Brand Experience Guide: How to Create an Immersive Experience

These days it is not enough to simply give someone information. We are drawn to experiences that make us feel something, connect with us on personal levels, and form memories worth sharing. 

What does this mean for brands? You have likely heard of the term brand experience, but what is brand experience?

What is brand experience?

Brand experience is the phenomenological cumulation of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and reactions of individuals in response to a brand. Brand experience is the impression remaining long after someone encounters a brand. Brand experience can occur through any channel and result from any interaction.

What is an immersive brand experience?

Immersive brand experiences simultaneously activate multiple levels of engagement. Individuals are invited to receive information in various ways - often through multi-sensory and left and right brain activation. In immersive brand experiences, audience members are invited to not just observe but actively participate in the experience.

What is the importance of brand experience?

Brand experience defines how companies attract, communicate, engage, and sustain audiences. The quality of the brand experience makes or breaks a sale. Positive experiences inspire audiences, facilitate meaningful connections, and ultimately deliver results. 

It is important to note that brand experience is not just about sporadic, flashy experiences. Quality brand experience requires consistency at all levels. Brands must focus on delivering positive experiences whenever they encounter consumers at large-scale events, in social media posts, and in customer support conversations. 

How to Create a Memorable Brand Experience

Creating a memorable brand experience requires research and careful preparation. There are a few key strategies to consider when planning memorable brand experiences. 

Make Bold Choices

Sometimes all brands need to create memorable experiences is to shake things up. Bold changes to a more traditional or expected exhibition, event, or booth design attract audiences, spark conversations, and generate leads. 

To learn more about this strategy and other show-stopping techniques, read this blog. 

Engage the Senses

Sensory engagement is a powerful way to trigger connections in the neural pathways of your audience. Memories and senses are closely linked. To make a lasting impression, you must be creative and demonstrate a brand experience that activates all five senses

Personalize the Message

Companies work hard to tell a brand’s story, and brands need to work equally as hard to be a part of each customer’s story. Personalization is a strategy allowing marketers to tell the brand’s story in a way that uniquely resonates with each customer. Personalization increases brand relevancy and drives engagement, as customers express their needs and desires of the brand.

Offer Opportunities for Interaction

Members of the audience become bored by simply reading, watching, or listening to brand information. When brands invite audience members to participate, consumers take on an active role, follow curiosities, discover information, and gain experiences that are uniquely meaningful to them. 

For Mailchimp’s booth at the Collision Conference, Hamilton created an interactive projection mapping engagement that was a huge draw for attendees, allowing them to experience the exercise firsthand. This interactive element increased overall traffic and created the opportunity for in-depth conversations. To learn more about our award-winning work with Mailchimp, read this case study. 

Participate in Popular Culture 

Popular culture trends come and go, but at the time, they grab many consumers’ attention. To successfully ride a pop culture wave, brands must carefully execute the timing and details. When done strategically, the results can be powerful. 

Participate in Events

Why join an existing event when you could create your own? Bringing your brand to an event your target audience attends allows you to surprise your loyal fans and expand your market reach. This form of guerrilla marketing creates lasting connections by showing your brand’s appreciation for your fans. 

Craft an Immersive Brand Experience with Hamilton

Hamilton is an event marketing agency with a 75-year legacy in creating immersive brand experiences for companies throughout North America and around the world. We design, produce, and execute integrated experiences - events, environments, exhibits, and digital solutions - that drive meaningful connections between your brand and your audience. To craft an immersive brand experience with Hamilton, contact us today!