{"id":8027,"date":"2020-06-22T15:23:01","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T19:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=8027"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:46:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:46:12","slug":"history-of-experiential-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/history-of-experiential-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiential Marketing: A Brief, Incomplete History"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 10<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Experiential marketing has become synonymous with events\u2014big conferences, trade shows, wild and rowdy parties that are a headache to plan and clean up after. But events are just one small piece of it. Experiential marketing is, first and foremost, about experience\u2014creating one, providing one, and finding a way to generate profit from one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of experiential marketing tends to be associated with the invention of the web\u2014the cold, impersonal nature of digital gave rise to a renewed value in the warmth of experience. But the origins of these marketing tactics date back to the very beginning of branding\u2014to the traveling salesman and the exhibitions of the Industrial era. Here, we follow interactive marketing as it evolved into the tech tactics of today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t claim this to be a definitive, complete history. We don\u2019t quite have the time to explore the experiential tactics of the Ancient Romans or of the Qing Dynasty\u2014but if you do, shoot us a note. What we do have is a representative sample of nearly 150 years of modern experiential marketing strategies. Take a look back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1893: Wrigley\u2019s chewing gum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the early days of the Wrigley Company, its chewing gum was merely a lagniappe<\/em>, a little something extra given away for free with each purchase of Wrigley\u2019s baking powder. The gum was meant as an experiential marketing tactic meant to encourage a positive association with the Wrigley brand through the experience of chewing its delicious gum.
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Eventually, the gum got so popular it became the main event. At the Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World\u2019s Fair, many American staples were introduced<\/a> to the public for the first time. One of those was Wrigley\u2019s newest flavor of chewing gum, Juicy Fruit<\/a>. Over 100 years later, Wrigley\u2019s still has some of the most popular brands of gum in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1936: Oscar Mayer\u2019s Wienermobile<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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An early version of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, which toured the country to woo potential customers, wasn\u2019t the first mobile marketing campaign. But it was, and continues to be, one of the most iconic. It is, after all, a hot dog-shaped car. It started out small, with Oscar Mayer\u2019s nephew Carl driving the 13-foot-long metal weiner through the streets of Chicago, handing out hot dogs. The Wienermobile slowly spread out across the country, promoting positive associations with the Oscar Mayer brand. Now there are six Wienermobiles, making 1,400 stops annually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1975: The Pepsi Challenge <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Pepsi can promoting the blind taste test “Pepsi Challenge.” Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The blind taste test between Pepsi and Coke took street marketing to a new level of interactive promotion. The challenge was conducted by Pepsi representatives anywhere they could set up a table and they would ask passers-by to take a sip of the two colas, and pick their favorite. Pespi was the clear front-runner in the survey results. Nearly half a century later, science has helped explain these results\u2014people will generally pick the sweeter of two options<\/a> in a blind taste test, even if they don\u2019t actually prefer it, and that was Pepsi. But that doesn\u2019t change the fact that the experiential marketing stunt helped put Pepsi in unsuspecting consumers\u2019 minds, out in shopping centers and malls across America, and upped the ante of street marketing forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1986: Run-D.M.C.\u2019s Adidas deal <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Run-D.M.C., decked out in Adidas. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The German sportswear company had fallen on hard times in the 1980s\u2014but that all changed when Run-D.M.C. unintentionally started a fashion trend. A B-side<\/a> song of theirs called \u201cMy Adidas,\u201d which touted their love of the brand, led to the first endorsement deal between an athletic brand and a musical act. During a concert one night at Madison Square Garden, Rev. Run held his Adidas sneaker over his head on stage, and thousands of Adidas-clad teenagers in the crowd followed suit. It was a stealthy experiential tactic, and one that would wind up having a massive impact on the trajectory of the brand. A few Adidas executives<\/a> who had been invited to the concert by the group\u2019s management ended up giving the group an endorsement deal on the spot\u2014and Adidas\u2019s future as a cool streetwear brand was secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1997: The Ritual Expo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Credited with being the first ever retail pop-up, the Ritual Expo brought together fashion retailers, artists, and live music in a hip shopping experience that was meant to attract cultural influencers and style mavens. It was described by one attendee<\/a> as \u201cwalking into the ultimate kids hipster mall, but in a nightclub.\u201d It quickly expanded, spawning Ritual Events and becoming a brand in its own right. But the pop-up retail experience expanded, too\u2014even expanding outside of retail. By 2019, 55% of Americans would say they shop<\/a> at pop-ups, because of the unique experience they provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1999: The Experience Economy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, the Harvard Business Review <\/em>published this article<\/a>, titled \u201cWelcome to the Experience Economy.\u201d The basic idea of the \u201cexperience economy\u201d was that experiences, long considered equivalent to services, were emerging as their own economic offering, the fourth alongside agrarian products, goods, and services. The experience economy arose in response to technological shifts\u2014it\u2019s no coincidence that this article was published right at the tail end of the dot-com boom. HBR<\/em> suggested the following: \u201cAn experience occurs when a company intentionally uses services as the stage, and goods as props, to engage individual customers in a way that creates a memorable event. Commodities are fungible, goods tangible, services intangible, and experiences memorable<\/em>.\u201d 
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The experience economy also paved the way for consumer-centric strategies, and making customer service a more integral part of marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2004: Dove\u2019s Real Beauty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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An image from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You might be able to picture the most memorable ad series from this campaign\u2014women of various shapes and sizes<\/a> in nondescript underwear on billboards and in television spots with the tagline \u201cTested on Real Curves.\u201d But that didn\u2019t happen until 2005, and was just one piece of a multi-channel approach made in partnership with Ogilvy & Mather<\/a>, which took years to evolve. First, there were just photographs of real women with questions alongside them\u2014like \u201cgrey?\u201d or \u201cgorgeous?\u201d and \u201cfat?\u201d or \u201cfit?\u201d\u2014directing viewers to a website where they could vote on the most fitting adjective. The interactive, consumer-centric approach of the campaign would set the tone and direction of Dove\u2019s marketing efforts for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2007: HBO\u2019s \u201cVoyeur Project\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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An image of HBO’s projection on the side of a Lower Manhattan apartment building. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the time, the TV network was looking for a way to emphasize their storytelling capabilities\u2014not just in TV, but across media. But this project became bigger than that. The agency BBDO created a multimedia event, called \u201cThe Voyeur Project<\/a>,\u201d which told eight interconnected fictional stories, all taking place within one apartment building. For two weeks, HBO projected these films<\/a> on the side of an apartment building in Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side. The project allowed people on the street to experience the campaign by engaging with the footage like voyeurs<\/a>, peeking into private lives\u2014albeit fictional ones\u2014of those living in these apartments. The campaign then continued online, to various websites and social channels, to allow for continued engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2009: Volkswagen Sweden\u2019s piano stairs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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