More Than Just an Aroma Kit

Even after being in it for the better part of 30 years, the Marketing world still has many surprises for me because it is forever evolving and morphing.  With the massive swing to web buying, large surface stores are shifting their millions of marketing dollars away from their brick and mortar operations and into cyber space where their customers are spending an increasing amount of their hard earned cash.  But with all the convenience, flexibility, and speed that comes with cyber shopping, consumers are sacrificing the “intimacy” of buying…in other words, the personal touch of real and “touchy” customer service.  Because of this phenomenon, many consumer behaviour experts have outlines an interesting opportunity for companies that are still able to offer (and surprise) their target customers with the soothing “personal touch”.  Very simply, they point out that because consumers are “starved” and nostalgic for this “touchy” attention and personal customer service, a rapidly increasing number of consumers value this aspect beyond anything else when making a purchasing decision.

Kinda feels like “back to the future” doesn’t it?  The other day, I called a large telecom company and almost fell off my chair when a live voice answered my call!  (Then, I realized I had dialed the wrong number…)

Running a company like Wine Awakenings has little to do with wine.  Wine Awakenings is actually the quintessential marketing company, complete with its own eco system of communicating value in a niche market, anticipating market insights, viral connecting with customers, and strong brand building via social media.  Our company is a virtual “pool” of ephemeral marketi

Little Effort…Long Lasting Impression

Maybe it’s because I have spent close to thirty years in a variety of marketing and sales roles both as senior executive in a multinational Fortune 100 company and, more recently, as owner and founder of an internet based marketing company…but, whenever I am asked to speak to a business audience on any topic related to marketing and consumer behaviorism, the question of experiential marketing almost always pops up in the Q&A section. I’ve heard as many definitions as there are new wave marketers pitching their “esoteric pitch” to unsuspecting potential clients.

The nouveau wave marketers are flocking to experiential marketing in record speed.  Large companies are “re-visiting” their battered marketing budgets and shifting money away from media advertising and into the experiential sphere.  Marketing power houses like McDonald’s, GM, TD Bank, Coke, and Nike…just to name a few… have started or are seriously considering shifting huge piles of coins to experiential marketing. A virtual revolution of sorts!

But what really is experiential marketing… in real terms?