Experience marketing is growing with one in three CMOs committing to allocate 30 to 50% of their budget to it in the next 12 months (according to a 2018 Warc study) and brands looking for increasingly innovative ways to connect with experience-seeking consumers through real-world interactions.
Meanwhile, the quarterly IPA Bellwether report published last month showed overall marketing budget growth hit its slowest rate in three years, putting even more pressure on brands to demonstrate the value of all of their marketing activity.
But how can you make sure that you are creating the optimum experience for your brand? With the help of leading behavioural scientist, Stephen Donajgrodzki, Collider developed a behavioural framework that can help.
Adapted from Holbrook’s framework of self, the first step is to identify which consumer ‘need state’ your brand most gravitates towards.

Collider’s experience framework for understanding consumer’s needs states
Social proof is where we see extrinsic ‘visible’ choices – the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the bag you carry or the phone you own – acting as a reflection or reinforcement of your personal identity.
Self-confidence is where we find brands that help give inner confidence: treats or guilty pleasures that make us feel good about ourselves. It’s about ‘intrinsic’ value, reinforcing our internal self-image and self-worth.
Social currency is where we use brands – and brand experiences – to inform, entertain, engage, amuse or even show solidarity with others.
Once you’ve determined which of the three ‘need states’ your brand gravitates more strongly towards, you’ll have a clearer indication of the type of experience that will best suit it.
This becomes interesting when you plot it against the reach and engagement chart.

Experiential reach and engagement chart
Benefit Cosmetics, for example, falls firmly within ‘self-confidence’. Here trial and reinforcement are key, and more personalised and involved experiences bring greater value. The experience created for The Good Ship Benefit on the R.S. Hispaniola on Victoria Embankment was an excellent example of this. It ran for five-months, with a series of highly immersive and engaging experiences – from the more expected complimentary make-up tutorials and pampering to curated film sessions and surreal tea ceremonies with infusions served inside a magician’s hat!

Benefit Cosmetics falls firmly within ‘self-confidence’
If you want to find out more or discuss an Experiential Marketing brief contact Richard.
This article was first published on Contagious.
Words by Charlotte Bunyan