As an industry, can we be too fixated on audience size? It can be enticing to seek the largest crowds, assuming more people = more traffic = more leads. But does a bigger crowd really mean a bigger return? There’s a more strategic approach that enables you meet the audience you want, where they are. A few examples come to mind.
CES: Turn Crowd Noise into Your Noisy Crowd
Great numbers have returned to the world’s leading tech exhibition. Like any large event, you’re competing to be heard over all the noise. Instinctively, companies may spend more for the larger footprint and sponsorships while still struggling for long-term positive returns. But what if you stood back from the crowd and pulled focus for the audience you want to see? Hosting private venue, off-site experiences like our HARMAN clients did, can net you the same CES crowd, minus the rabble. With your target demographic already in attendance, you can leverage the power of experience design and strategy to provide a fully personalized audience journey in space that you completely own.
The Traditional Auto Show: Are you IN or OUT?
At NAIAS, longtime automotive aficionados fill the halls of Huntington Place, and it’s reasonable to think the biggest, boldest car stands draw the biggest crowds. Does that always translate to better brand loyalty? Camp Jeep, one of the longest-running experiential programs today, made its NAIAS debut in 2022 and instead of the traditional exhibit, they put drivers in the seats and offered them the experience of Jeep’s impressive handling over 45 degree grades, stairs and uneven planes. The thrill, exhilaration and feel of getting behind the wheel of a Jeep vehicle is unmatched by any other brand in the space. A few months prior in New York, they even took the track OUTSIDE.
Pop-Ups: Your Time and Space
Pop-ups are synonymous with big events and festivals, appealing to niche loyalists and curious audiences. But without a proper strategy, brands can fail to create the sense of FOMO they hope to achieve. Together with our IBM clients, we elevated the concept, launching a hybrid mobile pop-up tour brimming with co-creative and interactive solutions. Appealing to marketing priorities like strategic repurpose and modular flexibility, to true hybrid programming and sustainability, the experience hub and overall Think On Tour program was a rousing success. Pop-ups are an important tool in your marketing arsenal that can help you deliver a stand-out experience on your own terms.
The Right Crowds
When you’re examining the competitive edge you could be gaining from going off-site (off script, if you will), GPJ is your experiential agency that can bring every part of your brand expression to life, without relying on the biggest crowd, simply the RIGHT one. Contact us today for a strategy brainstorm or workshop.
