At last years’ FIFA World Cup, Visa created an interactive football pitch experience that had an average dwell time of around 60 minutes. With over 120,000 visitors, it generated 7,920,000 engaged minutes with fans, which, compared with online video, equates to $4,752,000 of equivalent media spend.

Behavior 

Behavioral change is a long- and short-term measure. Over 10 years’ worth of research has proven the power of brand engagement in driving long-term perception and consequent preference and lifetime value. The depth of engagement measure gives us confidence in this long-term effect from experiential.

But experiential can also drive immediate short-term behaviors. By focusing on conversion metrics such as lead generation, product trialing or even product purchase, the power of experiences for short-term behavior shifts can be determined.

Reach 

Finally, by looking at the multiplier effect of the story of an experiential activation on traditional media and social channels, the reach of the experience can be measured.

Experiential marketing has traditionally focused on in-person experiences, but there is now significant additional value in designing experiences to be newsworthy and shareable. This creates a multiplier effect on social and traditional media, which can be measured with social listening and media monitoring tools. For Jaguar’s launch of the F-Pace, the vehicle was spectacularly driven around a giant Hot Wheels-style loop-the-loop in front of a select audience; rooted in experience, the story and video went viral, reaching a total of 935 million, increasing awareness of the vehicle and reappraisal of the brand. 

Technology has fundamentally changed our ability to gather data from experiences, making it easier to measure the effectiveness of activities, both for people who participate and those who are reached through additional indirect channels. By looking at, for example, the depth of engagement or the reach of a story, you are provided with data to make the comparison of experiential marketing against other channels. With these methods of measuring, marketers can build a like-for-like picture of the effectiveness of their experiential.