Communicating with kids is a big challenge and a huge responsibility for brands. Because of the extensive number of brands targeting this audience, the growing concerns that children are being pushed too fast into the adult, commercial world, has led the government and industry bodies to fight for better child advertising standards and regulations.

Last year, an independent report from the Chief Executive of the Mothers Union, Reg Bailey, recommended self-regulatory codes regarding the use of children as brand ambassadors and in peer-to-peer marketing. The Bailey Review ‘Letting Children be Children’ initiative called for the regulatory bodies, such as ASA and the Committee of Advertising Practise (CAP), to introduce best practice guidelines and ensure that marketing to children is conducted responsibly.

Although kids informally engage in the peer-to-peer marketing of the products and brands that they like, the Bailey Review made a series of recommendations based on parents’ concerns of brands paying or rewarding children to promote their products at school, or on social networks. To ensure that children continue to be protected, brands need to find new ways to appeal to this group differently, based on elements that will help them grow healthily, act responsibly and become better citizens. So, how do brands push the right buttons to entice a child or a parent to buy without crossing the line?

Children are exposed to a large amount of advertising and marketing messages across lots of different media, which are mostly directed at adults. They have become a captive audience not only to traditional forms of media, but even more so to the new digital media made readily accessible through the internet, computers and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In order to capture the attention of this audience, it is crucial to offer them a positive social experience, creating something that is unique, innovative and most importantly, fun.

Hotcow’s award winning Honey Monster campaign exemplifies this perfectly. Designed specifically to raise awareness and drive trial to the cereal brand, Hotcow created a live event campaign teamed with traditional sampling and an immersive family experience at UK shopping centres. People were given the opportunity to immerse themselves in a world created by us, and choose to have a photo with the brand’s iconic character, take a product sample from the giant cereal box or play our “waffle wacker” game to win a prize.

Encouraging children to use their imagination and creativity can add value to a brand. It is all about giving kids short stories to recount, using contextual settings and content based on an informed and responsible understanding of the audience. In this way, you are able to create spontaneous emotional bonds with those who were impacted by the message and the activity.

Check out our website for more information on the experiential marketing tools you can implement to connect with kids.

Hotcow is a multi-award winning Experiential Marketing agency. We get brands in front of consumers in ways that persuade them to buy. We fully implement our ideas; nothing needs to be farmed out. For more information or free consultation, contact us.

As one of the most effective tactics of field marketing, product sampling is a great method for getting your product in the hands of consumers. However, prior research from Hotcow indicates that just offering free products is not enough to get consumers to buy. According to our research, 15% of consumers say they will ‘always’ or ‘very often’ purchase a product after taking a sample, and a further 54% consumers say that they will ‘sometimes’ go onto purchase. Getting the all-important emotional engagement is key to repeat purchase and consumer loyalty.

While some brands struggle to make sense of new media initiatives, other brands are enjoying steady success thanks to the advances in technology and the creative approach in offering real and meaningful experiences to their consumers. The combination of sampling with elements of experiential marketing is proven to be the best way to create two-way interactions and emotional connectivity, allowing consumers to experience the brand, build trust, drive purchase and recommend it to friends.

From smart vending machines to interactive installations, Hotcow has selected the best methods to get your products into consumers’ hands.

1. Smart Vending Machines

Using facial and gesture recognition technology, brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and Kraft are delighting consumers with amazing experiences in their sampling activities.

After the brilliant experiments with the Coca-Cola Happiness Machine, the brand created the ‘Hug Me’ machine to target unsuspected students at the University of Singapore. In order to get a free drink, students had to demonstrate a bit of affection and give the machine a physical hug.

With a ‘smile-o-meter’, Unilever’s Share Happy Ice Cream machine allowed consumers to pick out their free ice-cream by prompting a big smile. Kraft, however, decided to go one step further and created a machine that identify users age and genders to distribute the new ‘Jell-O Temptations’ dessert only for adults.

2. The Feel good-Factor

A fun and playful experience will create deep engagement and generate great talkability around your brand.

In a very innovative way, Tang invited kids for a roller coster ride where they could place their favorite Tang Re-Mix flavours in steady cups and let the roller coster shake up their drinks until the end of the ride.

Another great example is the Cinnabon Zero-Calorie campaign, inviting consumers to climb an escalator that was going down in order to get a free cinnamon roll.

3. Pop-up

Pop-up stores are an excellent way to deliver great brand experiences and tap into new locations to engage with different audiences.

With ‘The Generous Store’, the Danish chocolatier Anthon Berg set up a pop-up store, in which people could ‘buy’ chocolates with promise of a good deed to a friend or loved one.

4. Interactive installations

New insights from Hotcow’s research project ‘Building Brilliant Sampling Campaigns’ highlighted that consumers will try a sample if the stand looks visually appealing – going big and bold is a way to win consumers’ attention.

Hotcow’s award winning Honey Monster campaign was designed specifically to raise awareness and trial to the cereal brand. People got to immerse themselves in the world we created by choosing to have a photo with the brand’s iconic character, taking a product sample from the giant cereal box or playing our “waffle wacker” game to win a prize.

5. Challenge led

Beyond creating amazing content, challenge led campaigns are a fantastic experiential marketing tactic to engage consumers into an unforgettable experience.

The series of social experiments from Ultrabook is a perfect example. With The Ultrabook Temptation stunts, the brand created amazing challenges to explore what people were prepared to do to get their hands on a new Ultrabook laptop.

After all these great examples, if you are looking to enhance your sampling activity and add an experience into the mix, Hotcow is experienced in creating the very best sampling strategies and logistics that will lead into sales. For more information or free consultation, contact us.

Here at Hotcow we have been seeing some great uses of innovative technologies such as digital signage, multi-touch displays, kinect and image recognition that have been playing at the forefront to enrich the experience consumers have with brands and products.

This year, some of the emerging trends in the experiential industry are connected to mobile and audio technologies, facial and gesture recognition, and other content creation platforms that are redefining consumer behaviour and changing attitudes.

We have selected some of the key trends in technology and content creation for enhanced consumer engagement.

Top Technology Trends

1. Mobile Technologies

As people are constantly sharing data and going online to search for information, brands have a myriad of opportunities to connect with consumers via mobile platforms using augmented reality apps, QR codes, geo-location, and social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

One great example is Ford’s experiential campaign to promote their new Ford Fiesta car. Ford asked Instagram users to join 6 themed challenges and submit their pictures by using the hashtag #Fiestagram. To those who submitted striking images tagging each week’s challenge, which was associated with the car’s high tech features, Ford gave away weekly prizes. And the overall winner received a brand new Ford Fiesta!

2. Facial / Gesture Recognition

Automatic face and gesture recognition is rapidly developing into a highly effective experiential campaign feature. The varying technologies are currently being used in interactive vending machines, which allows brands to develop creative ways of dispensing surprise gifts and branded content.

Smart vending machines such as Coke’s Hug Me Machine and Kraft’s Jell-O Temptations are perfect examples that demonstrate how this technology can be successfully used in experiential sampling campaigns.

3. Audio Technologies

Audio Spotlight technology can direct a narrow beam of sound into a confined area, allowing only the select person to hear the message or sound transmitted, making it the perfect tool for communicating an intimate and targeted message to consumers.

A great example this technology usage in experiential marketing is the campaign ‘Listen to your Conscience from New Zealand’s fairtrade banana supplier ‘All Good Bananas’.

4. 3D Printing

Dimension 3D Printers are becoming more advanced which allow brands to customise and print solid products instantly. A remarkable project created by blablablaLAB entitled Be Your Own Souvenir demonstrated the potential for new technology to give people a remarkable souvenir of themselves. The group used custom software and Kinect sensors to generate a full 360-degree scan and within moments a 3D printer machine spits out a little statue version of the person who participated.

Content Creation

1. User Generated Content

Content curation is changing the ways that people access information. Social media users are increasingly sharing their own content. This is where brands can take advantage and give people something to talk about, that will add value or entertain them.

The Australian iced coffee brand Ice Break has taken this approach on their ‘Ice Break: Paul’ campaign. The brand recognised a discontent fans through Facebook and decided to reward them by taking the product all the way from Melbourne to Western Australia. Another nice example is the Generous Pop-Up Store from the Danish chocolatier Anthon Berg.

2. Brand pranks / Theatrics

Creating something out of the ordinary will cause surprising and amusing reactions from consumers. Brands who are able to develop amazing stunts and create unexpected situations will reap the rewards of producing brilliant viral hits. A brilliant example is TNT’s PR Stunt “Push to add drama”.

3. Co-creation

Many big brands have been using crowdsourcing to connect with consumers, developing contests through social media campaigns and encouraging them to create designs and unique labels to their products.

We have discussed the co-creation trend in our article: Why brands need to embrace consumers creativity with some great examples experiential campaigns.

For more thoughts on this subject, visit Hotcow’s website.

Hotcow is a multi-award winning Experiential Marketing agency. We get brands in front of consumers in ways that persuade them to buy. We fully implement our ideas; nothing needs to be farmed out. For more information or free consultation, contact us.

Today’s women have emerged as a more powerful consumer force than ever before. They run the family social calendars and are responsible for the lion’s share of grocery shopping and meal preparation.

According to The Female Economy study published in Harvard Business Review, women are the purchase decision makers for 85% of the household spend. This is a fact that cannot be ignored. The study also recognises six key female consumer segments, which brands should be looking at when considering a campaign targeted at female audiences.

With the tremendous influence of women in the consumer marketplace, it requires a huge shift in thinking for many companies to successfully connect with this audience. Just because women are women does not mean that they all think the same or respond to the same stimulus. Brands that recognise the different female consumer segments and have the ability to engage, connect and provide them with solutions will be more likely to earn their business.

Here at Hotcow we are experts in creating connections and building on-going conversations with female audiences of all kinds. With the high percentage of women influencing the majority of household spending, brands who are looking at increasing their total market share should look at high growth areas.

The 2011 report from the Office for National Statistics has revealed stats of 17.9 million families living in the UK. Of these, 12 million consisted of a married couple with or without children. The bulletin has also presented an estimated 20% of households as consisting of four or more people, and 25% of families having dependent children. Yet, according to these stats, London/South East and South West spend 75% more on food than any other regions in the UK.

Marketeers must consider the growing purchasing power of the female consumer today, whether they are spending or influencing spending among their peers. It is all about understanding how many they are, what they spend their money on, and where to focus your marketing efforts to connect with this audience.

Women are constantly seeking time-saving solutions or products and services designed to suit their needs and, therefore, the opportunities to cater to this audience are enormous. To keep your brand top of mind with consumers, it is paramount to carry out consistent activity regionally. Hence, due to the the influx of new brands entering the market, the range of messages people see every day and the diversity of the population and how they shop, it can take approximately three interactions with a consumer to begin to change a habit.

In short, women need to feel they’re being talked to, not talked at. They appreciate value for money and the advice of their friends. In many ways, selling to women is more about having a conversation and finding a connection that leads to a sale than it is about telling them how much they need the product or service advertised.

For more thoughts on this subject, visit Hotcow’s website.

Consumption patterns are changing, as consumers today are more empowered, critical, demanding and price sensitive than ever. With the amount of brands doing price promotions on the increase, it is more common to see directly competing products on the gondola end. The rules of engagement are constantly evolving and we need to stay ahead of the game to help solve brand challenges.

Brands are becoming aware that getting their ‘brand-in-hand’ is critical to business growth. However, too many brands miss the mark when trying to implement brilliant sampling campaigns. Sometimes it is due to a lack of knowledge and live consumer behavioural insight. Other times, it is simply a failure to plan or ineffective monitoring and measurement.

Hotcow’s latest shopper research around product trial and purchase behaviour has shed new light on the emotional and rational decisions that people make. Given the intensely competitive shopper marketplace, the research project BUILDING BRILLIANT SAMPLING CAMPAIGNS is aimed at discovering what consumers value in the live environment and what encourages them to sample more and purchase.

We conducted a survey amongst 1074 people in the UK to find out what is needed to grab and hold consumers attention. What will encourage them to take a sample? What will convince them to buy and do so again and again? Are there any differences in opinion for different genders, ages and locations?

The key findings from our research have revealed that:

1/ Normal really is boring - 71% of consumers said that they will try something if you grab their attention with something visually appealing that has stand out.

2/ Brand-in-hand drives brand consideration - 85% of consumers feel inspired to buy after a sample. With a huge array of daily brand advertising, sampling is now more important than ever to influence consumers into putting your brand on their shopping lists.

3/ Bridging the gap between trial and purchase - With only 15% of people saying they will ‘always’ or ‘very often’ go onto purchase, and a further 54% of people saying they will only ‘sometimes’ go onto purchase, brands should focus on understanding the emotional barriers for consumers to take a sample and go onto buy. This will allow you to improve your ROI whilst giving your consumers what they need and want.

Each year it gets more and more difficult for brands to get on, or remain on, consumers shopping lists – due to an increase in the number of available brands and products, new communication mediums, diverse audiences and tighter purse strings. The new insights from Hotcow’s research into the role of rewards, messaging and visual appeal have enabled us to build a more accurate picture of how and why people stop, listen, try and then go onto buy.

As Sally Durcan, Managing Director of Hotcow, says, “Product trial is a science and by understanding people’s emotional and rational behaviours, their decision making process and buying occasions, enables us to improve our ROI for clients whilst giving consumers what they need and want.”

Sampling works and consumers believe in it. If you would like to receive a copy of our White Paper and find out the FIVE truths behind what consumers really think about sampling and what you need to do to properly connect with them, email info@hotcow.co.uk.

In the car industry, engaging consumers into a personal experience with the vehicle is key; and there is no better way to achieve this than with real-life, face-to-face marketing. More and more, we’ve been seeing great examples of car brands using experiential marketing to create an emotional connection with consumers – after all, they are not only selling a product, they are selling a whole complexity of feelings, design, experiences and a lifestyle.

By replicating the car’s attributes within a real experience, involving consumers on a journey and thus shaping the whole campaign according to their needs and expectations it is certainly a win-win situation. When you create a remarkable experience that is in line with the performance and features of the car, your consumers will be more likely to pay attention and get involved.

A great example of creativity in a marketing approach can be seen in BMW’s Mini Cooper. The unconventional smart design, which has been revamped over the time, has turned Mini into more than just a car. The brand sells a lifestyle and has developed a massive community of fans and enthusiasts who love to get involved with the Mini “message” and accessorise their cars accordingly.

Hyundai also exemplifies their experiential approach through their current positioning: New Thinking, New Possibilities. The brand has taken the 3D projection mapping to another level by vertically suspending a real car onto the face of a building and integrating it into an impressive futuristic computerised cityscape. This great viral represents their forward-thinking positioning, pushing the boundaries of a projection mapping experience, and making it more real and engaging.

Other car brands such as Nissan and VW are also receiving great results in establishing and maintaining a relationship with consumers who have already bought into their brands. Last year, Nissan ran a cheeky guerrilla campaign in Dubai to promote their new Nissan Patrol SUV. They went around car parks “parking” in front of other SUV’s, then leaving a note on the windscreen explaining they had to run, but feel free to move the car. This is a great example of ambush marketing, which forced unsuspecting SUV owners to test drive the new Nissan model and encouraged them to contact the dealership for a real one. Over 78% of people signed up after the accidental test drive proving the campaign a creative and overwhelming success.

Volkswagen have been experimenting in a number of viral marketing campaigns to attract attention to their green credentials. We have featured some brilliant examples on our blog such as the Piano Stairs from ‘The Fun Theory’ campaign, which was dedicated to promoting environmentally friendly thinking and show that something as simple as fun is a good way to change people’s behaviour for the better.

The Fast Lane Slide was another amazing viral campaign dedicated to everyone who loves to speed things up. These stunts by Volkswagen are great examples that marketing a car doesn’t always have to be directly connected to the vehicle. VW’s grass roots experiential initiative encouraged consumers to engage with the brand, while demonstrating the company’s values through a fun and personal experience.

It is always important for car manufacturers to ultimately build a lifetime brand loyalty by meeting the needs of consumers at different life stages. Here at Hotcow, we love when brands create amazing real-life experiences tapping into the online communities to engage social media users.

The American car brand Dodge encouraged people to embrace a real-life scavenger hunt for a chance to win a car. Within the tagline “you find it, you keep it”, Dodge had hidden three Journey crossovers across America in the West, Midwest and East, and utilised their Youtube channel to offer clues and updates. People were invited to find a series of video clues and embark on a real-life journey to find the hidden cars.

Challenging people to engage with the brand and offer a chance to win a car is a great way to showcase new models and create an emotional connection with less affluent consumers. Furthermore, having a strong online presence is paramount to ensure that consumers can get involved and you can hear what they have to say. In this way you will also be able to create an emotional bond with younger consumers who are constantly connected to social networks, which will pay off in the long term as their incomes grow and their affluence rises.

Check out Hotcow’s website for other great examples of experiential campaigns from around the world.

The role of brands in the frontline of consumerism is changing as consumers are looking for ownership and customisation. According to a study by Insites Consulting, ‘over 50% of consumers are asking to take part in co-creation of products and advertising’, therefore understanding how people use your brand is paramount to steer the direction of your brand’s development and the level of engagement with your consumers.

Consumers are more aware of how their actions can impact on brands’ development, and with social media platforms empowering people to actively talk about their life experiences, companies are required to be more authentic in their marketing approach. Some brands are willingly embracing the co-creation trends and encouraging the creative expression of consumers to add more value to their campaigns and ultimately build stronger brand connections.

Heineken have recently embraced the co-creation trend by inviting social network users to create an unique bottle design in celebration of the brand’s 140th anniversary. Consumers could submit their work to an online gallery on Heineken’s Facebook page, and pair up to another participant and complement their designs for a chance to see their bottle go into production in a limited edition gift pack, celebrating Heineken’s anniversary.

By opening up new communication channels with consumers and producing thought provoking campaigns, brands are able to get beneficial feedback from consumers and give them a more positive image of their brand and marketing strategy. However, it is important for brands to think about what consumers are looking for in terms of experience and then how their message fits within that.

Heinz ‘Get Well Soup’ is another great example of social integration inviting Facebook fans to personalise a soup can with the ‘Get Well’ message and send it as a gift to their friends. Another clever use of social media is Coca Cola’s Vitamin Water ‘flavor creator lab’. The brand asked their Facebook fans to vote for their favourite flavour and design a new label for the product. 40,000 Facebook users created unique label designs via the lab and participants spent an average of 7 minutes engaging with the application and therefore the brand.

Social media is a great channel that brands can use to make the co-creation process to work effectively. Consumers want to ensure they are getting the necessities from your brand as they want to tell their own stories and be involved in an experience, which they can reap good rewards from it.

Using the social sphere to entice consumers to embrace the idea with easy access and transparency will only add more value to the entire experience. Additionally, by exploiting the creative side of consumers, brands are giving people who consume their products a say in their development and campaign, which ultimately help them to differentiate themselves from the competition.

From the experiential standpoint, a fantastic example is Slurpee’s ‘Bring Your Own Cup Day’ in Australia. The brand decided to embrace consumers inner-opportunistic side to promote their frozen drinks range. For a 24 hour period, customers could take any vessel they could get their hands on to fill with Slurpee products. Excited Slurpee fanatics across Australia ventured to their nearest 7-Eleven stores armed with kettles, watering cans and boots to name a few ‘cups’ used, with a new drink being sold every 1.8 seconds.

If you wish to embrace your consumers’ creativity and add more value to their lives, you need to understand those magical touchpoints that already exist in people’s interactions with brands and create great experiences around that. Consumers don’t experience the advertising, they experience the brand and this is where experiential takes place. When knowing how people are using your brand, and embracing their creative side, you can reap the rewards of consumer’s preference by creating remarkable experiences that stand out, deeply engage and generate the involvement that your consumers want with your brand.

So how are you ensuring you are listening to what your consumers want?

Check out Hotcow’s website for great examples of creative inspiration from around the world.

Having a complete and deep understanding of your target audience is essential to successful marketing. With such a large amount of media channels and services available, marketers must find new ways to ensure brands are included in the initial consideration set that consumers develop in the beginning of their decision journey. Rather than using traditional media to push one way messages, brands need to focus on customer-led channels, which encourages two way interaction, drives engagement and influences decisions.

Multichannel marketing is key to building stronger lifetime value through sustained, long term relationships with customers. However, it demands a deep understanding of your consumers behaviour. Consumers have evolved and so have the way they share information and communicate with one another. What actions do you want your consumers to take as they move through the stages of their relationship with your brand? What channels are they likely to prefer? And more importantly, how to successfully integrate each different dialogue effectively?

Using multiple channels to communicate with consumers requires detailed planning and clear process as traditional advertising messages are no longer direct enough for this ever evolving dynamic environment. The relevance of new channels are increasingly becoming pivotal to contact your consumers as brands focus on pulling in customers rather than pushing out products. There are a range of various multiple and personal touch-points, including mobile devices, experiential channels and pop-up stores, which improves both consumer experience and reach.

People interact and react with a variety of platforms in various ways. Whilst some may be more engaged in digital touchpoints, there are others who are likely to respond more positively to live experiences. Taking a strategic approach will play a decisive role in building longer term relationships and short term results; and mapping the decision journey becomes critical if you want to have a real impact on your ROI.

Consumers appreciate brands that approach them with a personal experience and by leveraging customer information and analytical capabilities, you can gain a deeper insight into your consumers behavior and deliver more effective, targeted messages throughout the complete customer journey. Customers want to be heard and no matter which channel your customers choose, you need to respond intimately.

With so much cluttered mass communications being exposed to people daily, experiential marketing differentiates and gives consumers a reason to take more notice of your message. A successful multichannel marketing approached requires brands to understand how customers can directly communicate, experience and immerse themselves in your brand’s story line to fully comprehend the message or communication being conveyed. It must be integrated, with online efforts being consistent and supportive of your offline efforts to ensure that our brand is offering the best customer service which is easy to access.

Ultimately the type of experience you want to implement is dependent on the desired outcome. For example, a sampling campaign would be an effective method to encourage consumers to trial a product whereas a live experience would be implemented to create a personal customer interaction, providing a memorable experience which people would talk about. Regardless of the customer experience you plan to deliver, it must be consistent and executed seamlessly, maintaining your brand promise throughout every stage of the process.

Check out our website for more information on the experiential marketing tools you can implement into your multi-channel marketing strategy.

We all know what it is like to be confronted by a charity fundraiser, and have tried and tested multiple responses to escape their annoyingly persistent wrath. The ‘chugging’ moral dilemma was recently stirred up during a London Borough of Islington debate, which came about as the borough is on the brink of banning charity canvassers due to local resident outrage towards persistent disturbances.

People are not uncharitable, a 2010/11 UK Giving report highlighted that 6 of 10 UK adults donated a total of £11 billion last year alone. However, pestering people into donating not only creates annoyance but also disreputes the charity in the eyes of those who are unlucky enough to encounter a chugger. So, what are the best alternative platforms for charities to adopt, and what are the implications?

New media platforms are having an unrivaled impact upon worldwide business and also the third sector. It would be ludicrous if charities didn’t sit up and take notice of such influential examples such as the £50 million raised in just 2 weeks following the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake as well as Oxfam naming the 2010 Pakistan floods as the “first social media emergency” due to the overwhelming online response. This is proof that digital philanthropy has the potential to encourage millions of people from around the world to donate simultaneously towards a cause, which can be spread exponentially through social media platforms.

Charities seem to have developed a more holistic view towards fundraising and are considering the wider picture to generate long term relationships according to an nfpSynergy report. It is no surprise that 66.5% of sampled charities are now using Facebook and Twitter to engage people in a real time educational and fundraising capacity due to social media and online transparency allowing direct two-way communication with consumers.

Mobile technologies and QR codes have become an essential marketing platform and charities have began to implement them to great effect. An incredibly moving example of using QR codes was demonstrated by Fundadora Proanimal in Chile. Hundreds of stray dogs facing a mass cull had QR codes around their necks giving the animals a ‘voice’ with a message that was easily shared across social media, helping to highlight their plight. With mobile internet usage predicted to take over from desktop usage by 2014, more philanthropic focus should be placed upon this form of technology as a viable and logical communicative route to pursue.

Offline charity collection efforts can venture far beyond street canvassing. Providing consumers with an experience, challenge, competition or surprise, they are incentivised to donate through compassion rather than pressure. Bob Geldof’s iconic 1985 Live Aid concert is an early memorable example of experiential fundraising. It rallied musical talent in order to raise over £110 million  by broadcasting to 1.5 billion people worldwide.

Rather than demanding cash with no acknowledgement of implementation experiential shock tactics can be used as great effect. By physically demonstrating the end-result of donations you can encourage people to part with their money. A simple but poignant campaign by the Global Angels charity, demonstrated that people are more than willing to stop and ‘help someone nearby’ by using an actor tripping and dropping groceries in the street, yet are less responsive to ‘help someone far away’. Another great example is ‘Half for Happiness’ supermarket campaign in Brazil, which creatively highlighted the impact of donations through selling half packets of food at full price. 50% of the amount paid was donated to malnutrition charity Casa do Zezinho.

Here at Hotcow, we strongly believe in making every experience sensational, to stand out from the crowd and grab the whole-hearted attention of passers by. Never is this sentiment more true than in a charitable marketing capacity. With widespread negative attitude towards street canvassers, charities can implement experiential live elements to differentiate their campaign from such associations, and generate mass buzz around their campaign.

Check out our website for more thoughts on how to make your next charity campaign sensational, differentiated and attention-grabbing.

The rapid growth in technology has left the traditional marketing model at best ineffective. Consumers are better equipped to manage their choices, looking for a more perceived value and convenience. Savvy shoppers care a lot about customer experience and are increasingly using their smartphones for online support and price comparison. Adapting your strategy to lure and help consumers to get the most out of their shopping experience is critical if you want to influence decisions and make them choose your brand.

With Facebook commerce and the latest digital innovations seizing the gap between the online and offline worlds, brands and retailers are now required to find inventive ways to best fit their customers desires, beliefs and lifestyles. Shopping in the real world has become an important leisure experience where consumers look for personalized experiences and value brands who treat them as individuals. How are you responding to this ever-changing environment and engaging your audience to consider and buy your products?

According to McKinsey research, up to 40% of shoppers change their minds in-store. Brands not only have to align all the elements of marketing communications, but also create a maximum impact through different touch-points across the consumer decision journey.

With the current economical downturn, price becomes a major factor to influence purchase decision. Brands can not rely on just giving away coupons; a real experience with your brand is a powerful way to bring new consumers into the fold, giving the opportunity for consumers to try your product, explain your brand benefits and start conversations.

A great example of ultimate customer experience are the Apple Retail Stores. Famously known for its customer-friendly environment, the intensive staff training can deliver a personal shopping service, demonstrating helpfulness in solving problems. The interactivity with displayed products also creates a unique experience for each individual consumer, which is very influential during the consumer decision journey, leading to immediate purchase or next time purchase consideration.

In our blog we discuss how experiential activities near or in-side retail are becoming catalyst for engaging consumers and influencing buying consideration. Hotcow’s award winning Honey Monster cereal campaign exemplifies this perfectly. We created a playful and engaging experience with product sampling in front of supermarkets, giving customers the chance to taste, trial and enjoy the product. We achieved a very high level of brand awareness and product sales increased up to 900% in retail locations, having continued to rise for up to 4 weeks after the activity.

Another great example is the experiential campaign for the Fairtrade ‘All Good Bananas’ in a supermarket in New Zealand. In order to persuade shoppers to purchase their products, they have used an audio-spotlight device, which could only be heard by one person at a time, making it the perfect tool for communicating their intimate message. When shoppers stepped onto the floor sticker, they could hear a message claiming to be the listener’s inner voice and subtly encouraging them to buy their products.

If you want to encourage shoppers to go in store and buy your products, a clear understanding of how people act and react to live brand experiences is critical in order to maximise the ROI achieved from your campaign. Interactive experiences with fun elements will always create a positive engagement with your brand, which will not only stimulate sales, but lead to a high level of conversion after initial purchase.

Check out our website for more of our thoughts on this subject.