An exploration into the use of experiential marketing in Ireland

Abstract

Experiential marketing has an important role to play in the marketing communications strategy. This thesis explores the use of experiential marketing in Ireland by discussing Irish brands commitment to it and by investigating how they deliver and measure their campaigns. A review of relevant literature examines topical areas including; the experience economy, who uses experiential marketing, a move away from traditional marketing, traditional marketing versus experiential marketing mediums and the measurement of experiential marketing.

An exploratory research design is employed; data is collected using a judgment sampling technique from eight in-depth interviews with Irish brand or marketing managers, who have each engaged in an experiential marketing campaign. Four of the brands are from the service sector and four are product providers.

The findings indicate a good level of understanding about experiential marketing amongst participants and the benefits it provides. While some differences exist between the services and product industries use of experiential marketing, the research has clearly identified that experiential marketing does not just differ by industry or product it also differs with each brand- it is flexible and its success is dependent on how creative a brand is and how engaging they want to be. The importance of integrated campaigns is highlighted, as are stringent planning processes and measuring the effectiveness of campaigns.

A number of key criteria for the successful implementation of experiential marketing are identified in the primary research and consequently an experiential marketing score card model is developed and presented to an industry expert, whose feedback validates and supports the proposed model.