The Power of Immersive and Interactive Marketing

What's more exciting, listening to a story or experiencing it for yourself? Marketing and public relations is all about storytelling, and the best stories are the ones that create lasting memories. That's why immersive and interactive marketing is so powerful. It invites your audience to be active participants in your story and feel like they're on the ride with you.

This idea was sparked when I remembered a Trix Cereal campaign from my childhood, "The Great Trix Train Robbery." It was a fairly simple campaign, just two commercials that ran in the summer of 2003. The first commercial showed the Trix rabbit plotting to steal Trix from the Trixpress train, in disguise. Several characters were shown looking suspiciously like the Trix rabbit. As the train passed through a tunnel, all the Trix was stolen, and the viewer was directed to buy Trix products to collect clue cards and figure out who stole the Trix before the train arrived in New York (when the next commercial would premiere). From what I remember, you could also go online to download a clue tracker and eliminate suspects. I wasn't even a fan of Trix, but 8-year-old me was so invested in this story and felt like a little detective! The second commercial aired later on and revealed which character was actually the rabbit in disguise. This campaign truly took the form of an immersive story, with a call-to-action in the beginning, audience interaction in the middle, and a fulfilling conclusion at the end.

These days, companies tend to utilize smartphones and augmented reality (AR) for interactive marketing. In 2011, Volkswagen connected their app to a print ad to let people virtually "test drive" their vehicles and try out their new Lane Assist, Adaptive Lights, and Cruise Control features using AR. In 2016, Gatorade partnered with Snapchat (the social media platform best known for AR features) to create a "playable video game ad" on the app celebrating Serena Williams' tennis career.

Television and smartphones aside, immersive and interactive marketing can also be done in person, and while the reach isn't as wide, the impact is more powerful. Themed, promotional, corporate, and fundraising events are a great way to get your supporters together and form strong bonds with them by creating lasting memories...Marketing stunt pranks are another form of interactive marketing that can have a powerful impact, like the 2013 "Carrie" telekinesis prank pulled at a NYC coffee shop to promote the upcoming movie. Those should be used sparingly, though.

While not everyone has the budget for a big interactive campaign that uses cutting edge technology and engineering, these campaigns show that it's important to think outside the box when it comes to planning your campaign. Marketing should be fun and entertaining! Regardless of your brand persona, you want people to like you and think of you. Interactive and immersive marketing is a creative way to connect with your audience and draw them into your story. It creates magic.