How brands can better leverage new-age experiences to engage with consumers

With the rise of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), marketers have been eagerly exploring various new-age experiences in content creation.

According to the latest study by digital asset management provider Bynder, content production has increased by 56.7% since the year ChatGPT launched. Moreover, the average marketer is predicted to be responsible for creating 23% more content than they do today in 2030.

In fact, new-age technologies such as AI, augmented reality (AR), and digital gaming have been gaining traction as they have helped brands drive more productivity and create different assets for a campaign, said Lisa Leung (pictured second right), director, marketing and brand partnerships, Starbucks Asia Pacific during a panel discussion at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Content 360 Hong Kong. 

"So I think it's multi-dimensional, as well as the formats. It's not just on assets, images, but also on texts and videos as well as audio. So I think the space is really growing rapidly and the opportunities are limitless," she added.

Apart from productivity, AI also creates convenience for content testing to understand the consumer, said Iris Kan (pictured second left), marketing director, Hong Kong and Macau; L’OCCITANE Group during the same panel discussion. 

"Consumer behaviour is changing every day, so that's why we need to test different kinds of content approach and communication so we can put out the best creative content for the consumers," she added.

New technologies also enable brands to engage with target audience via new forms of content expressions and storytelling, according to another panellist Marco Lee (pictured right), deputy head, retail and wealth management marketing, Standard Chartered (Hong Kong).

"Leveraging on new technologies such as martech has given us new ways of doing marketing and we are able to run different marketing results instead of just relying on the traditional media placement," he added.

Creating an authentic experience with new content mediums

Lee took Standard Chartered Hong Kong's recent “JOURNEY・REIMAGINED” travel campaign as an example. The campaign invited local artist Ivana Wong to create immersive experiences transporting people to iconic locations such as Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing and the Northern Lights in Norway, based on the bank's survey.

“The visual effects acting together with the music and sound effects we want to bring into a digital environment to completely immerse the audience into a sensory experience,” Lee said.

Don't miss: Standard Chartered HK unveils AI-reimagined immersive experiences around dream vacations

Similarly, L’OCCITANE Group unveiled an immersive hotel installation at Pacific Place last year. Leveraging AR technology, participants could engage in a virtual tree planting experience, "growing" their digital almond trees. They could also receive a personalised hair care diagnosis.

“This is a really good example of how we really build a connection between the consumer and the brand, not just through a sync communication, but also through an experiential way, which is really interesting, and also the message that we can bring to the consumer,” L’OCCITANE's Kan said.

While many brands have jumped on the AI bandwagon, Starbucks Korea unveiled its NFT project 'STARBUCKS STARLIGHT' earlier this year, the first of its kind for the company in Asia, encouraging customers to incorporate the use of personal cups into their daily lives by offering limited edition NFTs as rewards.

Although the NFT trend may seem to be going downhill within the local market, Starbucks' Leung believes it's still a big hit in some of the Asian markets. "We're going to keep using NFT to roll out phase-two, and phase-three campaigns related to different aspects and different missions of the company," she added.

Overseeing 15 markets across APAC, Leung said Korea, Japan and Taiwan are the markets that have higher maturity in adopting emerging technologies compared to other APAC regions.

This is attributed to how well each market understands their audience and how ready each market is to explore the new space, she said, "because of course, every time you explore in a new space, there's cost to it [...] So I think it's also depending on the level of appetite as well as how much risk they could take."

ROI measurement of new-age experiences

While return on investment (ROI) remains a key focus for marketers and brand owners, Kan said the L'OCCITANE Group places greater value on measuring customer lifetime value (CLV) than short-term product sales from an event.

"It's not just about the one-off event’s ROI, but we also take a long-term view on the value we can provide to consumers and the increased loyalty we can build with our brand from such kind of experiential event,” Kan said. 

Meanwhile, Starbucks' Leung said the majority of its ROI measurement for leveraging new technologies focuses on upper-funnel metrics, such as generating genuine awareness, creating marketing buzz and conversation, and building brand trust and affinity with consumers. However, the brand is also experimenting with ways to leverage these technologies to drive lower-funnel actions, such as click-throughs and potential sales.

"There are use cases where we are experimenting with how, after consumers engage with our AR experiences, we can then convert them through a more private chat through direct message, or by prompting them with vouchers or other ways to really drive them to trial our new products or engage with us in-store," Leung added.

To balance creating immersive experiences for consumers and achieving their business goals, Standard Chartered's Lee said the bank has implemented a full-funnel approach. This involves leveraging technology to drive upper and middle-funnel engagement, while running parallel acquisition efforts such as paid advertising and credit card application campaigns for the lower funnel.

“When we’re running the immersive experience, we didn't set up any acquisition booth on site to capture the leads, because we know that people come here for fun, but they do not want to come here just sign up at credit card,” Lee said. 

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