5 Things to Know About Immersive Branding
Immersive branding can be defined in a variety of ways, but essentially, it refers to any combination of marketing tactics that together allow the customer to more fully experience the brand or product being promoted—through sights, sounds, and interactions with the product or service. Strategies used in immersive branding include relatively new options like personalized digital content and virtual or augmented reality in conjugation with more traditional marketing communications.
Immersive branding isn’t new. Most of have experienced it in some form, whether it was virtually “trying on” glasses online, watching a video of a medical procedure in a doctor’s office, or walking through a store virtually. What is new is the extent of immersive branding’s presence and the sophistication of the experiences—in both B2B and B2C marketing.
Here are five things to keep in mind when considering an immersive branding experience and how to use print to enhance it for your next campaign:
1. It’s all about the customer. Always keep the consumer in the center of the experience. Elements should create or broaden the customer’s understanding of and commitment to the product. Avoid the potential to distract them with whiz-bang special effects. Effective immersive marketing is ultimately one-on-one and makes the customer feel like the experience is uniquely theirs.
2. Focus on the experience. The customer’s experience is at the very heart of immersive branding. The key is to create a memory that will last and gets your target audience excited to buy your product. Touching, seeing, and experiencing a sample of your brand is an excellent way to turn a prospect into a customer. Think of test driving a car—your customer can be sure they’ll be happy with their purchase before they buy.
3. Leverage print to get things moving. In order for your buyer to participate in your immersive experience, you need to effectively drive them to it. And nothing breaks through noise and clutter like compelling printed graphics and messaging. Print often sets the tone and creates a customer pathway into the immersive experience. You could use a vibrant color scheme and fun wayfinding signage to direct the flow of traffic and set the stage for an engaging shopping experience.
4. Integrate seemingly disparate elements. Providing something new or unexpected creates heightened “stickiness” within an immersive brand experience. C2 Imaging (a Vomela company) did just this as part of their promotional efforts at an industry tradeshow. They partnered with a local charity AND a top-tier rock band (Imagine Dragons)—all of whom shared a desire to help kids with cancer. The unlikely coalition connected each of the organizations to more show attendees (think awareness) and helped create an emotional tie to each of their brands (think recall).
5. Extending the experience. Want your customers to remember your brand long after their experience is over? Send them home with something more compelling than a free pen. When coordinators for the New York City Marathon asked Vomela to create banners for the race (including one for the finish line), they took things one step further. Upon completion of the race, the banners were recycled to create backpacks and zippered pouches that were sent to participants. The message: here’s a keepsake from the marathon that also demonstrates a commitment to environmental responsibility.
This Zagg exhibit created an immersive branding experience that included a live helpdesk, video demonstrations, large-scale visuals, and a small pop-up store.
Vomela helped LumiSpa provide an immersive experience that allowed show attendees to touch and feel their products, get free demos, and interact with beauty professionals.
Ultimately, the goal of an immersive experience is the same as it is for any other marketing effort—to create a positive and memorable engagement with your brand. So, all the usual rules of effective communication apply here, too. Pratt can help you tell a compelling story that is consistent with your brand and meets a specific customer need, and you’ll be well on your way to generating awareness and increasing preference for your brand.
Contact us to get started on planning your customer’s immersive experience.