Experiential marketing has proven, time and again, its ability to enhance brand loyalty and drive sales. But experiential is also a great way to captivate an audience and enable a brand to spread awareness of an important message in thought-provoking fashion.
However, just because a brand wants to communicate a hard-hitting issue, it doesn’t mean they can’t have fun with it at the same time.
Luxury vehicle company BMW recently created a simple experiential campaign to remind drivers about the importance of having the correct tyres and using brakes at an appropriate time when driving in icy conditions.
To accomplish this, the brand created ‘The Moving Billboard’ and placed it on the side of a busy road in Brussels.
To illustrate the dangers of driving in colder weather with insufficient measures in place, when drivers pulled up to the traffic lights on the busy crossroad, the BMW billboard moved backwards to show the dangerous potential skid distance. The clever twist on the standard billboard conveyed the message ‘In winter you would have only stopped here’, instantly bringing the message home to drivers in a real-life, relevant setting.
Although drivers in the campaign’s video can be seen to find the stunt quite amusing, it’s a great example of how a brand has managed to grab audience attention while promoting something that is very serious.
Automotive brands are particularly adept at channeling the power of experiential. Smart Car’s parking stunt impressed us due to being both comical and creative. We also loved Mercedes-Benz’s clever toy car campaign to promote the anti-collision technology that lies within its vehicles.
These are all examples of how leading brands are playing upon some of their key selling points to create engaging campaigns, in hopes of forging stronger relationships with potential consumers.