Experiential marketing is a strategy that engages consumers through live experiences. Instead of telling people about a product or service, it invites them to experience the brand more memorably. In an era where digital ads are ubiquitous, a real-world experience removes the noise and fosters a deeper connection with your audience.
It’s for this reason that 77% of marketers use experiential marketing as a vital part of their brand’s strategy, and studies show 9 out of 10 consumers love trying products firsthand, leading to stronger loyalty and word of mouth.
Experiential marketing, also known as engagement marketing, is a form of marketing that creates immersive, in-person experiences for consumers. Instead of a one-way advertisement, it’s a two-way interaction; consumers can touch, feel, and directly engage with a brand’s products or services in a real-life or simulated environment.
In practice, experiential marketing often involves live events or interactive pop-ups, such as product launch events, brand-sponsored stunts, virtual reality demos, or mobile tours. The common thread is participation.
Why does this matter? Experiential marketing helps brands break through to sceptical or ad-weary consumers. By offering something fun, valuable, or surprising, brands can earn attention and trust. 84% of brand marketers believe experiential marketing is crucial to their strategy.
Experiential campaigns require creativity and planning, but the pay-off can be huge. Here are some key benefits and reasons brands are investing in experiential marketing.
It’s often challenging to get customers to pay attention to or try a product. Experiential marketing solves this by providing a hands-on encounter with your product or service. By putting the product directly in customers’ hands, you let them test, taste, or otherwise experience it, which makes them more likely to purchase. This live interaction creates a personal bond that traditional ads can’t match.
A clever, eye-catching experience will get people talking, both in person and online. In the social media era, attendees often share photos or videos of unique activations, exposing your brand to a much wider audience. In other words, one event on the ground can generate buzz that spreads to millions through Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter.
An exciting live experience can generate buzz and positive emotions that stick in consumers’ minds. For example, a surprising stunt or interactive game associated with your brand will be remembered (and discussed) long after it’s over. This kind of brand excitement translates into higher interest and ultimately can drive sales. By associating your brand with a fun or inspiring experience, you differentiate yourself from competitors and are far more likely to create lasting loyalty with your customers.
Because experiential marketing often engages multiple senses and is face-to-face, it has a unique ability to create an emotional response. People might feel joy, wonder, nostalgia, adrenaline - feelings that connect them to the brand’s story. Over time, these emotional connections help build a community of fans rather than just customers.
Need some inspiration? Below are several real-world experiential marketing examples from top brands:
One of the most famous experiential campaigns ever is Red Bull’s “Stratos” space jump. In 2012, Red Bull sponsored skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s leap from the edge of space, 24 miles above Earth. This daring stunt saw Baumgartner free-fall from the stratosphere in a special pressure suit, becoming the first person to break the sound barrier without an aircraft.
The event was far more than a publicity stunt, it was a scientific and athletic feat that perfectly aligned with Red Bull’s brand image of extreme adventure (after all, their motto is “Red Bull Gives You Wings”). The impact was enormous. The jump was streamed live on YouTube to over 8 million viewers, and it dominated headlines worldwide.
By creating and broadcasting this jaw-dropping moment, Red Bull positioned itself not just as an energy drink, but as an enabler of the extraordinary. The resulting media coverage cemented Red Bull’s reputation as the brand for thrill-seekers. To this day, “Red Bull Stratos” is cited as a masterclass in experiential marketing. (Baumgartner passed away during an unrelated stunt in 2025, which has resulted in a surge in views of the video of the original Red Bull stunt).
Sometimes, experiential marketing is about small personal touches rather than grand stunts. Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign is a brilliant example of this. In this campaign, Coca-Cola replaced its iconic logo on bottles with people’s first names, using hundreds of popular names in each market.
Suddenly, buying a Coke wasn’t just buying a drink; it became a fun hunt for your name (or your friends’ names) on a bottle. Consumers were delighted to find their names and eagerly posted photos of their personalised Coke bottles on social media, which created a massive wave of free, authentic marketing for Coca-Cola.
In essence, Coca-Cola turned its customers into marketers. People couldn’t help but share the cute idea. The genius of “Share a Coke” was how it scaled personalisation to millions of people, making each person feel a unique bond with the brand.
Nike transformed retail shopping into an interactive adventure with its House of Innovation flagship stores. These stores (in cities like New York and Shanghai) are designed as dynamic, immersive brand ecosystems, far beyond a typical sports clothing store. Nike blended the physical and digital worlds to create a personalised, high-tech shopping journey.
How does it work? Through the Nike mobile app, every customer can enhance their in-store experience. For example, you can scan a QR code on a mannequin to instantly see available sizes or colours of a product, then request those items be sent to a fitting room for you. You can even check out and pay through the app, skipping the line entirely. The result is a frictionless shopping experience that feels futuristic but incredibly practical. Nike’s experiential store makes the customer the centre of attention. You get tailored recommendations based on your profile, you see cool tech like augmented reality for customising shoes, and you save time.
When Mattel and Warner Bros. launched the Barbie movie in 2023, they went all-in on experiential marketing to build hype. Their campaign essentially turned the real world into Barbie’s Dreamworld for a few months. In Malibu, they listed a life-sized Barbie Dreamhouse on Airbnb that fans could book a stay in.
In Boston, they ran a themed Barbie boat cruise. In London, they even lit up the famous London Eye big wheel in bright pink and wrapped double-decker buses in Barbie branding. No matter where you went, you couldn’t escape the cotton-candy pink fantasy land of Barbie in the run-up to the film’s release. What made this campaign especially effective was how it invited people to participate in the fun. Perhaps the most innovative example was the Barbie AI “Selfie Generator”, an online tool that lets users create their own Barbie doll movie poster by uploading a selfie.
Experiential marketing offers a way to connect with audiences on a deeper, more emotional level, turning passive consumers into active participants. These experiences then build brand trust and conversation.
For brands that want to stay relevant and resonant, experiential isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s quickly becoming more important. It’s not about gimmicks, it’s about making experiences that reflect your values and push for real business results.
With over 25 years of experience in experiential events and brand activations, our team knows how to design campaigns that get results.
Contact Blueprint Partners today
to start planning your next experiential marketing campaign.