Notes on branded experiences from Create & Cultivate Seattle 2017!

1. CREATE &
CULTIVATE9.09.17

2. TODAY:
 What is Create & Cultivate?
 Panel & Speaker Takeaways
 Branded Experiences

3. “THIS IS
BURNING
MAN FOR
WHITE
LADIES.”

5. CREATE & CULTIVATE IS AN ONLINE PLATFORM &
CONFERENCE SERIES
FOR WOMEN WHO WANT TO TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR OWN CAREERS & LIVES.
WHY GO?
 Bloggers/Vloggers/Entrepreneurs/Micro to Macro Influencers
 Social & Content Centric Programming
 On the Microsoft campus
 SMBs galore!

6. KEY
TAKEAWAYS
PANELS & SPEAKERS

7. ENTREPRENEUR AS INFLUENCER
AS ENTREPRENEUR
• Emily Schuman: Influencer  Entrepreneur
• Ellen Bennett: Entrepreneur  Influencer
• Co-creation of brand with audience
• Ellen B. (Hedley & Bennett poses questions on her personal Instagram Stories to get real-time
feedback.) “Connection is possible so take advantage.”
• Boosting the founder > boosting the business
• Building on influence with brand expansion

8. WE’RE ALL STILL TRYING TO FIGURE THIS
INFLUENCER THING OUT.
• Express spends 70% of their marketing budget on digital/social influencer
programs.
• “You create the framework of the story, but the influencers create the
chapters.” -VP of MarComm at Simon G. Jewelry
• ROI: Struggle to quantify influencer marketing programs.
Recommendation: trackable links, engagement rates, coupons, etc.
to point back to transactions.

9. NUMBERS DON’T MATTER…
INTRO, MICRO-INFLUENCERS AKA ALL OF US
• Express has seen bigger ROI with mid-tier influencers (in the 10-20K range) when
compared to celebrity or top-tier influencers
• They drive a deeply engaged audience vs. a large but disengaged audience
• Many of their “Expressionists” are everyday people who have an engaged, activity or topic-
specific audience.
• Dormify holds a twice-yearly deep focus groups with their brand ambassadors on
platforms, lifestyle choices, etc.
• Give them experiences to get the most valuable return

10. BRANDED
EXPERIENCES
OR: EXPERIENCE AS A MEDIA

13. IF EXPERIENCE ISN’T IN YOUR MEDIA MIX, YOU’RE
PROBABLY MISSING A HUGE OPPORTUNITY.
Focused Audience
Relevance
Affinity
FREE(ish) Organic Reach

14. WHAT IT ISN’T:
 Hand-outs lacking context
 Sending influencers free shit in the mail & crossing your
fingers
WHAT IT IS:
 A 2 (or more) way, authentic interaction
 Visually engaging/sharable (think of the square)
 Relevant
 Community building
 A pop-up or collaboration w/ a larger event (conference,
music festival, gallery, etc.)

15. MEDIA COMPANIES FOR 20-30ish WOMEN
ARE LEADING THE CHARGE.

19. THE IMPACT
OFFLINE EXPERIENCE MEETS ONLINE DISCOVERY.
ANALOG  DIGITAL

20. THE AUDIENCE
20/30-ish AFFLUENT, CAREER DRIVEN, CULTURALLY-
ENGAGED WOMEN (WITH AN ACTIVE INSTAGRAM)
BRANDED EXPERIENCES WORK ESPECIALLY WELL
FOR THIS AUDIENCE BECAUSE:
• receptive to brands that speak to them
• they value community online & offline
• they share without having to be asked to

22. THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GEN Z
• GEN Z will be ripe for branded experiences
• Already being asked to co-create content and products
• They care about getting off of their devices and into the
world
• They’re politically engaged
• They’re receptive to the brands they love

23. THANKS!