Why wellness, why now?
Individual commitment to wellness and appreciation of self-care has blown up in recent years, and health and wellness is now a market worth over $3b globally. Consumer fascination shows no sign of slowing down, and predictions put growth at nearly 4% per year over the next 5 years. This means health and wellness will be worth more than $4.4b by 2028.
In a crowded market, brands need to connect with audiences in an authentic and powerful way. Consumers are literally paying to avoid traditional ads, with ad blockers and ad stopping subscriptions at an all-time high. Respecting the consumer’s desire to avoid ads is one of the ways experiential marketing is elevated compared to through-the-line advertising. And much more importantly, it works.
The results are in
Even a cursory look at the stats makes a compelling case:
91% of consumers reported they would be more inclined to purchase a brand or service after participating in a brand experience or activation – Hubspot
65% of consumers purchased the product after attending an in-store sampling activation and of them, 80% said they bought the product because they’d had the chance to sample – McKinsey
Brands that invested in experiential pop-ups, improved market visibility by 51%, sales increased by 46%, social media engagement increased by 46% and web traffic increased by 22% – Business Insider
82% of consumers said they buy from brands they feel emotionally connected to. And they are likely to share those brands and recommend them to others. – A study by Harvard Business Review.
And attending events cultivates positive opinions far more effectively than digital or TV advertising – 75% of attendees left events with more positive opinions about the brand or product – EventTrack
Experiential marketing tailored to your brand, and your audience.
Brand loyalty is critical and word-of-mouth, or content sharing, is the ultimate in authentic communication. Mass connectivity has given this kind of information dissemination new power. It’s not just influencers that create and share content, it’s almost everyone with a smart phone. We also share and recommend on private platforms, within groups of peers and in response to requests. All this means that if your brand connects effectively, it will be remembered and shared in ways you never even counted on.
Engaging consumers is a two-way street.
Although the primary motive for experiential events and activations is to engage consumers, they have an added benefit. If well executed, experiential marketing gives you direct access to honest feedback in real time. Capturing audience reactions can be an active part of the experience, or a gentle add on created through questions and interaction. This is particularly beneficial in terms of the user experience, which is not limited to tech products. Watching consumers interact with your brand or product will give you valuable insight into what they really think outside of focus groups or online remarks.
Innovate, imagine, interact.
Even the most ubiquitous, well-known, and traditional products and brands can boost their connection to consumers and capitalise on the growth and popularity of health and wellness through well-executed experiential activations. The opportunities for collaboration and partnerships, bringing wellness into other arenas, is proven to work. The health and wellness market is an increasingly innovative sector meaning the crossovers are relevant and exciting. The pandemic has been instrumental in the meteoric rise of products that exist both online and in real life and connectivity between apps, health monitors and other digital/real life products is growing. More than ever consumers are choosing experience over service and creating a high level of personalisation is becoming the norm. Meanwhile audiences are wise to expensive gimmicks and vacuous slogans, and they seek out authenticity and expert-led evidence. This can all be delivered with experiential.
Elevate in the field
Elevate has facilitated collaborations between BMW and Joe Wicks, transformed Proper Snacks into a real-life arcade game and brought Beyond Meat to festivals to showcase products and convert meat eaters. In the US Elevate teams took over fitness aisles across the country to help consumers choose Garmin as their preferred fitness tracker, sharing features and giving demos that helped people understand what they were buying and how to use it and generating 33% sales uplift averaged across each campaign period.
If you’re a wellness brand that needs to strengthen audience connection. Or if you’re working with a product that might benefit from activation in the health and wellness space. Contact Elevate for ideas, strategies and activations that are proven to be effective.
