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This Father’s Day, Boost Your Sales By Boosting Dad’s Ego

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Move over, moms— it’s time for Dads to take the spotlight. 

This Father’s Day, don’t miss out on the opportunity to boost your sales by boosting Dads’ egos! 

Not sure what direction to go in or how to connect with this target audience without resorting to the same Dad jokes as last year? 

Here are some tips and tricks that will open your eyes to all the marketing possibilities that Father’s Day has to offer! 

Industries That Need A Father’s Day Campaign

Before diving into specific marketing ideas, you need to decide whether a Father’s Day campaign is right for your brand. Typically, we associate fathers with company niches like these: 

  • Sports equipment 
  • Men’s Apparel 
  • Athletic wear
  • Tech accessories/widgets 
  • Cars 
  • Colognes & Deodorant 
  • Liquor and beer 
  • Men’s landscaping 
  • Hair supplements

But, here’s the thing: 

While all of those industries are certainly geared toward men, there’s an opportunity for less obvious companies to fit into Father’s Day and make a meaningful impact on their consumers. 

When your brand is less ‘on the nose,’ you have the opportunity to think outside the box and flex all of your creative muscles as a marketer. 

Other Industries That Have The Opportunity For A Savvy Father’s Day Campaign

  • Beauty (yes, men like their skincare routines, too!)
  • Online therapy platforms
  • Vitamins 
  • Dating apps
  • Health platforms/health insurance companies
  • Hospitality/travel
  • Food & beverage 
  • Investment platforms 
  • Tobacco
Consider having a sizable middle-aged, male consumer base without being a stereotypically male company your superpower: it opens the door to a marketing campaign that is way more likely to stand out!  So, what’s the takeaway here?  Men are way more dynamic consumers than we realize, and there’s room for a lot of companies out there to make a statement on Father’s Day.

Why Father’s Day Marketing Matters

Sizable spending on Father’s Day

76% of people celebrate Father’s Day. Total spending is as much as $20B, averaged to nearly $200 per household.  

Women aren’t the only ones who like shopping or getting gifts 

In mainstream media, women are typically painted as chronic over-spenders. (Take the iconic 2000s movie Confessions of a Shopaholic as a prime example). 

But if you do your research, you will realize that the spending gap between genders isn’t all that significant.

In the end, both men and women are looking to find the next product or service that adds value to their lives. And with the right marketing, that next product or service could be yours. 

Also, keep in mind that if you can make it easier for loved ones to figure out what Father’s Day gift will put a smile on their special guy’s face, you’ve hit a home run. 

Men are more likely to demonstrate brand loyalty 

Last but not least, 41% of men look to brands they know and trust over women at 22%. This means that men tend to be more high-quality and long-term customers.

Why You Should Turn To Experiential Marketing

Dads deserve more from your brand than a lame Father’s Day email. Ok, not lame— in fact, email marketing can be really effective, but only if it’s complemented by other strategies. 

Why? 

Almost every brand celebrates Father’s Day by sending out emails with catchy subject lines promoting a special deal or limited-time offer. 

To really resonate with your male consumers, you need to support digital marketing strategies— like emails, commercials, social media ads, and e-commerce deals— with experiential marketing, a less saturated marketing space that leaves a greater impact.

Just like our amazing father figures out there, experiential marketing is personal and straightforward. 

In-person brand activations can accomplish what other forms of advertising and marketing can’t: a real-time, emotional connection with your target audience that results in long-term brand loyalty.  

Ways To Elevate A Traditional Father’s Day Campaign

If you’re on the search for Father’s Day marketing ideas, odds are you’ve stumbled upon repetitive advice about spreading Father’s Day content on your social channels or incorporating limited-time deals and giveaways. 

What may not have crossed your mind already is the value of experiential marketing through pop-ups, mobile tours, showrooms, and event marketing

To illustrate this for you, here are concrete examples of past Father’s Day marketing campaigns that could have benefitted from an experiential touch. 

Go Ask Dad, Gillette, 2016 

This Gillette Father’s Day campaign works well because it’s designed to pull on your heartstrings. 

Now, imagine if this commercial was complemented by an in-person experience where sons, daughters, and fathers had the opportunity to write questions like the ones in the commercial on a board in front of a Gillette store or pop-up truck, much like what asktia.com did: 

Using the same concept as asktia.com, Gillette would have been able to elevate the concept from the commercial!

Manifique: A Father’s Day Gift -Dollar Shave Club- 2019

To celebrate Father’s Day, Dollar Shave Club pulled together its first-ever DadBod Gift Set, filled with everything a dad needs for daily grooming, including shave butter, lotions, shampoos, razors, and even toothpaste.

To promote the set, they produced this comedic commercial paying tribute to everything that goes into achieving the ultimate dad bod look.

But how could they have taken this campaign to the next level? With an eye-catching pop-up designed to offer complimentary or for-purchase DadBod Gift Sets in a key market! 

The experiential route could  have significantly increased the overall impact of the Dollar Shave Club’s campaign.

Other Experiential Marketing Ideas

  • Head on a mobile tour handing out free samples of your brand’s perfect Father’s Day gift. 
  • Pop up in a place where you can find your target audience and offer the chance to win a special prize like a concert or sports ticket courtesy of your brand. 
  • Partner with a vendor to hand out free BBQ food / hot dogs from a branded truck.
  • Showcase your apparel retailer’s new line from a glass truck.

More Tips From The Pros

Include a call to action

CTAs are so important when it comes to measuring your brand activation’s ROI. This Father’s Day, you want to make sure your experiential marketing campaign incorporates a tangible metric through QR code scans, email subscriptions, or social media hashtags. 

Design an experience that is shareable via social media posts

You want to make sure your event encourages social media sharing to increase your brand’s reach and get more bang for your buck. 

Hire brand ambassadors

Brand ambassadors put a friendly face to your company and are meant to represent exactly who you are, which is why hiring the right people is make or break. 

Conclusion

Impactful Father’s Day marketing campaigns can make your brand stand out. 

Especially if you don’t traditionally fit the mold of a “male brand,” finding a creative way to leverage the special day helps you connect with an important subset of your consumers in a way that is truly powerful and memorable. 

Forget how your brand celebrated Father’s Day last year; if you want to make this Father’s Day count, reach out to our team for a one-of-a-kind experiential twist! 

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Beat The Heat With A Summer Brand Activation That Connects With Your Consumers

Experiential Marketing

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June through September is a time when most people hit the beach and soak in the sunshine— and for brands, summer marks the start of special promos, content marketing initiatives, and media campaigns that are all meant to connect with their sun-kissed consumers.

One of the most effective ways to capitalize on the lively, upbeat summer vibe and stand out from competitors during this hectic marketing period is by creating immersive brand experiences via experiential marketing.

Experiential marketing creates unique, fun experience that leave meaningful connections with buyers during warmer, happier months of the year.

That said, here are ideas and tips that will help you put on a summer activation that strengthens your existing connections with your consumers while forging new ones!

Why Summer Is The Best Season For Experiential Marketing

Of all the seasons, summer is the absolute best time for an experiential marketing campaign. Here’s why:

The weather is suited for outdoor brand activations

This almost goes without saying, but nobody wants to check out your pop-up in the freezing rain! You’re far more likely to see success with your activation if the weather is nice and people are out and about.

More events for your brand to leverage

Summer is packed with outdoor concerts, music festivals, food tastings, parades, and more, which opens the door for your brand to catch pedestrians’ eyes with a brand activation that leverages the action-packed summer season. 

Consumers are more likely to positively associate your brand with summer fun

We all know how brands use an emotional connection to connect with consumers, creating some sort of appeal to emotion to influence a potential customer’s decision-making process. In the summer, however, the leg work is done for you! People feel more outgoing and sociable when the weather is nice, so be sure to capitalize with an eye-catching activation to connect those feelings to your brand. 

Summer Brand Activation Ideas That’ll Bring The Sunshine

We work with brands across all industries— fashion, beauty, tech, and more—  to produce summer activations and pop-ups that stop beach-goers in their tracks and create immediate brand engagement. 

If you’re considering a summer activation, here are some examples you can pull inspo from:

HEAD ON A PRODUCT SAMPLING TOUR ACROSS THE US

ACTIVATE YOUR BRAND AT PRIDE FESTIVALS DURING PRIDE MONTH

PARK A MARKETING VEHICLE STOREFRONT TO DRIVE CONSUMERS TO POP-UP

BRAND A FOOD TRUCK AND HAND OUT ICE CREAM AROUND CITY

Tips For A Successful Summer Brand Activation

Consider location/markets 

Is there a special outdoor event or festival taking place in a specific market? In which neighborhoods or areas can you best reach your target audience? Ultimately, how does city A measure up against city B? Are there any differences in acquiring permits and licensing between the locations?

Think about the weather

Take Miami as an example. Miami is warm year-round, and during the summer, there are certain periods where it gets rainy mid-afternoon or it’s too muggy.

Incorporate summery imagery and themes into your brand activation 

Create an association between your brand and the summer vibe/aesthetic. 

Hire brand ambassadors 

If you have room in your budget, hire brand ambassadors to put a human touch on your brand. 

Be deliberate in your vendor partnerships 

Perhaps there’s a local floral or ice cream business that receives extra attention during the summer; if there is, work with them!  

Time To Dive In

Summer brand activations are guaranteed to create meaningful connections with your consumers. 

Whether your goal is to amplify brand awareness, gain email subscribers, or simply execute a celebratory PR stunt, the impact of curated, face-to-face experiences with your consumers cannot be understated. 

With the help of summer pop-ups, mobile tours, showrooms, and dynamic event marketing experiences, there isn’t a single business goal that can’t be reached. 

Interested in working alongside an experienced, visionary experiential marketing agency to pull off the greatest activation of the summer? Reach out to our team today! 

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Creative Ways To Market Your Sustainable Brand in 2023

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With billions of dollars in purchasing power, Gen Z and Millennials have become the target demographic for many companies. And because these younger customers show a strong interest in company practices, they have inspired many brands to place a higher emphasis on sustainability. 

If your company has been one of the many to successfully respond to new consumer patterns and priorities by developing more environmentally and socially conscious products or services, then you know that being more sustainable requires more time, energy, and money. To see the payoff of your efforts, your sustainable brand needs great marketing.

Here are creative ways to market your sustainable brand in 2023 and win over your young consumers!

Do Consumers Really Care About Sustainability?

The answer is overwhelmingly yes. In a 2021 study, 85% of consumers globally indicate that they have shifted their purchase behavior towards being more sustainable. In 2023, that number has gone up, with interest in sustainability broadening across consumer groups like Gen X and Boomers.

Not to mention, people are more vocal about what is perceived as shady production methods; social media has made it possible for consumers to spread destructive messages about your brand to thousands of people at a time, and despite the old adage, all publicity is not good publicity in 2023. With new e-commerce platforms on the rise, consumers are savvier than ever and know how to sniff out greenwashing

USE EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING TO CUT THROUGH THE NOISE

80% of companies plan to increase their investments in sustainability, which means you need to find marketing methods that rise above the rest this is where experiential marketing comes in.

Experiential marketing through brand activations like pop-up shopsmobile marketing toursshowrooms, and sampling events are shown to leave lasting, positive effects on consumers that other marketing methods can’t achieve.

Here are some creative marketing ideas that will inspire you to stick out from your competitors!  

leverage earth day to promote your SUSTAINABLE products

Earth Day is the perfect occasion to market your sustainable brand; like JUST Egg, you can transform your vehicle into a statement-making mobile billboard that pushes for policy change, while promoting your sustainable products. 

To leverage Earth Day, JUST Egg transformed a food truck into a mobile billboard that traveled around D.C. promoting its sustainable egg sandwiches. The food truck even included a fun menu board poking fun at government officials and a QR code that brought consumers to JUST Egg’s website to write their own letters to congress.

PARK A MARKETING VEHICLE ON A POPULAR STREET CORNER TO DRIVE FOOT-TRAFFIC TO your POP-UP STORE

Costa Brazil is a beauty brand, revolutionizing the fundamental tenets of the industry by creating clean, sustainable products that encourage and assist people to become more proactive in the fight against climate change. In order to introduce its brand ethos in New York, Costa Brazil produced a pop-up store in Soho where consumers were welcomed to try dozens of samples while displaying Costa Brazil’s naturally sourced, sustainable company processes from a sizzle reel. 

In order to drive traffic to their pop-up, Costa Brazil parked a branded mobile café on the street corner, encouraging consumers to head in-store with their complimentary cup of coffee and Costa Brazil bounce-back card. 

HEAD ON A MOBILE TOUR WITH AN ELECTRIC TUK TUK

E-tuks are eco-friendly, electric marketing vehicles that are perfectly suited for a mobile tour that shows off your brand’s commitment to sustainability. 

Full of character and cutting edge, e-tuks have been a high demand vehicle, especially for more upscale brands. Whether you want to activate indoors, at street-level, or head on a mobile tour, these charming three-wheeled electric carts are perfect for when space is limited, but you still want to turn heads.

Get Started Marketing Your Sustainable Brand!

Although a commitment to sustainability is more appreciated than ever by consumers, you need to know how to market your sustainable brand to see a higher ROI and create lasting brand-to-consumer relationships. 

Hopefully this blog has left you with a better understanding around consumer behaviors and, in turn, inspired you to produce an experiential marketing campaign that effectively communicates your brand’s shift towards sustainability. Interested in working with our experiential marketing agency? Reach out to us.

The Ultimate Guide To Pride Month Marketing in 2023

Experiential Marketing

June marks the beginning of Pride Month. Over thirty days, Pride Festivals pop up across the country in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and more, creating a series of local events where thousands of people are invited to come together and show their support for the LGBTQ+ community. 

Because there is so much built-in excitement and emotion attached to Pride Month, from a marketing perspective, June makes an excellent time to execute a campaign that communicates your brand’s inclusivity and successfully connects with the LGBTQ+ demographic (consumers that hold an estimated 9.7 billion to 1.4 trillion dollars of purchasing power in the US alone). The challenge, however, is tapping into this target demo authentically and memorably. 

As we head into Pride Month, here’s everything you need to know about developing a marketing strategy that leaves a positive, lasting impression on your queer consumer base. We’ll begin by covering why Pride Month marketing is essential, and then dive into the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ that will act as your ultimate guide for Pride Month marketing in 2023.

WHY PRIDE MONTH MARKETING IS ESSENTIAL

Pride Month marketing is essential because it’s an opportunity for your brand to show empathy, creativity, and authenticity. Not only does the LGBTQ+ community make up a significant percentage of consumers worth marketing to, but the queer community is also a historically marginalized group that should be championed by institutions, your brand included. When it comes to empowering the LGBTQ+ community, you don’t want to be the company that misses out. 

Pride Month is the ultimate opportunity to flex all of your muscles and create a campaign that truly stands out.  

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE LEVERAGING PRIDE MONTH

As effective as Pride Month marketing can be, it’s crucial to know what not to do when you’re leveraging this time of year to drive business growth. Rule #1? Don’t be inauthentic.

Many companies have experienced first-hand that any kind of perceived inauthenticity can be detrimental to your brand image, as in the case of these 7 brands in 2022.

There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the LGBTQ+ community as a sizable part of your consumer base and creating marketing tactics that specifically target this audience; however, appealing to this demographic can be seen as problematic when companies are simply monetizing the rainbow (and other gay imagery) instead of demonstrating actual inclusivity— a practice otherwise known as ‘rainbow washing.’

WHAT IS RAINBOW WASHING AND HOW CAN MY BRAND AVOID IT?

Rainbow washing refers to a phenomenon in which companies “use or add rainbow colors and/or imagery to advertising, apparel, accessories, landmarks in order to indicate progressive support for LGBTQ+ equality but with a minimum of effort.” 

It’s a type of performative activism, in which companies support a cause or issue to garner attention, support, or monetization from others rather than actually caring about making a difference in the cause. 

The best way to avoid falling into this marketing mishap is by ensuring that your campaign checks off one, or all, of these things:

  • BE PERSONAL. 
  • SPOTLIGHT GENUINE PRO-INCLUSION COMPANY POLICIES.
  • INCLUDE A CALL-TO-ACTION.
  • DONATE TO RELEVANT ORGANIZATIONS OR CHARITIES.
  • DON’T IGNORE THE QUEER COMMUNITY THE OTHER 11 MONTHS OF THE YEAR.

EXPERIENTIAL PRIDE FESTIVAL MARKETING IDEAS FOR YOUR BRAND

As mentioned before, being personal is one of the best ways to avoid rainbow washing, which is why experiential marketing is the go-to Pride Month marketing strategy. The face-to-face nature of experiential marketing, via pop-ups, showrooms, marketing tours, mobile billboards, etc. can be extremely impactful, especially during a time when so many companies are executing their own campaigns.

Going beyond just branding your products or logo in rainbow colors for the month, developing an experiential marketing strategy shows you’re making an effort to meet and connect with your LGBTQ+ consumer base. This goes a long way. 

ZARA WORLDPRIDE 2019: HYDRATE AND CELEBRATE

Take the case of Zara at WorldPride 2019. The brand made an appearance at the NYC Pride Festival with a glass truck display of rainbow water bottles. However, instead of simply adopting the rainbow aesthetic, the brand had Zara brand ambassadors on-site to hand out the JUST water bottles to the parade-goers, helping people “hydrate and celebrate” while meeting their LGBTQ+ consumers face-to-face and creating meaningful connections.

The practical (who isn’t thirsty on a hot summer day in NYC?) and interpersonal nature of Zara’s Pride Festival activation made all the difference: the brand played an active role in the festival, instead of superficially or overtly leveraging the hype to their own advantage, and that showed through in over 1M impressions.

Pride Month Marketing Wrap Up

Though Zara’s appearance at WorldPride 2019 is an excellent example, there’s no one size fits all to Pride Month marketing. In fact, a large part of what makes this time of year so exciting is that it’s an opportunity for brands to showcase their creativity by developing and executing unique marketing initiatives that truly resonate with an often misunderstood and historically marginalized group.

One of the absolute best ways to target your LGBTQ+ consumer base is through experiential marketing. The face-to-face and completely customizable uniqueness of experiential marketing is inherently emotional and genuine, and it gives you the chance to connect in real-time to your LGBTQ+ consumers, especially when you make an effort to appear at a Pride Festival with a contribution to the day/cause. 

Interested in producing a brand activation this June? Reach out to our team. 

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Mother’s Day Experiential Marketing Campaign Ideas For 2023

Experiential Marketing

When many of your consumers are Mothers, they deserve to be celebrated in a bigger, better, and more beautiful way than your competitors. That’s why Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to turn to experiential marketing. 

Whatever your industry, Mother’s Day experiential marketing campaigns are the perfect way to complement a larger marketing strategy (social media, email marketing, TV commercials, online promos etc.) by creating a true emotional connection with your female demographic.

If experiential marketing is out of your wheelhouse, don’t worry. Our team of experts knows exactly how to help your brand stand out from the crowd.

Here are five creative ideas for your Mother’s Day campaign that are sure to strengthen brand-to-consumer relationships and forge new ones. Let’s get started! 

1. HAND OUT FLOWER BOUQUETS

Nothing screams ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ like a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

A flower giveaway is a thoughtful way your brand can show appreciation for its women’s customer base while acquiring new consumers.

For example, take last year’s ShopRunner and Coach collab. Last May, the brands teamed up and put on a Mother’s Day promotion to #GiftMomBack giving out free, branded flower bouquets from a mobile pop-up in Soho. To ensure this promo directly benefited the ShopRunner brand, there were QR codes designed onto the pop-up shop itself, brand ambassadors’ necklaces, and bounce-back cards that sent people to sign up for the ShopRunner app in real-time.

Over three days, this Mother’s Day campaign resulted in more than 2,500 subscriptions for the ShopRunner app, showing how far a bouquet can go with consumers.

2. INTERACTIVE CHALKBOARD EXPERIENCE with photo-ops

Mother’s Day is all about telling moms ‘I love you,’ so why not let people write why they love their moms so much on a chalkboard outside your pop-up shop? Tia did something similar to celebrate the opening of their Santa Monica office with the glass board depicted below.

Allowing your consumers to interact with one another, and your brand, through thoughtful messages is a great way to play on the Mother’s Day spirit. This drives positive brand associations that will make a long-lasting impact on business success. You can even prompt the board with questions like, “What’s your favorite memory with your mom?” or “Why is your mom the best?” to get the conversation going.

A little girl using marker to write on a glass board at Tia's pop-up

3. BRAND A MARKETING VEHICLE IN FEMININE COLORS ASSOCIATED WITH MOTHER'S DAY

Marketing vehicles are extremely effective for driving business goals. From food carts to glass trucks, experiential vehicles are known to be very adaptable and can be customized to meet many different needs.

When it comes to Mother’s Day, your brand can exude the feminine spirit by flaunting an eye-catching mobile billboard, showroom, pop-up shop, etc. in fitting colors. 

How you choose to design your vinyl is entirely up to you, leaving a lot of room for creativity and connection with your audience! 

4. GIVE OUT FREE COFFEE AND A BRANDED TOTE

What busy moms need more than anything else are a cup of coffee and a bag to keep them energized and on-the-go. This Mother’s Day, you can be the brand that helps moms do it all by handing out complimentary coffee and branded totes.

These gifted items are a straightforward, low-cost way of connecting with your women target audience during a special time of the year. To make certain that your brand will benefit from this promo, you can even incorporate a call-to-action where consumers are asked to sign up for email subscriptions or download your app in order to receive the free goodies! 

5. PROFESSIONAL MAKEOVER USING YOUR BEAUTY PRODUCTS

If you’re a beauty or skincare brand, your target audience is largely women, making Mother’s Day a prime opportunity to drive brand awareness, host a product launch, or acquire new customers through a unique experiential marketing campaign.

One way you can accomplish these goals is by allowing consumers to sample your beauty products with a professional makeover! 

For instance, when e.l.f. Cosmetics wanted to shed a light on their Halo Glow Liquid Filter, they hosted a mobile pop-up shop in Soho where consumers could line up to get their makeup done by celebrity Lea Michele or professional makeup artists from the e.l.f. team.

This interactive element goes a long way compared to just free samples to-go. So, if you’re marketing a skincare or beauty line, you should definitely consider a way to incorporate an educational, interpersonal consumer experience into your Mother’s Day promotion.

TIME TO SPREAD THE LOVE THIS MOTHER'S DAY

It’s time to get the ball rolling on your Mother’s Day experiential marketing campaign. No matter your market, the five ideas we listed are surefire ways of leveraging this holiday to create emotional connections with your women consumers. 

Interested in seeing what else our agency can do for you? Reach out today and start spreading the Mother’s Day love!