Spiro recently sat down with Jennifer Shankman, EVP of Brand Activation Events, and Julie Haferkamp, SVP of Sales, to talk about all things hyper-experience, cultivating an ego-free culture, and striving to take brands from like to like to love.
Check out their findings below:
Q: What key factors do you consider when creating immersive and groundbreaking brand experiences that reflect current trends but also push boundaries?
Jen> Well, you have to look at the brand to see what disruption looks like. It could just be trying to do something different.
Whenever possible, I like to ask, “How can you embed your brand into the culture?” So make it an experience where people can interact with your brand.
Julie> Yes, absolutely. You have to honor the brand itself before you can disrupt anything. Risk tolerance varies.
The brands that do this best know that experience cannot exist in isolation. Like when Coors Light changed its cans within 48 hours of its billboard being destroyed. This campaign extended throughout the entire supply chain.
Q: How do you balance creativity and strategy when designing outstanding experiences?
Jen> For me, strategy comes first. Without it, even the most creative ideas won’t produce the desired results.
The strategic framework is the foundation. It guides the creative process and creates impact. This is how you ensure that your events achieve measurable results.
Julie> Exactly. Creativity and strategy have to go hand in hand. It’s not just about organizing an event – it’s about making sure the experience meets the needs of both your brand and your customers.
Q> How do you adapt brand experiences to different industries and audiences while ensuring they are current and innovative?
Jen> It really comes down to strategy and doing your homework so you can understand what the audience is looking for and how to find solutions for your specific industry.
A human way of expressing “innovation” is to be curious. Explore. Do research. Ask questions.
Julie> Related to that – and this is so important – we never look at an event as a repeat. Look at what you can do differently.
Even if only 10% is new, this element of risk is critical to testing and learning. Ask yourself, “Are you even in the game of change?”
Q> What advice would you give to brands looking to strengthen their connection with their customers through experiential marketing?
Julie> First, dive deep into your brand’s micro-communities – the customers who already love your brand.
If they love it, they’ll talk about it for you. It’s all about unleashing the power of your brand community. A great example is Taco Bell’s cantinas. They’ve managed to create a space that resonates with their loyal fans.
Jen> She nailed it: Advocacy is key. If you can harness and unleash the power of your brand community, you’ll turn your customers into your best marketers.
Q> Speaking of loyal fans, tell me about “brand gravity” and what role does it play in creating transformative brand experiences?
Jen> Brand Gravity is all about brand love. It’s that bonding factor that makes consumers choose your brand over countless other options.
Experiential marketing is incredibly good at creating that connection through meaningful brand activation. But to do it right, you have to have a high threshold for what resonates. Through our industry assessments, we have a good sense of what will hit that brand.
Julie> I can’t say it better than that. We always strive for brand love.
And we’re excited to partner with an experience agency that has a proprietary methodology for helping brands measure and grow their brand awareness. This allows us to work with brand and event marketers to get their customers to not just like the brand, but to love it. Or turn them from customers who don’t even try their brand into loyal advocates.
Q> How will you use your experience to strengthen the relationship between brand and agency and further develop the offering to the client?
Jen> To achieve impactful results, a strong partnership between brand and agency is critical.
Honesty and transparency are crucial to building trust and long-term relationships. Often the best ideas arise from tension and healthy debate.
We are not afraid to have an unpopular opinion and express it in a diplomatic way. It’s about being authentic and finding the best way forward together.
Julie> Exactly. Until then, we need to listen. Agencies need to hear what brands want and what their business needs are before offering ideas. Ultimately, the magic happens when everyone is on the same page.
Printing is a privilege, and if you are in the right place, you will end up making diamonds.
Jen> Absolutely. We want to be a strategic partner, so we first need to understand what our customers are trying to achieve.
We do whatever it takes to find the right solution for our clients. Part of expanding our capabilities is helping event marketers understand and imagine how much they can accomplish with us and all of our service offerings.
Q> And how does your approach help foster our agency’s culture and core values?
Jen> We believe in a human approach to leadership. It’s about making sure everyone is heard and that people have time and space to develop.
We’re not the type to lead from an ivory tower – we stand by our teams, work with them and support them every step of the way.
Julie> Exactly – everyone should feel like they can bring their authentic self to work. Especially in a remote environment. Inclusion means making sure every voice at the table is heard.
We are not perfect and we will make mistakes, but what matters is the effort to work together and grow together.
That’s the kind of culture we strive to foster – a no-ego approach that focuses on being good people and even better colleagues.
Q: How do you see the experiential marketing industry evolving over the next five years and how can marketers stay ahead of these changes?
Jen> Consumer demand for integration is pushing the industry to new limits. Consumers expect a seamless experience across all channels.
The blurring boundaries of the retail experience are just the beginning. When people attend an event, they expect the brand experience to come to life seamlessly.
And remember: marketers have channels, consumers don’t. Expectations will only continue to rise and we must meet them.
Julie> I would like to add that even as AI and technology evolve, humans will always be humans.
They will still crave connection and want to connect with the brands they love. That core ethos will always be there and that’s what we’ll always focus on.
