‘The best is yet to come’. A slice of optimism uttered (almost always) at the most pessimistic of times. Some might call it cliché, others might call it ‘wishful thinking’. But, when it comes to experiential marketing, the proximity to the light at the end of the tunnel is very close.
However, what we knew (and loved) of experiential is not what it used to be. Not only has it been disrupted by the pandemic, but it has evolved as a result of it.
Undoubtably evolution presents both challenges and opportunities, but with South Africans hungry for experiences and the national state of disaster coming to its very-welcomed end, those opportunities outweigh those challenges.
Some of the most recent data is starting to show that the theories we were mooting a year ago now hold gravitas when it comes to consumers, with stronger shifts towards in-person interactions and unique experiences.
This comes down to a sense of a great fatigue across all fronts. A lockdown fatigue brought on by ever-shifting restrictions and limitations. A digital fatigue from remote working and a consistent connection to content. A mental fatigue born of the stresses created by a struggling economy, shrinking share-of-wallet, and lacklustre and inconsistent service delivery, all of which make life all the more challenging.
Even as we adjust to a more optimistic future of post-pandemic life, the aftermath of fatigue across its various stress points will remain with us collectively for some time.
As the marketplace continues to prioritise ‘experiences over things’ we look ahead with some opportunities across experiential and what 2022 may have in store:
Digital experiential
With the pandemic forcing more and more consumers online, platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite have grown in popularity and given rise to new kind immersive experiential that is slowly but surely building into the metaverse. Where physical experiential is sensory-driven, digitally-driven experiences offer up entirely new possibilities, both on the platform as well as augmented by physical touchpoints.
These platforms give us the ability to transport audiences to entirely new environments where limitation in physical events simply does not exist.
Experiential retail
Once a staple in the experiential toolkit, these ‘retail’ experiences – in both permanent and temporary form – will again become a valuable platform for brands to explore. Even as consumers continue to migrate online to shop (e-commerce grew locally by 66% in 2020 alone) the role of retail in the future will be more experience-driven with goods and services bringing novelty and value to customers.
This is in addition to temporary pop-ups becoming increasingly relevant as unique activations to engage consumers. Locally, brands will tap further into cultural conversation borrowing cues from streetwear activations through these spaces.
Hybrid events
There is no doubt that hybrid events have found both success and failure across various brands. However, the benefits of amplifying virtually – increased reach, low barriers to entry, unique digital content/journeys – make these an attractive proposition for local brands to continue to explore.
Hybrid events bring a host of metrics for marketers to utilise in measuring performance as well as bridging the gaps between digital and experiential. Hybrid events will evolve to be augmented with more physical touchpoints around existing product or campaign specific drops thereby generating more novel engagements with consumers.
2022 will be many things for many people, some will be good and some will be bad. But there is no doubt that for 2022 will be the year of experiential, and as we said right at the start – the best is indeed yet to come.
Jordan Major is a senior strategist and writer who believes in the power of collaborating with culture to connect brands to their customers. In his role at RAPT Creative he works alongside the creative studio to ensure all work is informed by insights and data to ensure that the work is executed holistically in unique territories and across the relevant channels. His Twitter handle is //twitter.com/JordanMajor.
