorts of people playing.
“What are they doing there?” asked my beloved.
“It’s experiential marketing,” I explained. “Just like Ian does. The idea is you get people to try something, then they buy it.”
“Well, there seems something missing” she replied. “How are they getting people to buy?”
This was true – or maybe it wasn’t experiential marketing, just somebody’s bright idea.
My partner Ian has been doing experiential marketing for years for firms like American Express and Bentley. His guys arrange amazing things all over the world like Ice-Driving in Scandinavia.
When we first worked together he was the first person ever to rent the Alhambra in Granada for a Mercedes event. And you may have seen a clip of a VW Touareg pulling a jumbo jet. That was him too.
He started doing this kind of thing many years ago for Land Rover. They arranged special days where people could drive the cars at Stately Homes up and down the country; it was hugely successful.
In October at EADIM he will explain with detailed figures and excellent jokes (he’s very funny) why it often works a hell of a lot better than advertising – including online advertising. It can make a relatively small budget go a long way
In one case a big firm pissed away an astounding amount of money on an ill-conceived online effort when they could have done far better with experiential for a fraction of the cost.
I’m going to interview Ian soon so you can get an idea of his style and – who knows – fill one of the last few places at EADIM, an event people come to from as far away as Australia.
