What is Brand Experience Marketing?

Brand experience marketing, or experiential marketing, is how brands connect with customers through in-person or digital experiences. The brand experience embodies sensations, emotions, thoughts, and perceptions that take place before, during, and after customers interact with your brand, whether it be through large-scale guerilla marketing campaigns or small-scale digital touch points.

Table of Contents

1. Why Brand Experience Marketing is Important
2. The Different Types of Brand Experience Marketing
3. Where Companies Fall Short with Brand Experiences
4. How We Help Global Companies Build Strong Global Brand Experiences

Why Brand Experience Marketing is Important

A consistent brand image is a key element of every successful business. Brand experience marketing reinforces your brand image and associates it with positive, memorable interactions. These interactions leave lasting impressions, resulting in a more loyal customer base. Read about how we create brand experiences that stay in people’s minds.

The Different Types of Brand Experience Marketing

Brand experience marketing can play out in a number of ways, but what each method shares in common is the ability to make an impact on customers. I’ll give you 9 examples of brand experience marketing below.

Hosting or Sponsoring Events

A study by UTA IQ found that one in three consumers say live events are more important to them post-pandemic, and the same amount are now inclined to go to as many events as possible. Whether it be your event or an event you sponsor, it can craft a positive brand experience and result in word of mouth advertising from satisfied attendees.

Immersive Product Demos

Immersive demonstrations connect your brand with customers by showcasing key features and encouraging participation. On a psychological level, immersive experiences trigger emotions and behaviors that enhance loyalty and engagement.

Product Launches

Anticipation is part of the brand experience! Effective product launches build momentum, provide opportunities for collaborative marketing, and strengthen your brand’s community through shared excitement. 

Brand Collaborations

Collaborating with other brands through joint products, sponsorships, shared content, and more broadens your brand awareness net while improving credibility. For example, partnering with a reputable and well-established brand lets their consumers know that you have a high standing in your market.

Branded Storytelling Content

Branded storytelling taps into our human desire to connect with others. When you share relatable stories about your brand’s history, values, challenges, or team members, it evokes emotional responses and creates a space for engagement and connections.

Product & Packaging Design

The quality and appeal of products and packaging have a monumental impact on brand experiences. Packaging is the first thing that greets your customer and products aren’t far behind. The better they look and function, the more recognition you receive. This is why unboxing videos have grown so popular on social media; even just seeing your products and packaging triggers neurotransmitters and engages consumers. Excellent design enhances people’s perception of your brand and communicates your values in a creative way.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing not only creates a brand experience for the content creators who receive your gift, but for their followers who watch their content and feel “influenced” to engage with your brand as well. Out of the general population, 69% of consumers trust influencer recommendations over messaging that comes directly from a brand. That makes social media an astoundingly powerful touchpoint for your brand experience! 

Promotional Products

Promotional products notoriously increase brand recognition, especially when the products are unique and high-quality. To truly make an impact, it’s crucial to choose items that consistently reflect the quality and identity of your brand. Whichever route you decide to take, these thoughtfully curated products can help you create tangible connections with your audience. 

Company Store Design

Like packaging, your company store is a valuable touchpoint that you don’t want to skimp on. The customer experience of navigating the store will influence the overall brand experience, so make sure it operates smoothly. 

Obviously there are way more than nine examples of brand experience marketing, but I can’t imagine you have all day. Let’s move onto where it could go wrong…

Where Companies Fall Short With Building Their Brand Experience

Consumers have more access to information than ever before, and because of this they have higher expectations for companies and a lower tolerance for errors or missteps. Failing to meet expectations can have a seriously negative effect on brand experiences. I’ll share a few examples of where companies fall short or tarnish the brand experience.

Ignoring consumer data & personalization opportunities

We have so much data right at our fingertips, so use it! By learning how to leverage insights about your customers, you’re better equipped to personalize interactions that lead to an impactful brand experience.

Putting the customer journey on the back burner

This one may seem obvious, because isn’t the entire brand experience influenced by the customer journey? You’d be amazed by how many companies overlook key steps of the journey, from offering an easy, glitch-free web experience to providing timely (and human) customer service.

Cutting corners

We see this all the time in our industry. A company wants to save a few bucks, so they opt for cheaper packaging, less event signage, or crappier gifts. In the end, cutting corners results in lower brand visibility, a deficient brand experience, and a whole lot of wasted promotional investments.

How We Help Global Companies Build Strong Global Brand Experiences

Imprint Engine helps global enterprises from around the world build strong and memorable brand experiences. My team and I believe that offline, tangible brand touchpoints are priceless opportunities to improve the way people perceive, engage with, and feel about your company. Here’s how we do it…

We get to know your brand

Most “partners” don’t take the time to truly understand a client’s brand, so they present ideas and products that don’t hit the mark. That often means pushing quantity over quality. For instance, they might sway clients from a budgetary standpoint to go with items that end up hurting or cheapening their brand (because it’s a great deal). There’s nothing that hurts a brand more than seeing it on a product that no one wants and immediately ends up in the trash.

We start every partnership the same way: Learn everything we can about your brand, your immediate needs, and your long-term goals. We embody your brand as if it’s our own so that we can recommend the right types of experiences to truly complement your values and identity.

Discover how we work.

We design products that people will actually want

We’re not talking about S.W.A.G. (Stuff We All Get), we’re talking about premium products by recognizable, desirable brands that people will want to keep, use, and remind them of you in their everyday lives. We even have exclusive partnerships with the world’s top brands that trust only us with additional decoration. Read more about how we tap into our exclusive vendor relationships to bring your brand to life.

We have global teams with regional vendors

Even if companies might produce great brand experiences domestically, most branding partners don’t have the ability to replicate the same products, or same product quality, across the globe, especially in the hard to reach countries.

We have leadership teams in North America, Europe, and APAC, so we’re equipped to better serve clients that are headquartered around the world. We’ve even forged partnerships with the most premium regional vendors so we can bypass needless shipping costs or taxes. The best part about having a global team is being able to take a local approach pretty much anywhere on the map. Learn more about our growing global operation (and where we’re all located). 

We bring products to life with creative services

Our creative expertise goes beyond promo with a suite of services and a dedicated, insanely talented team of people. 

Our designers transform ideas into tangible deliverables like custom branded asset kits, hand-drawn and digital illustrations, custom product concepts, and innovative prototypes. We have photographers and videographers who can produce lifestyle photography and dynamic product videos for your marketing efforts. Our web developers build custom stores with unique and interactive features, plus a dedicated group of project managers are here to seamlessly bring it all to the finish line.

Explore our creative services.

Want to Hear More? Drop Us a Line

A thoughtfully planned brand experience results in long-term, symbiotic relationships with customers. We’re here to help discover what hits home with your audiences, measure metrics for future success, and create experiences that live on.