On the opening day of the F1 season, we were thrilled to present to a VIP audience of sponsors, partners and marketing professionals. Aesthetics’ Strategy & Development Director, Adam Mortimer, provided insights into leveraging brand experiences to engage audiences on both a global and local stage with the evolution of clever BX.
With 95% of marketers identifying closer customer proximity as a strategic driver, The Formula One Paddock Club were the first to hear of brand experience fundamentals and trends currently being integrated into many businesses’ marketing mix as a value creator.
As a part of our mission to pioneer and share new ways for brands to connect with people, we thought we would reveal some of the BX fundamentals presented:
Human-centred strategies
People are driven by emotions, he explained. If we can get our customers to feel a certain way about a brand and not just perceive it on a superficial level, we create deeper levels of engagement. Feelings propel future plans, ambitions, hobbies, fears and dreams. They have the potential to impact future purchasing decisions and are therefore the value creator all brands should be leveraging. We need to aim at engaging all five senses to create an emotional journey that is exciting and shareable. The emotional highs and lows you want the audience to feel at every turn should be orchestrated, creating tension, anticipation and excitement.
A rapidly changing industry
Many brands are failing to realise that the industry is evolving from the previous one-dimensional landscape of utilising traditional advertising to connect with their customers. As a society, we are inundated by messages from a variety of sources daily, forcing brands to change their communication strategies from push marketing (traditional one-way, flat-screen advertising campaigns) to conversation based, pull-dialogues.
Technology as an enabler
Clever brands are actively seeking new ways to engage with audiences by exploring beyond traditional formats. People are still looking for opportunities to connect with each other through meaningful experiences and often, technology plays a key role. Designed in balance, it’s up to marketers to capitalise on technology-based behaviours and incorporate into their marketing mix strategies, often with BX at the core. Technology, creativity and data opportunities should align to create an experience that is unique, personal and emotional.
The experiential roadmap
The traditional marketing funnel of moving from awareness through to purchase, is still present in the current marketplace, however in BX we have the opportunity to pair it with what we call the Experiential Roadmap. Markers on the roadmap highlight various brand touchpoints with the consumer: engagement, dialogue, learning, trial, consideration and purchase, with each touchpoint being more emotive than the traditional model, and forming deeper brand engagement. Clever brands now have the freedom to hone in on a particular marker of the roadmap that align’s with their specific business objectives, and create a BX strategy that successfully results in trial or learning etc.
Meaningful measurement
Outcomes are central to sound BX design. Your unique brand DNA, strategy and storytelling intentions should drive the narrative, however, simply executing your BX is not enough. Monitoring outcomes and measuring your ROI / ROE are critical in determining both your prior success and assisting future BX strategies or campaign decisions.
Is the BX is important to you? Benefit from learning more of globally researched BX fundamentals and trends. We are on hand to support as BX plays an increasing role in creating value for brands and people.
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