Despite a genuine desire to tap into the full experiential potential of their brands, many businesses still operate within a compartmentalised manufacturing culture which restricts the potential for the kind of cross-functional teamwork that is essential for effective experiential design. Over the next three to five years we can expect to see many more businesses embarking upon specific culture-change initiatives designed to create a climate within which brand experience and experiential design can flourish.
If businesses are to fully exploit the potential of experiential design, they will need to rethink their approach to the segmentation and allocation of their total marketing and communications spend. Traditionally, this has been done on the basis of spend in consumer-facing media (TV, print, direct marketing) as opposed to a more media-neutral, ideas-led approach to creating consumer spaces, places, moments and experiences.
The multi-disciplinary, multimedia nature of experiences - along with the fact that many can produce revenue in their own right - will therefore require the development of more sophisticated commercial and financial models to identify how best to invest in their ongoing experiential strategies and programmes.
Over the next three to five years, we can expect those wishing to profit from experiential design to make a significant investment in the training of those they employ with this responsibility. Areas of interest will include emotional-led research, ideas-led business planning and operational expertise and cross-functional team building.
We can also expect to see a proliferation of new research models, techniques and specialist consultants in this field as corporations look for advice on how best to unlock their experiential potential. Key questions will include:
- What experiences should we be staging?
- How should these be staged?
- How should these be resourced and managed?
- What investment will they require?
- What is the brand and business return on this investment?
As the relationship between brands and consumers evolves, we can expect to see new genres of experiential offerings emerge. These will not only be created by the brand for the benefit of the consumer, but in some instances might be co-created, operated or even owned by the consumer on behalf of the brand.
In such instances, the brand may use its knowledge, skills and resources to network together its consumer base, enabling them to become 'actors' in experiences they have co-created for themselves, as opposed to merely being the 'audience' for a pre-staged experience.