To help you better understand this technique and apply it properly in your business, so that it resonates with your customers and turns them into brand ambassadors, in this article I’ll share some keys to getting the most out of it.<\/p>\n\n
Specifically, I’ll tell you:<\/p>\n\n
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- What experiential marketing is and its real value.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Real, successful examples of brands that use it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Tips for applying experiential marketing to your mailings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
Definition of experiential marketing<\/h2>\n\n
Experiential marketing is a strategy that aims to get customers to live an experience with the brand, instead of just seeing an ad.<\/strong> That experience, which can be physical or digital, makes them remember the brand and talk about it. It is also known as experience marketing<\/strong> or experiential marketing<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n
With this type of marketing, as its name suggests, the aim is for the customer to live experiences. This way, the memory lasts over time and creates a closer bond than any other traditional marketing strategy.<\/p>\n\n
But before looking at how to develop an effective experiential marketing strategy, let’s see exactly what it is, what its potential benefits are and how it differs from emotional marketing.<\/p>\n\n
Experiential marketing: definition and real value<\/h3>\n\n
\nExperiential marketing<\/div>\nIt is one of the least intrusive advertising techniques there is, since it focuses on stimulating consumers through their senses to make them feel an emotion, without needing to use advertising resources.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nExperiential marketing is a journey that lets users associate positive emotions with a particular brand. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n
The idea is to make them feel they are living a unique and unforgettable experience through emotions and neuromarketing techniques. As a result, this type of marketing leaves an immeasurable and lasting mark on the consumer’s mind, much deeper than any other marketing action.<\/p>\n\n
A customer will choose a particular product or service because of the emotional journey it conveys right before the purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
With this concept in mind, these are the benefits your brand will get if you apply it correctly:<\/p>\n\n
\u25cf Differentiation:<\/strong> It is a way to set yourself apart from the rest, who still use traditional marketing actions to attract their target audience.<\/p>\n\n
\u25cf Brand identification:<\/strong> That emotional journey will lead users, almost unconsciously, to associate the brand with positive experiences.<\/p>\n\n
\u25cf Recommendation:<\/strong> Both word of mouth and social media are the channels users rely on to recommend the brand to their friends and family.<\/p>\n\n
\u25cf Engagement:<\/strong> The interaction happens in the moment, and this will make users trust the brand more, even turning them into loyal customers.<\/p>\n\n
\u25cf Increased sales:<\/strong> An increasingly close relationship with your audience will let you improve the user experience, and you’ll see this reflected in your sales.<\/p>\n\n
Where experiential marketing comes from<\/h3>\n\n
The idea became popular in the late nineties. In 1998, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore talked about the \u201cexperience economy\u201d: companies no longer compete only with products and services, but with the experiences they offer.<\/p>\n\n
A year later, in 1999, Professor Bernd Schmitt published Experiential Marketing<\/em>. In it, he describes five types of experiences a brand can create:<\/p>\n\n
Experience<\/th> What it aims for<\/th> Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Sensations<\/td> Reaching people through the senses<\/td> The smell of a store or the music in a venue<\/td><\/tr> Feelings<\/td> Stirring emotions<\/td> A surprise that makes you smile<\/td><\/tr> Thoughts<\/td> Making people think or sparking curiosity<\/td> A challenge or a game<\/td><\/tr> Actions<\/td> Inviting people to do something<\/td> Trying the product, taking part in a race<\/td><\/tr> Relationships<\/td> Making people feel part of a group<\/td> A customer community or a fan event<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n ![\"Infographic](\"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5-experiencias-marketing-experiencial-1024x576.png\")
<\/figure>\n\nThe best campaigns combine several at once.<\/p>\n\n
Experiential marketing vs. emotional marketing: are they the same?<\/h3>\n\n
Experiential marketing and emotional marketing are closely related. In fact, experiential marketing uses emotions to create bonds between brand and users, but they are not the same.<\/p>\n\n
On the one hand, emotional marketing uses different techniques to reach consumers<\/strong>, such as storytelling, where emotions come first and the brand takes a back seat.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe goal of emotional marketing<\/div>\nis none other than to study how the human brain reacts to an advertising campaign when making the decision to buy a product or service.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nSo emotional marketing focuses on analyzing how the unconscious part of the brain works in order to improve advertising campaigns.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe goal of experiential marketing<\/div>\nis to generate emotions and experiences when users go to make a purchase or try a product, making them the main protagonists.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nSo this type of marketing aims for customers to make their purchase decision based on their positive experiences<\/strong>, which goes beyond an emotional story.<\/p>\n\n
This table sums up the differences with other related techniques:<\/p>\n\n
Technique<\/th> What it focuses on<\/th> Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Experiential marketing<\/td> The customer living something with the brand<\/td> A store where you try the product<\/td><\/tr> Emotional marketing<\/a><\/td> Telling a story that moves people<\/td> A Christmas ad<\/td><\/tr> Sensory marketing<\/td> The five senses<\/td> The scent of a clothing chain<\/td><\/tr> Guerrilla marketing<\/a><\/td> Surprising people in the street on a small budget<\/td> A bench turned into an ad<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n 10 examples of experiential marketing<\/h2>\n\n
To help you better understand this technique, let’s look at some examples of brands that have used experiential marketing in their campaigns, some of which even went viral thanks to the power of social media.<\/p>\n\n
Would you also like to always be top of mind for your target audience? Then let’s see how these brands did it so you can get inspired:<\/p>\n\n
Here are 10 examples of brands that have turned their message into an experience:<\/p>\n\n
Brand<\/th> Type of experience<\/th> The idea<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Carozzi<\/td> Action<\/td> A giant keyboard for tweeting with your feet<\/td><\/tr> Heineken<\/td> Feelings<\/td> Swapping your flight for a surprise destination<\/td><\/tr> Google<\/td> Sensations<\/td> Pop-up stores that gave away donuts<\/td><\/tr> IKEA<\/td> Relationships<\/td> A night in a store for a group of fans<\/td><\/tr> Red Bull<\/td> Thoughts<\/td> A jump from the stratosphere broadcast live<\/td><\/tr> LEGO<\/td> Action<\/td> An entire building to build and play in<\/td><\/tr> Ben & Jerry’s<\/td> Feelings<\/td> One day a year of free ice cream<\/td><\/tr> Spotify<\/td> Relationships<\/td> A personal year in review to share<\/td><\/tr> Airbnb<\/td> Action<\/td> Activities hosted by locals<\/td><\/tr> Sephora<\/td> Sensations<\/td> Trying on makeup with augmented reality<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n 1. Carozzi: Tweetfeet, tweets with your feet<\/h3>\n\n
This brand created a large keyboard so people could write tweets with their feet. It was an action against a sedentary lifestyle, very much in line with Carozzi<\/strong>‘s values, since the brand sponsors the Santiago de Chile marathon, where this action took place.<\/p>\n\n
A super fun experience for everyone. Watch the video and judge for yourself:<\/p>\n\n