“The discipline of experiential is working harder than ever to gain recognition and claim a greater share of the marketing pie, and many more event agencies are achieving success by educating clients on the benefits of live marketing through tangible research and clearer propositions. Exhibition organisers are constantly striving to re-invent the term exhibition so that they offer an experiential environment to do business in instead.

“That said, live marketing suffers because there are too many terms to describe it, and, while the discipline is still in its infancy, clients are struggling to differentiate between, for example, production, event management, experiential services and field marketing.

“A common terminology to describe bringing brands to life for the benefit of connecting to consumers on an emotional level is needed. I believe it should be ‘experiential marketing’.

“The industry needs to help with the experiential marketing education process by firstly agreeing that this is the correct terminology. It then needs to pull together to ensure that experiential marketing is part of the curriculum on marketing courses and that schemes to nurture creative and marketing talent are in place within both event companies and exhibition organisers.

“Experiential is becoming a real force within marketing circles because brands witness the activity of competitors such as O2 or Microso, but also because of the perceived return on investment. That ROI now needs to be proven before media buyers and planners come on board and help to wave the experiential flag.

“One of the industry’s main problems is that it is so broad. I believe the exhibition industry is now pulling together and presenting a more cohesive and united front for its own internal benefit, but it still needs to find a way into the hearts and minds of government and client marketing departments.

“The demise of the Live Brand Experience Association shows that simply creating an association to raise the profile of the medium is not enough. Agencies and event companies need to respond to each other's progress and development by sharing knowledge and best practice.”

What is your definition of experiential marketing?
“Bringing brands to life through event activity so that they connect with their target audience on an emotional level. The media that can achieve this includes exhibitions, events, online and digital.”

Mike Fletcher is the editor of Event and RSVP magazines – two Haymarket Specialist Publications for buyers and planners of experiential activity.