At PortMA, we collect and analyze experiential marketing data from a variety of sources, the primary ones being field staff recap reports, consumer exit surveys and sales data. Generally, these data points allow us to meet the three main objectives of any experiential measurement effort:
- Determining how frequently the target consumer was reached
- Determining if purchase intent was created where it did not previously exist
- Establishing the value or ROI of the experiential marketing campaign/ program
Do you really know the industry you’re analyzing?
Beyond analyzing the experiential marketing data to meet these objectives, we look for opportunities to enhance the insights derived so that the results can help guide or inform strategic, client business decisions. This means we engage in other methods of data collection and analysis, including industry immersion or market scans/ secondary research.
Whether it’s on-site data collection or market scans, we’re looking for the big picture. We want to have a clear understanding of the market landscape and how a client’s brand or product fits into that landscape.
In essence, this is engaging in competitive intelligence. According to Wikipedia, competitive intelligence is, “the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers making strategic decisions for an organization.”
I like this holistic approach. We realize efficiencies by including key questions in our existing data collection tools, such as, the Field Staff recap. Here, we can ask Field Staff to report on the presence and activities of other brands at events to engage consumers.
Examples of staying competitive
Additionally, we review industry and trade publications for the latest news and we incorporate findings, not just in our reporting, but in our regular communication with clients, to ensure everyone is informed and up to speed.
In a previous life, I once sent a client a link to an article about a strong consumer reaction to a piece of media that had aired. While this client knew consumers were not crazy about what had been done, they were unaware the backlash was as severe as it was. We created a market research survey and deployed to get a better understanding of how much impact their media piece had on customer loyalty. From there, they were able to get in front of the mounting criticism and, not only do some damage control, but make changes in the direction they were headed with other media campaigns.
Staying competitive in experiential marketing isn’t just knowing about your brand or product. It requires having marketing intelligence about consumer perceptions, competitor activity, and market landscapes. Experiential marketing intelligence is about recognizing and understanding industry trends.
And most importantly, it’s about applying that knowledge so that you and your organization are able to progress in an informed, strategic manner.
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