Hands-on Facilitates a Faster Purchase Decision Jack Morton Worldwide, describing experiential marketing, quotes from publications to make the point. Prefacing these excerpts, he notes
that experiential marketing - inspiring audiences with 360-degree experiences that engage hearts, minds and senses - isn't a trend. It's a 21st-century marketing imperative.
According to
Forrester Research, his presentation starts, experiential marketing spending has grown to $11.2 billion, capturing nearly 80% of marketing service dollars. Grocery Headquarters says that today's
consumers are harder to reach... busier, more distracted. The Economist reports that media fragmentation and cluttered sales channels make it harder to impact customers with a focused message. James
Gilmore, co-author of The Experience Economy, says "Marketers are realizing that it's becoming very difficult to differentiate their brands without an experience." Or as one marketer put it, notes
Morton, "You need to create an experience that makes hearts beat faster. People need a feeling. Without emotion, a product is just a product."
Emarketer summarizes the January 2004 report from
Jack Morton, noting that 43% of female consumers and 29% of male consumers in the US say experiential marketing leads them to buy a product quickly. And the Morton report, compares these percentages
to TV commercials and direct mail, and finds that experiential marketing is the most influential among women, while 34% of men say TV ads are the most influential.
Extremely of Very
Influential in Purchasing (% of respondents)
| Men | Women |
| Presence of an on-site representative | 83% | 82% |
| Ability to experience with friends/family | 53% | 67% |
| Information about competing products/brands | 54% | 48% |
| On-site kiosks to provide product/brand information | 53% | 47%
|
| Ability to experience alone | 49% | 48% |
Source: Jack Morton Worldwide, January 2004
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