Some experiences don’t just stay with you. They change you. This is a series of personal stories from our colleagues about the moments that shifted how they think, lead, and work. Hear from our Senior Creative Strategist, Oliver Colegrave.
What happened
It all started when I went to see an experiential activation I’d worked on as a strategist in person for the first time.
I’d worked in social practically my whole career to that point but for this latest job I’d decided to take the plunge and applied for a role at an experiential agency. I thought it would be basically the same work as I’d gotten used to over the previous few years (strategy is strategy I’d told myself over and over).
To a large extent that was true. Audiences still needed to be understood, insights still needed tracking down and cultural trends still needed leveraging.
But there was one massive difference. Unlike in my previous roles at social agencies it was possible to actually watch people engaging with work I’d had a hand in creating, in real time.
And the first time I saw this in person, I was hooked.
What I learned
From that moment on, I realised that it’s this capacity for instant feedback that makes experiential one of the most interesting (and perhaps addictive) spaces to work in as a strategist.
Back when I worked in social media agencies, we asked questions focused on user engagement: “why would anyone click on this?” or “why would someone share this?” – important questions, for sure, but ultimately only concerned with someone’s digital world.
In contrast, experiential marketing requires a different strategic mindset: we ask, “why would anyone bother queuing for this at a music festival?” or “what would make someone want to bring their friends to this experience at Wimbledon.” The stakes are higher and the need for an insightful strategy is greater.
This is ultimately an industry where our audience votes with their entire physical presence. In a world where it’s never been easier to generate synthetic content, there’s something reassuringly real and meaningful about a space where brands connect to their audiences in person.
There’s also an immense feeling of satisfaction which comes from uncovering and understanding the patterns and science behind how people interact with experiences.
The really interesting bit comes when we layer in tools which can quantify this reaction and turn it into data we can use to programme a dynamic environment which changes around our audience, and measure it.
I’m now a few years down the road from this particular experience and I couldn’t imagine myself working in a different kind of agency.
