Marketing the Experience

Is it a pair of tickets to the symphony or is it a couple re-engaging with the music that was playing when they first met?

Is it a new computer or is it an ability to virtually connect with your grandchildren who live across the country?

Is it a ticket to a baseball game or is it your sons first time seeing the Green Monster?

Each of the above scenarios detail pure emotional experiences that consumers are engaging with everyday. Yet oftentimes, when we market our products, we are constantly selling the value prop, benefits, why it's better than the competition over the pure emotional connection this produce enables. Apple has done an A+ job of marketing the experience with iPod and continues to tap into that with their iPhone advertising.

Why not market the experience the product enables over the product itself? In the new world powered by digital media (TV, Web, Mobile), it's becomming increasingly difficult for Marketers to get our messages across. Extending your brands into relevant experiences that consumers are passionate about is a great way to drive relevance and engagement.

IAB Conference

I served on a panel at the IAB - Social Media / UGC Leadership conference in New York on June 2nd. The panel was focused on 'What's hot and what's next in Social Media'. I am lucky to sit in a digital media strategy role at Microsoft where we can innovate within technology and social platforms across the large global campaigns. We are currently working on advertising on blogs, facebook gadgets, building relationships with key influencers, and also have several leading bloggers within the company. In terms of what is next, I really focused back on the 'Why' and for your given campaign or company goals - what is your product and who are you trying to sell it to? There are several free to market tools - google blog search, Technorati, Digg, Social networks, ... that will tell you what consumers are saying, how they are engaging, and who is influencing these conversations. Building that discipline is critical prior to engaging in anything around 'what's next'...