Ever wondered what an experiential marketing agency does? Like who does what, especially when it comes to their specific roles and responsibilities? And most of all, why? Experiential marketing in Johannesburg, and the world over, is all about engaging people in a memorable experience, one that elicits an emotional response that goes beyond the effect of simple marketing (the effect of traditional advertising just ain’t what it used to be). Think about it like telling an interactive brand story through an event. Or as this article puts it an experiential team “is made up of highly experienced creatives, artists, and marketers who know that the secret to making a message resonate is through an immersive experience”
This means that when it comes to an experiential marketing agency, a broader range of talent is needed to ensure that every campaign or execution that is worked on, is tailored to remain true to brand and take a different form depending on what is needed. And that takes a lot of planning and consideration. That means the right people with the right skills at the right time. But what does that mean? Well, that’s what we’re going to cover in this post; a bit more about an experiential marketing agency and the types of people one could expect to find working there. After all, as a Johannesburg based experiential marketing agency ourselves, the Jawbone crew loves to share knowledge and inspiration about an industry that we (not-so-secretly) think is the most interesting and innovative one out there.
AN EXPERIENTIAL TEAM: IN IT TO WIN IT
So, what’s the main intention of an experiential marketing agency team? To generate brand recognition and awareness. To build relationships and to also build recall (which yes, eventually should then translate into experiential marketing ROI). As we’ve covered before, experiential marketing has been evolving consistently over the years and with the new tech advancements out there, has grown into an incredibly exciting space. It can be multi-layered, multi-dimensional, super-techy, incredibly complex or achingly simple. Sometimes it’s a physical representation of a brand, sometimes an artistic expression, sometimes it’s an ongoing series of events and sometimes it’s once-off. And sometimes (ok fine, a LOT of the time) it’s interactive, and appeals to the senses. Just consider how effective sampling a new product is when we can literally see, taste, touch and smell it. And then take pictures of it for your #Instagram page. Obviously.
At an experiential marketing agency, it’s up to everyone to really understand their clients and to use that intimate knowledge to know what kind of execution will best work for them. So, there doesn’t have to be one specific person who should be or tasked with coming up with experiential event ideas. Great ideas and opportunities can come from anyone in an experiential marketing agency, it’s how they’re executed that may require a bit more finessing and allocation of different “roles” and skills. One of the main things to get right, is to allow people to get a sense that they are purely experiencing something that they enjoy, something that resonates with them. After all, we all know (or at least we can sense) when we are being sold something and more often than not, it’s a quick way to get put off something.
LET’S LOOK AT EVENT MANAGEMENT CAREERS
If you’re looking to start a career in the events marketing space, this article lists some of the most coveted event marketing jobs so we’ve shared them below to give you a better idea of what kinds of roles could be required (we know not all of these relate directly to experiential marketing and are rather more broad but they may spark some inspiration none-the-less). What’s also useful about the article we’ve linked to above, is that it also mentions the kind of experience that is beneficial to have if you’re looking to get into any one given role in the events space.
• Experiential Events Manager
• Event Marketing Specialist
• Promotions Consultant
• Event Manager
• Brand Manager
• Public Relations Manager
• Guerrilla Marketing Manager
• Communications Manager
• Field Marketing Manager
• Fundraising Specialist
So how do those 10 roles tie back to what an experiential agency does, you may ask? Think about it like this; it’s never straightforward and the skills of one role can always benefit the other. Working in an experiential marketing agency may mean that you do need to have a grasp of public relations, or even promotions. After all, you’ll want whatever you do to live on in people’s social newsfeeds and in news headlines. And of course, strategy also remains super important (more about that here) as does understanding tech, data, marketing and even the legalities of pitching an event and getting funding.
A great experiential marketing agency will take care of everything from idea inception, to research, planning and roll out. This includes internal and external comms, excellent marketing, data gathering, planning and logistics liaison, documenting the process and proving performance. Now a huge range of professionals can contribute to this dynamic industry.
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES FOR EXPERIENTIAL MARKETERS
No matter your professional background, you may find there’s a way to foster your talents and hone your skills into a role at an experiential agency. In fact, tech is making it an even more accessible area to play in, career-wise. The advent and popularity of wearable tech has meant that experiential marketing agencies are able to utilise things like biometrics and smartwatches to enhance the events they’re planning, and in turn, the experience that people are able to enjoy.
We also recently wrote about virtual reality is reshaping brand activations, which is something that is also on the rise in the planning and creation of experiential marketing campaigns and events. These exciting technologies provide even more opportunity for experiential marketers to create immersive experiences that are amplified through the power of social sharing.
A FINAL WORD FROM THE JAWBONE CREW
As an experiential marketing agency in Johannesburg, we understand that every client is different and that they all deserve a bespoke approach to drive awareness and sales. And we’ll never get bored of that. So if you’re inspired to find out more about our experiential marketing services in Joburg and beyond, we want to hear from you.
