Five reasons why Experiential Marketing campaigns can fail in the On-trade

The drinks industry are masters at experiential marketing.  In fact, as a sector they have been and still remain in the top three investors in our media, and evidence suggests that this is not going to change anytime soon. 

So why is it that a great creative idea can sometimes get lost in the On-trade.  Brands invest heavily in crafting their brand story and making a promise to their consumers, yet at the moment of truth the experience can feel incongruent.

At the Network Experiential we are passionate believers in the fact that implementation and creativity go hand in hand when it comes to the On-trade.  Here we look at five reasons why experiential marketing campaigns can sometimes fail…

1.Poor planning

Simple but so important.  An On-trade experiential campaign takes a disproportionately long time to plan and organise.  The result of poor planning usually manifests itself in activity taking place in the wrong outlet type at the wrong time and talking to the wrong crowd, ouch. Our tips are firstly; give yourself enough time, ideally a 90-day lead-time.  Then develop a ‘client-agency’ project team that includes a representative from each client department, especially field sales.  Identify your target outlets and meticulously segment your data accordingly.  It is critical at this stage to sense check the data with the field executives, or conversely, task the field team to select their best outlets. 

2. Lack of trade engagement 

In the search of the perfect consumer experience, brand campaigns can sometimes miss out the trade.  The trade plays the role of gatekeeper and will ultimately be the ones who advocate your brand after you have moved on.  Brands forget that the trade, of all levels, are continuously bombarded by brands, so take due care to capture their imagination and reward success.  Treat them as you would do the consumer.  From a practical point of view, include them on briefings throughout the campaign process and be sure to measure their hard work, mystery-shopping works well in the On-trade.  From a broader perspective, inspire them through creative ideas in line with the wider campaign.  

3. Overcomplicated idea

The On-trade can be a tough place to engage people in an instant. We have witnessed brands’ over complicating what should be a simple message. Taste this, redeem that, enter this and once you’re done, go online to share. Argh. The On-trade is about social time for your audience, so don’t intrude too much and expect them to over participate. Our best advice is to keep things SIMPLE, do fewer things very well.  Make sure the idea is consistent with the wider campaign but don’t ‘shoehorn’ an ATL mechanic. And finally social media can definitely play a role in On-trade experiences but don’t use it as a bolt on, make online intrinsic to what you’re saying and doing overall.

4. Poor experience execution 

This can often be one of the main culprits of underperforming activity and quite simply it is not doing the basics properly.  We’ve identified three key areas of the experience to get right and they are firstly, the people. Select the right brand experts to represent your brand and engage with your audience. Invest in an inspiring briefing session and give them a clear script to get your key messages across.  Secondly, the sample; stop at nothing to make every serve or pour absolutely perfect as this will ultimately do the talking. And finally, be very clear on the call to action, whether it is go to the bar to redeem or go online to share, walk your consumer through it.  

5. No measurement 

“If you’re not keeping score, you’re just practicing” John McEnroe once said.  All to often clients rely on basic reporting to justify their On-trade experiential activity, so how can we know if it ever truly works?  Our advice is to set your evaluation objectives at the very outset and use these objectives to define your operational approach, such as numbers and types of outlets.  Identify, a panel of outlets and negotiate the use of their sales data both pre, during and post your live activity to measure success.  Use a control panel to compare and contrast the data.  If you want to go the extra mile, collect consumer details and do a ‘call-back’ to gauge recall, perception change and behavior change.

The Network Experiential offer a planning, creative, staffing and implementation service for On-trade experiences, as well as many other channels and environments. Please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest to keep up to date with new news and industry insight.

Simon Couch, Director of Experiential