Agency Thought Leadership: Digital Brands & Live Experiences
Experiential marketing agency PBJS wanted to make a case for why digital brands — those that exist solely online or via digital devices — need to incorporate live experiences into their marketing mix. I researched, concepted and wrote this thought leadership paper, which argues that, due to a cultural climate rife with distrust of digital media, these brands must connect with their audiences in real life in order to create real, lasting customer connections.
Read the paper's overview, and then the full publication, below.
Digital Brands & Live Experiences: Overview
When done well, experiential marketing — or more specifically, live experiences — delivers opportunities for consumers to interact with brands in uniquely meaningful ways.
For brands with a real-world footprint, live engagement is a no-brainer. But for brands that exist solely in the realm of zeros and ones, connecting with users in real life can seem like a big leap — one digital brands must take if they want to build lasting consumer relationships.
Why is now such a critical time for digital brands to add live experiences to their marketing mix? With a fresh awareness of the consequences of ultra-personalized news feed “bubbles,” consumers are grappling with their digital media and product choices. Consumers have a renewed commitment to improving their digital health — and a sense that they’re overdue for a check-up.
Perhaps inevitably, this increasing wariness of digital information is affecting our perception of brands we only interact with through our digital devices.
The result is an environment where the pull of human, flesh-and-blood experiences is becoming stronger — and digital brands are increasingly seeking opportunities to hybridize their relationships with consumers.
In this paper, I outline and explore:
The cultural landscape digitally native brands inhabit
Consumer, tech and marketing trends
The benefits digital brands can gain through meeting their audiences offline
How digital brands can make meaningful real-life connections
Read the full paper below.