Back in May, I attended Brand Experience 360 organised by the global marketing magazine ‘Campaign’ and hosted at the Brighton i360 attraction. The event was packed with invaluable insights on building your brand message through events, maximising return, the use of new technology, and how to stand out from the crowd.
The event attracted a wide selection of major players in the experiential marketing world, soaking up the Brighton sunshine and enjoying fireside talks, presentations, and of course networking opportunities. As an identifying introverted extrovert (Google it) the word ‘networking’ can be quite daunting! However, the relaxed atmosphere and friendly group made industry chat and discussion comfortable and not too forced.
The day featured a range of topics from interesting and inspiring speakers with key themes including:
‘Engagement’ – how to put your consumer at the heart of your experience.
‘Impact’ – how to go beyond the experience to deliver lasting value and impact to your brand.
However, here are my three BIG takeaways from the event:
1. Could TikTok be the new Google?
TikTok came up so many times with people sharing how they have used it and also wondering how they should use it as part of their experiences, including its use as a search engine. Using the hashtag #thingstodoinLondon helped simply roasted crisps’ Pick & Mix pop-up go wild, with queues around the block, which wasn’t the original objective. Using TikTok was a smart way to use social media to help audiences find the experience when searching for things to do!
2. Would you like to slide down an escalator?
Activation and experiences in retail environments are clearly the future. It was suggested that 25-50% of retail space will ultimately become experience space in the future, and this could be simple things like putting a slide over an escalator. I love these simple ideas!
3. Is wastage just a lack of imagination?
Sustainability was a big message that came up in all presentations. Everything should be future-proof (where are the materials coming from? Can the design be streamlined?
“We should be designing with the future in mind, no screw no glue, and any waste is a lack of imagination“, said Rebecca Whitman from The Bulb Eco who shared some thoughts on where we’re at as an industry on the topic of sustainability.
