8 Great Experiential Marketing Examples

Experiential marketing allows you to form a meaningful connection with your customer to achieve your brand goals. Still, executing an experiential marketing campaign successfully can be difficult! That’s why we’ve rounded up several successful experiential marketing examples to provide you with high-powered inspiration. We explore not only strategy, but also offer some opinions on why these campaigns worked so well. 

Lean Cuisine’s #WeighThis Campaign

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Regrettably, roughly 91% of women are self-conscious about their weight and either try dieting or wish they could do something to change the way they look. Thousands of products, dieting plans, food, and even gym memberships are specifically targeted and sold to women (as well as men) promising to make the consumer feel and look better. Rather than reframing society’s beauty and health standards for women (which in many cases simply aren’t realistic or attainable), brands too often advertise products and services that exacerbate those unhealthy standards. 

In 2016, Lean Cuisine went in a different direction. To help women celebrate accomplishments unrelated to physical appearance, the frozen foods brand created the #WeighThis campaign to support its target audience’s sense of self-worth.

Campaign details

The #WeighThis campaign took a multi-faceted approach to reach its audience. These included: 

• A video in which women walked up to a scale and were asked if they wanted to weigh themselves. When most of them answered that they didn’t, an interviewer agreed, and told them to instead weigh themselves with what really mattered to them. The women were asked about their biggest accomplishments and went on to share touching stories detailing their life experiences.
• An interactive art station in New York City inviting people to take an actual scale, write their biggest accomplishments on it, and hang it up on a wall for others to appreciate.
• A social media campaign inviting women all over the world to share their accomplishments with the hashtag #WeighThis.

Why this experiential marketing worked 

Lean Cuisine had suffered five years of declining sales due to its association with dieting. The #WeighThis campaign effectively rebranded the brand as a healthy lifestyle choice. The experiential marketing elements resonated with the target audience of successful women all over the world.

In an awards application, the agency stated, “#WeighThis was an integral part of Lean Cuisine’s holistic turnaround strategy and largely contributed to the brand seeing its first sales increase in six years despite a decline in media spend year-over-year.” The campaign also increased: 

• Positive brand perception (by 33%) 
• Year-over-year conversation about Lean Cuisine by 178% across social media
• Competitive share of voice by 19 percentage points, year-over-year, during the campaign timeframe year-over-year. 

Having determined Lean Cuisine “lacked emotional resonance” with its prospective customers, the brand sought out to change that. Their multichannel approach leveraged video, an interactive brand stand, and social media to tug at the heartstrings and empower women.

STōK’s “Brewed Low and Slow to Make You Go”

Campaign Background

STōK wanted to make cold brew lovers—people who are typically very loyal to one or two cold brew brands—trust a new player in the game. The company offers a delicious cold brew coffee, with different varieties designed for many coffee preferences. However, they were having difficulty connecting with already-brand loyal consumers. 

To capture new coffee drinkers and turn them into STōK cold brew lovers, A Little Bird chose to leverage the brand’s “slow-brewed, like all of the best ideas” messaging in a carefully designed experiential campaign that asked coffee drinkers to slow down and open their mind to new ideas.

Campaign Description

The campaign strategy leaned into social media and influencer content, but also used product sampling to achieve its goals. On a brand experience tour, STōK employees and volunteers distributed samples of cold brew to pop-up guests.

By seamlessly integrating STōK’s colors and catchy branding into the physical, immersive experience consumers were able to learn more about STōK, taste the product, and see for themselves what makes it different from other brands.

Additionally, the campaign incorporated user-generated content (UGC) from the experience and showcased influencers on their social media channels. For additional exposure, ALB also incorporated retail partnerships to establish brand credibility in spaces where STōK employees weren’t necessarily present to interact directly with the consumers. 

Why this is a great example of experiential marketing

ALB’s customized experiential marketing strategy that helped raise sales by 9% across all the targeted regions. Why did it work? We credit it to our attention to brand detail. We ensured the pop-ups matched STōK messaging and its aesthetic. Then we curated social posts across numerous social media channels for consistency and to increase outreach even more. 

At the product sampling brand activations, STōK demonstrated its confidence in its brand by inviting people to interact with the product first-hand. Having the brand experience tour staffed by STōK employees where possible also enhanced its credibility and gave the campaign an ever-important authenticity.

KitKat’s Free No WiFi Zone Campaign

Campaign Description

KitKat’s experiential marketing campaign happened in 2013, but its message would still resonant today. The chocolate bar, which has had its “Have a Break, Have a KitKat” tagline for over 50 years, recognized the need for society to take a break from the online world too. Its Free No WiFi Zone encouraged people to break free from hours scrolling on social media or posting online to build healthy interpersonal relationships.

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Campaign details

KitKat’s experiential marketing company created an oasis in Amsterdam, Netherlands by blocking all cellular signals in their allotted space. Along with free KitKat bars, the brand installed tables, chairs, and benches (colored in KitKat’s signature red) for people to enjoy a break from their devices and enjoy the physical world by themselves or with peers and family. 

Why we liked this experiential marketing example

The brand experience KitKat created for consumers felt organic, despite the huge KitKat logos and themed-furniture everywhere in the 5-meter radius. Taking advantage of guerilla marketing, product sampling, and event marketing tactics, this experiential campaign delighted consumers by providing them with a break from their online devices and encouraging them to spend time with themselves and others. Plus, they got to enjoy free chocolate! 

#YassoGood Tour

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Consumers have an abundance of choices when they look in the ice cream aisle. One brand alone might offer 70+ different flavors! Fortunately, this means frozen treat consumers are typically open to trying new innovations in this category.

For Yasso, though, the challenge was in getting people to try frozen snacks made of frozen Greek yogurt, nonfat milk, and healthier sweeteners.

Campaign Description

In partnership with Yasso, A Little Bird created a Yasso-themed brand experience. At 22 #YassoGood stops along the product sampling tours, we set up a traditional ice cream rebranded for Yasso. Visitors could also interact with an ice cream sandwich seesaw and a “Mint to Be” bench—both of which offered photo opportunities people could share online.

A particular challenge? Yasso’s product must be kept cold! It can be difficult to execute frozen food sampling correctly. But our expertise in mobile tours and frozen food campaigns ensured customers experienced the product exactly as intended. 

The results? People warmed up to this frozen snack brand

In fact, more than 740,0000 people tried Yasso’s yummy treats and were exposed to the Yasso brand through a unique, personalized experience. By touting the hashtag #YassoGood throughout the tour, and giving people ready-made props for social media posts, we also ensured consumers could connect with the brand even if they weren’t present at the physical experiential marketing event.

Warner Bros’ Barbie Selfie Generator

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When Warner Bros. launched the Barbie Movie worldwide, they knew throwing around the Barbie name wasn’t enough. They didn’t just want peoples’ attention. They wanted moviegoers to be inspired and invested enough to purchase tickets.

To generate interest, Warner Bros. designed an experiential marketing campaign where people could take selfies with movie-branded, AI-generated backgrounds.

Campaign Description

Warner Bros pushed the barbieselfie.ai generator to photo editing app PhotoRoom. This selfie generator removed the background of the user’s existing photo and inserted a Barbie-esque filter. It was easy to use and appealed to nostalgia with Barbie-themed fonts, colors, and classic shapes. 

To raise awareness of the campaign, the brand also inserted influencers into images (e.g., Dua Lipa in the image above). 

Why this experiential campaign worked

In the end, the filters were applied to more than 13 million pictures. The movie also grossed more than $155 million on its opening weekend alone. 

The Barbie campaign demonstrated that brands don’t need to over-complicate their experiential marketing efforts. While the campaign required careful strategic planning on the behalf of Warner Bros., it made things simple for users to personalize photos and share their results.

#SoBeNotSorry Experiential Campaign

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When SoBe turned 21, the brand was facing fears its customer base had outgrown its drink. So, company leaders decided to invest in experiential marketing events to appeal to new consumers. 

Becoming someone’s new favorite drink in a highly saturated and competitive market is a challenge, but a super creative campaign could help SoBe reach a new generation of brand loyalists.

Campaign Description

Naturally, the best way to reach the cool kids was to have a 21st birthday party-themed experiential marketing event in Las Vegas. A Little Bird invited SoBe’s target demographic to enjoy SoBe cocktails poolside at the SLS Hotel in Vegas. Guests played SoBe-themed games to win branded merch and listened to a live performance by Charli XCX. 

The party was so cool that other celebrities also attended and leveled up the fun. This helped the #SoBeNotSorry campaign strike UGC gold. People uploaded their videos and pictures, and the carefully crafted event went viral even beyond Vegas. 

What worked in Sin City 

Of course, a visit to Vegas is always an experience. But this experiential event was successful because A Little Bird first did comprehensive research. We ensured the venue, activities, and musical act appealed to the local target audience. Plus, we knew that giving away samples and merchandise at a popping pool party would no doubt make an impact and increase SoBe brand awareness.

Apple’s #ShotOniPhone Campaign

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Even super successful companies still need to advertise their products. In some ways, the pressure is greater. Take Apple. It’s not just a brand—it's a lifestyle. The tech company needs to keep people invested through compelling messaging, value alignment, and super sleek products. One lame advertisement or poor product activation could damage this powerhouse’s credibility.

Campaign Description

You might be surprised today to learn the #ShotOniPhone campaign started in 2014. The campaign was initially conceptualized as a contest. Apple planned to select a few favorite #ShotOniPhone user-generated photos and use them in marketing campaigns. These pictures have been seen in commercials, on huge billboards, and in/outside Apple Stores themselves.

Ten years later, Apple still has people publishing their most photogenic shots on social media with the hashtag that gives glory to the quality of the iPhone camera. There are more than 26 million #ShotOniPhone shares to Instagram alone. 

Product activation through participation marketing

This interactive, experiential campaign contributed to increased sales of the iPhone 6s. Apple reported record sales during the quarter the campaign launched. Since then, this participation marketing campaign has boosted brand awareness and also created a sense of community among brand loyalists. 

Celsius’s Unstoppable Campaign

Campaign Background

Celsius is a healthy lifestyle drink that provides clean energy to its customers, whether they’re stepping in the gym for the first time or participating in a hardcore obstacle course that tests human strength. The brand wanted to connect with athletes of all types while connecting the joy of exercise to healthy habits. They partnered with A Little Bird to create an experiential campaign conveying their message to the target audience. 

Campaign Description

Tough Mudder is a challenging race full of rough terrain, elevation changes, and tricky obstacles. Only the most daring athletes make it through on the other side. A Little Bird embraced the challenge of designing an event for Celsius that provided athletes with an immersive brand experience right next to the Tough Mudder course. 

Our team set up three Celsius warm-up stations and a product tasting bar. We created opportunities for photos and shared Celsius swag while showing our support for Tough Mudder attendees and their healthy lifestyle. Celsius also provided promotional offers to the pop-up guests to encourage them to purchase the brand’s product locally. 

Leaning into the power of product sampling

Overall, Celsius distributed more than 220,000 samples to people across 22 different locations while providing a memorable experience for the thousands in attendance at the Tough Mudder and other event locations. The experiential marketing ROI for Celsius came from increased customer engagement and sales.

Let people experience your brand too

Experiential marketing campaigns are comparable to fingerprints. At the end of the day, each is completely different and unique. We hope these experiential marketing examples give you a better idea of what this type of marketing can do for your brand.

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We’d be lying if we said these types of experiential marketing are effortless. Yet the effort is worth it to connect to our clients’ target audiences in a seamless, customized way. Let’s talk today about our create experiential marketing strategies for your brand too.

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