In what can only be described as an endorsement of the value of brand experiences, 96% of UK adults who remember seeing or taking part in a live brand experience took some form of action afterwards, according to research commissioned by the ZEAL Group.
This, however, is in contrast to the paltry 26% of UK adults who took part in such an “event” in the past year.
More memorable than other types of marketing
Among the people who recalled a brand experience experience, 73% rated it as more memorable than other advertising or marketing they had seen from other brands.
The nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults was carried out by Censuswide in August, and is published in ZEAL’s report The Apathy Epidemic.
Conversations stand out in their minds
The most common way attendees relayed their experience was via conversation: 24% of those who remembered a brand experience told someone about it in person or by phone. 16% shared it in a private messaging group such as WhatsApp. ZEAL says this suggests brands measuring only public social posts and online clicks could be missing part of the response.
One in five (20%) bought a product or service afterwards, and 18% tried one. Of those who took action, 91% said the experience had influenced what they did, although ZEAL notes these are people’s own accounts and the research can’t prove the experience caused their actions.
What encouraged action?
Personal relevance and the chance to try a product were the most common reasons people gave for paying attention to an experience. Each were cited by 25% of respondees. Among those who took action afterwards, 29% said a discount or special offer made them more likely to do so, and the same proportion pointed to being able to sample or buy the product there and then.
Trying the product made a clear difference. Of those who tried or used it during the experience, 53% said it made them much more likely to consider the brand in future, compared with 19% of those for whom the product played only a minor role.
Tim Solano, managing director of ZEAL, said: “A busy or beautiful activation isn’t the outcome in itself. The question is whether it matters to the people who encounter it and gives them a natural next step.”
The research was published on the same day as the IPA Bellwether Report, which showed event budgets rising at their fastest rate in more than two years.