GUMBAND AT SXSW: KEY TAKEAWAYS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
Last month, the Gumband team trekked out to SXSW, exploring activations and connecting with inspiring brands and teams in person.
Head of Gumband, James Chester, was a featured panelist at the Fast Company Grill. He discussed Gumband’s innovative approach to revamping experiences by providing brands with a results-proven approach to ROI of CX and experiential investments. Here are some highlights from his discussion, and from other panels:
DISRUPTING EXPERIENTIAL: Over the years, we’ve seen that brands were — and still are — leaving value on the table when they 1) don’t have unified control over all software and hardware components powering their physical experiences and 2) aren’t able to quantify real-time impressions, engagement, and trackability of users, both directly in the space or in its surrounding area. Gumband allows brands to fully quantify their spaces and assess experiential spends, so they can focus on generating core memories for customers and fans.
THE FUTURE OF RETAIL: Brands are looking for ways to use physical spaces for market research and to serve as entertainment destinations in their quest to connect with more consumers in person. For e-commerce retailers especially, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-ups can expand their opportunities to acquire more customers, influence consumers, boost revenue, and collect onsite feedback to inform future strategies and product launches. Looking ahead, retail will become a more prominent component of every brand’s omnichannel strategy, especially truly immersive, in-person retail that’s augmented by tech with measurable outcomes.
PHYSICAL SPACES ARE MEASURABLE CHANNELS: An ongoing challenge for brands is that they don’t have a comprehensive, measurable method to fully understand the impact of their experiential environments. Typically, they collect an assortment of metrics at various moments during the experience, but usually find themselves following up to gather additional data and feedback. As a result, they’ve mainly viewed physical experiences as a brand extension for buzz and awareness. With Gumband, physical spaces are quantifiable and easy to control, manage, and measure, just like a website. With built-in measurement capabilities at launch, brands can track the journeys of users and passersby from the moment they enter a space until the moment they exit.
By powering physical locations, and live-collecting data from direct engagements and passive impressions, brands can get a comprehensive ROI measurement and fully understand the impact of their activations. Ultimately, they can then optimize customer engagement and personalize interactions that convert to increased brand awareness, loyalty, and revenue. Expect to see more immersive campaigns as brands explore human connections that can’t be replicated online.
PHOTO CREDIT: Moderated by David Salazar, along with Lisa Bubbers from Studs and Ben Goodwin from OLIPOP PBC. Image credit Maggie Boyd.