Here at The Producers, making sure we can prove how effective we are in delivering ROI is very important to us, which is why we are so excited about the work the IPM are doing on Experiential Effectiveness and why we hosted our very first “Breakfast Briefing” in December to discuss this hot topic with in the company of the IPM, Pandora, TFL and The Monster.
We grabbed some extra time on the day with Jessica Hargreaves, Chair of the IPM Experiential Council to get the low down on why this is such an important watershed moment for Experiential agencies and brands.
What is ROI?
In marketing, return on investment can mean many things from hard sales to softer scores such as NPS (net promoter score).
Why do you think ROI has been so difficult to measure for experiential up to now?
Experiential is a fairly new channel compared to traditional advertising and required an independent body to lead and until the IPM started this work, agencies hadn’t been willing to share data or models.
Do you think the lack of measurement has had a negative impact on the experiential industry (has it steered clients to more traditional measurable activity instead – PR / media / advertising / digital?)
Brands who engage the full mix of channels are those that win. Take the top 10 consumer brands, they rarely operate through purely traditional channels, they test, learn and embrace all methods of consumer engagement.
The drinks industry have excelled in experiential for years understanding that face to face brand engagement delivers brand advocates.
Tell us about the new Experiential measurement tool you have created at the IPM – why is it so important to the industry?
We started with the simple statement: the ultimate purpose of experiential marketing is to affect the behaviour of the target audience through live engagementand this canand shouldbe measured.
The IPM have amalgamated learnings from their agency & brand collective to create a best practice model of measurement which will allow agencies and brands to be able to benchmark experiential effectiveness.
How will it benefit clients?
The benefit to clients is the ability to have greater transparency and understanding of ‘what good looks like’. It’s vital because industry standards in measurement will help brands justify the value that experiential can deliver in both brand advocacy and hard ROI.
Does every experiential agency / activity now have to use this measurement?
This is about putting best practice in place and measure effectiveness so IPM agencies are actively involved in using this model.
How are you going to get the measurement tool standardised throughout the industry?
We are halfway through a 12 month test phase and starting to get really strong case studies in place . In October we showcased the model and first stage results at the IPA Eff Week, IPM breakfast Briefing and in December we were hosted by The Producers for an intimate ROI Breakfast Briefing but there will be loads more to come so keep an eye on the IPM website for more information.
*The Producers will be joining the group of agencies taking part by putting this model into practice to ensure that the importance and impact of experiential marketing can be measured and ultimately celebrated!