Experiential marketing crosses borders and language barriers to prove how much we long for something special. Something tangible. Something that unites us. I have been working with brands all my professional life, but only recently have I been able to amaze a client with the concept of experiential marketing. The term is still quite new to Mexico, but it is quickly catching on.
Before experiential marketing was a familiar concept in Mexico, we would toss around ideas for triggering an emotional experience: What if we make our audience feel something powerful? What if we could surprise them? What if we could make them shout? But the brainstorming stopped there. We were told, “these concepts are too crazy for the brand.” Like vapor, any ideas that seemed too risky, too expensive or too different vanished fast.
No Risk, No Gain
My team continued doing what it did best: delivering the small, safe elements of a full-fledged activation. If one client asked for a few brand ambassadors, an audio system and some old dart game, we would deliver it – perfectly. But of course, the audience never remembered the brand behind it all. Or even the experience. And as for us, we were receiving some good pesos for just having the right control on our operations. Not exactly win-win.
Obsessed Marketers
When I started to switch gears and transform my agency, Maniac, into one that was obsessed with experiential marketing, I started to see change. The more we showed clients what was possible, the more they wanted to hear our ideas. Our clients haven’t always been used to this type of marketing, but they are open to giving it a shot. Like most other forms of marketing and trends, what pulled our clients over to the experiential side was proof that it worked – that it could really engage an audience and build loyalty. When brands get a taste of the unconventional work we’ve done for others, they are more prone to consider pursuing experiential initiatives. Lately we have been creating experiences for an IT company here in Mexico. One event for 1,500 attendees featured performances, experiential food, VIP treatment, apps and gaming, exclusive network opportunities and more.
We will continue learning how to be the perfect experiential marketing agency, a never-ending process. With our strategic partnership in place with Switch, we are eager to lean on their unparalleled resources and experience while we tap into our “tequila power” to boost their work. As for marketing south of the border? It is all about the culture. Maniac’s advantage is understanding the culture and its significance and being able to apply marketing trends that celebrate the culture. A trend we have caught on to here in Mexico involves culinary experiences – often with well-known chefs. It’s exciting to see how worldwide trends can be tailored to a particular culture.
We at Maniac are thrilled with the opportunity to share ideas and best practices with Switch and to expand experiential marketing south of the border. !Hasta luego!
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