Experiential Marketing is all about engaging the audience personally. The idea is to create a memorable impact on the consumers, but with social distancing becoming the new norm- Can anything be experiential anymore? The unique skill sets industry practitioners need to equip themselves with, and this was the topic of discussion for the 6th edition of the webinar series hosted by The AdClub Bangalore. The panelists for the webinar titled ‘Experiential Marketing – The Next Pivot’ and grab a head start in the post-COVID world included, Dalveer Singh, Head- Experiential Marketing, APAC, Group M, Roshan Abbas, Managing Director- Geometry Encompass, Vipul Mathur, Founder & Director, BrandAid Events & FanTam Brands, and Darshan M, Co-Founder, Deivee. The panel discussion was moderated by Laeeq Ali, President, Adclub Bangalore.
The discussion began with the speakers’ opening remarks about how they are dealing with COVID 19 crisis and national lockdown.
Speaking on how Experiential marketing is panning out with digital getting the focus during the COVID 19 crisis, Roshan Abbas said, “We are the ones who are coming in a little late. Anyone born after the birth of the internet feels that this is the place in which they exist. We were the ones who were making the comparison between digital and other mediums. I have tried to bridge the gap for the longest period and have found that one doesn’t understand the other. Suddenly, we are all forced to play on one screen, and that is becoming the new stage. If it’s here where the experiences need to be staged, you need to understand what to do as an experiential marketer. We need to embrace this quickly. We need to look around understand and follow the scenario, and you will find new languages and tools, then let the creators play. Somebody should question the status quo, that’s how Television, Netflix, Radio, etc. became what it is today.
Darshan said, “The sports industry has already been second screen prone. Marketers have been varying to adapt to it, and now we are left with no choice. The second screen always existed, and now it has become the primary screen. The physical aspects have taken a back seat, but it is the way forward.”
According to Dalveer Singh, Home is going to be the epicentre of everything.“In my opinion, everything in the experiential is not going to become digital. What needs to be focused on is the best way to connect to the consumers.“ Says Dalveer.
Vipul said, “I come from Apparel background, where touch and feel experience is essential. While we have started to consume things online, it is still challenging to experience between one product to the other. While we are using AR/VR technologies, we need somebody to orchestrate well across the industries and create a 360-degree experience for the consumers.”
The panel further discussed the new metrics to engage the consumers.
“We need to understand the attention span of users and how to keep them engaged throughout. Hence, an element of surprise needs to be built in any activity we do. It should not look like a monotonous activity. In my opinion, the span of attention is the new currency,” said Vipul.
According to Dalveer, for upscaling of the industry, everyone must be more on ideas. He added, “This whole industry is implementation led. The last 3 months have been very tough for everyone in terms of upscaling. You have to have more ideas because that’s what you are getting paid for and not for implementation. Today’s platforms are available and open to everyone. What you are going to get paid is for your creativity, and that’s the new way to raise yourself. I call this industry by these three things, either it is a Van & Man which is the rural part, the Mall & Stall which is getting a place in a mall and putting a booth there or the big ones that we call, the Star & the Setup, the industry is about these six words. Creativity will lead to a new form of charging, and that’s how you will stand out.”
The event was a huge success, with more than 200 participants on Zoom and Facebook Live. The webinar was hosted with the support of the Ad Club’s Managing Committee and Online Partners Medianews4u.com and Adgully.com
Speaking about the webinar, Laeeq Ali, President of Adclub Bangalore and moderator of this webinar said “This is a time when fundamentals are being challenged and roles of every marketing services firm is under a scanner. I am so happy to see the overall positivity among all panelists during these testing times. It’s high time the experiential marketing industry forgets about competing and imbibes some of the best practices and insights shared during the webinar. Teams need to be pushed to challenge the status quo and more we innovate and collaborate with each other internally and externally; we will get out of this sooner than we think”.
Radhika Ramani, Head of Motivator South and Program Director of Adclub Bangalore said “The pandemic and the resulting lockdown has necessitated a re-think in what experiential marketing means to brands and consumers. A big thanks to Dalveer, Roshan, Darshan and Vipul for their fantastic insights into what these challenging times have meant to the industry and how companies are re-skilling and pivoting to tap into the opportunities this period brings in”
Arvind Kumar, Executive Director of The Adclub Bangalore said “We are continuing with our series of Panel discussions and other interesting programs on line. Our endeavour is to keep our fraternity members engaged and in a positive frame of mind during the difficult times. We urge the industry members to support us actively through their participation”.
