How to Leverage In-Store Events to Make an Impact in the Moment - and Beyond
As a marketer, how do you rise above the pack regarding brand engagement and awareness - when everyone else is trying to be there, too?
Consumers are craving community, connection, and companionship, so brands that deliver a human touch are now at the leading edge of digital and in-person marketing efforts. This approach of Cultivating loyalty also happens to be a tried-and-true method of withstanding economic challenges.
The #1 innovative technique for growing a market: New Store Openings and Experiences. It’s no small feat to draw customers out of their homes and into a physical space; so when you do, it’s imperative to delight that customer and even more crucial to capitalize on the visuals you capture from it.
Because when you expand your brand’s footprint beyond the moment through impactful visual storytelling, your message comes to life, and you:
Deepen your connection with your audience through your strong commitment to community engagement.
Expand community efforts to build more brand loyalty and awareness.
Reach new markets where people live, work, and shop.
To create visuals that stand head and shoulders above competitors - while cultivating and maintaining customer loyalty - there is no better solution than a cohesive Visual Brand Experience. When photography, videography, and video post-production work to tell your story, the impact of your New Store Opening lasts far beyond the moment.
Risk of Ending the Experience In The Store
What happens when you allow people to walk away from your experience and never hear from you again?
You’ve created a moment, not a story. The difference? A moment may have elements of fun, but a story has meaning, purpose, and insight. A story creates a lasting impression.
Your larger audience doesn’t get the message. Your impact is limited to the people who attended your event. Even if your broader audience happens to hear a snippet of what you created, it takes a complete Visual Brand Experience to help them understand the why behind your experience or your commitment to the community.
You’ve limited yourself to one market. If you end the experience in the store, you’ll never see Sarah share her story with her bestie who lives across the state, and who may have been inspired to participate in your next event or connect with your brand.
We live in a deeply interconnected world. When someone shares or reshares the visuals and the story of your event, your budding reach is infinite.
The Potential of Community Engagement
Rich experiences like New Store Openings provide a two-fold result for brand recognition and loyalty: the initial event and the potential reach of the visuals captured and the content created from the event.
Sharing the message of an in-store event through impactful visuals
that effectively convey the brand story, drives home the consumer recognition that the
brand is loyal to them and, to the community.
In 2022, O Hello Media’s expert photographers and videographers captured content from more than 30 highly successful New Store Openings with Under Armour, with even more scheduled by year’s end.
Under Armour brings in a local youth sports team to “leave their mark” on the store by signing a ball or jersey that remains in-store. Visitors to the store are offered city-specific custom-printed t-shirts as a one-of-a-kind piece of swag.
Pretty rad, right?
The crowds, the urgency, and the connection cultivated through these in-person events sets the stage for long-term brand loyalty; photography, videography, and video post-production of the event provide a curated visual story that captures the experience.
And we know how far-reaching those Visual Brand Experiences can be!
Expanding Your Reach
Now that you’ve captured the visuals from your event, leveraging photographs and video across multiple platforms is the logical next step to making your story evergreen and expansive.
For Client X, O Hello Media captured visuals for a series of TV show experiences for fans across four markets in 2021.
That same content was repurposed to promote 10+ markets in 2022, with the goals of generating excitement, increasing engagement, and driving ticket sales. Market-specific social media campaigns and geotargeting effectively put the right image in front of the right person.
Every component of the Visual Brand Experience served as proof of successful event execution, resulting in high engagement and visibility - not only for the event but also for additional brand partnerships and future sponsorships.
For direct-to-consumer brand, Real Food from the Ground Up, O Hello Media created imagery and a video recap of a local market push in Columbus, Ohio. We highlighted the impact on the local retail store and the community, using content to fuel future marketing initiatives in additional markets.
Both clients leveraged the content we captured to share and reshare those moments of excitement. The initial investment paid off in dividends, ensuring that as many people as possible - across multiple platforms - were able to see and feel the impact.
Bringing it!
By capturing compelling visuals during New Store Openings, you’re extending the length and excitement of the event and creating content that you can share on a greater scale.
In short: Your content becomes completely evergreen. One event allows you to repurpose visuals for multiple initiatives. And your Visual Brand Experience ensures you share a cohesive, single story, complete with all the buzz and connection that you bring to the table.
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O Hello Media can help you shine the spotlight on your Visual Brand Experience and amplify its impacts on your marketing initiatives. Reach out to see how.
