Gen Z craves community
Indeed, Gen Z consumers are yearning for more opportunities to interact with brands in person rather than on social media. A July report from youth market research firm YPulse revealed that 71% of 13- to 39-year-old consumers are interested in shopping at brand pop-ups or attending other experiential activations, “especially when they’re centered around pop culture moments.” The desire to engage with brands through in-person events was highest among 18- to 24-year-old consumers, 69% of whom expressed interest in attending a brand activation.
Additionally, the vast majority (77%) of the survey’s more than 1,500 respondents, agreed brands should tie experiential activations and product launches to pop culture moments, such as a “themed pop-up for a concert.” Gen Z consumers, in particular, appreciate pop-ups at live music events such as festivals and concerts, with almost two-thirds reporting they’ve been swayed to buy an item at a live music event due to a brand’s advertisement or pop-up, according to a recent report from marketing and advertising agency Merge.
The desire for in-person experiences among young consumers is fueling a “resurgence of experiential” marketing, which is simultaneously driving brands to extend more of their influencer partnerships into the physical world, said Christina Westley, head of influencer marketing at PepsiCo.
“Brands now are thinking strategically on [activations] being more than just like, ‘Oh, we’ll just invite people to get attendance,’ but also, ‘How do we actually integrate talent in the most strategic way?’” she told Ad Age. “And does that mean inviting multiple influencers, or is that crafting an experience around one or a smaller number of influencers?”
Experiential marketing has played a pivotal role in 818 Tequila’s marketing since it was founded by influencer and model Kendall Jenner three years ago, said the brand’s Chief Marketing Officer Kathleen Braine. After all, due to regulations around advertising in the alcohol industry, “if you’re wanting to have that direct connection with a consumer, [experiential] is kind of one of the main avenues that you can do that IRL as an alcohol brand,” she said. But in the past year, the brand has evolved its approach to brand activations to “add the influencer component to them in a more meaningful way,” she said.