Brands will increasingly create proprietary experiential events for their fans in 2020. Experiential marketing events will also overlap more with conferences and festivals. High-end VIP experiences at all types of events will offer premium packages utilizing any amenity. Experiential marketers will also seek to claim more content territory by leveraging the assets and engagements they facilitate. New immersive technologies will be introduced to create "wow factors" for attendees.

2. PREDICTING NEW
TRENDS IN THE
EXPERIENTIAL
MARKETING SPACE
FOR 2020
Here are 10 trends I foresee hitting the
experiential scene in 2020. While most trends
are flashy and short-lived, I tried to focus on
trends that will have a longer impact.

3. BRANDS CREATE
PROPRIETARY
EXPERIENCES
Watch for more brands to stage their own events. I don’t mean
some pop-up or sponsorship. I mean, a legit event where fans of
the brand go crazy for the experience. Think Taco Bell Hotel, Adult
Swim Fan Fest, Land Rover 4xFAR, and BravoCon. These brands
are realizing all of their effort over the years has resulted in
creating genuine consumer love and fandom. Why more brands
aren’t tapping into their popularity is beyond me. Oreo, Weber,
Arby’s, Keurig, DeWalt, Twizzler, Clairol, Nantucket Nectars, J.
Crew, Zillow, Mike & Ike, Bacardi … the list goes on and on … all of
them could stage an event made by and for themselves that
consumers would flock to (if done right, of course).

4. MEETINGS &
FESTS OVERLAP
CES might be the ultimate example of the crossroads
of marketing meetings and festival. What marketing
and media agency isn’t conducting tours on the CES
floor and sessions in hotel suites to engage their
clients? SXSW comes to mind, too, of course. Yet
those are glorified business conferences. 2020 will
see the extension of this trend into consumer-facing
events. Think Coachella, Lollapalooza and
ComplexCon. Smart agencies and venturous
marketers will get down to business at settings that
are more mass consumer-friendly. Why not a session
on Q4 marketing plans before the big act hits the
stage?

5. VIP EXPERIENCES
HAVE NO LIMITS
Events of all sizes and cutting across all sorts of cultural
lines (music fests, sporting events, flower shows, fan
festivals, etc.) have learned they can offer up high-end
VIP experiences for good cash. In 2020, this trend will
continue to spike but with premium prices because rich
people want the amazing story no matter what. Stand
on the field during the Super Bowl, watch the U2 sound
check, get a private cooking lesson with a Top Chef.
Events are really just scratching the surface of what they
can sell. Anything can be packaged and bought in 2020
by event owners. The cravings for elite experiences are
growing.

6. EXPERIENTIAL
FIGHTS FOR
CONTENT
“Content is king” is an old and true statement. Why the
heck experiential has allowed the digital world to grab
content for their own is less a decision than it was just
the order created in the landscape of vendor-agency-
client. Well this new year will show that large
experiential players are fighting to claim some of the
content territory. Experiential creates genuine consumer
experiences—it is ideal for brand content. Experiential
teams are already on-site, engaging crowds, with
resources and venues all set. There is a fight brewing
here, people, and clients really don’t care who gives
them content so long as it’s made for them.

7. NEW TECH
WOWS ‘EM
Part of the magic of experiential productions is creating
the “wow” factor for visitors. As technology moves at a
wicked speed, this means consumers will be exposed
to new high-tech platforms at a blistering pace. 2020
should bring innovative tech to the masses in ways that
will blow minds. Cool new tech is not cheap but it is
more affordable than you might suspect. New apps
tied to personal photos and videos, hard tech using
platforms like lasers, immersive experiences with new
gen holograms are just some of the technologies that
folks will encounter at fests, shows and conferences.
Smart marketers adopt tech and integrate it into their
activations. I’m psyched to see some cool and mind-
blowing stuff out there that is far beyond test mode!

8. COMMERCIAL ART
& INSTALLATIONS
Street art has awoken citizens of cities and tons of all sizes to
the reality that art doesn’t need be restricted to the confines
of museum walls. The explosion of mural art to turn ugly old
walls into dynamic works of art has spanned from Tucson to
Birmingham. I foresee companies getting involved to not just
push their own brand but to help towns celebrate their local
cultures. Imagine Fearless Girl in unexpected places.
Municipal codes are finally getting a refresher as public art
and installations are wanted. Graffiti mural OOH companies
started this trend 20 years ago, but now it goes next level as
companies enrich people’s lives with bolder creations.

9. HEALTH &
WELLNESS
ACTIVITIES BOOM
Consumers care about their mental and physical health on
levels never seen before. We care about our state of being
and of those around us. Live experiential programs will
incorporate health & wellness activities to tap into this
cultural trend. So look for things like group yoga, tech
wearables strapped on crowd members, and relaxation
pods at brand spaces at festivals in 2020. Consumers will
engage these activations with an open mind and genuine
interest as it’s no longer some new age hype. Wanderlust
has proven heath & wellness stand-alone events can work.

10. LIVE
CONSUMER-MADE
VIDEO SHARING
Consumers make more brand content for companies than
the companies do themselves. Which is nuts when you
see corporate marketing budgets. And they do it for free!
The #1 format of content is video. So if you’re a sponsor
at some big event with thousands of attendees, you
should be aiming to enable the crowd to shoot and
showcase their video. Look for smart experiential
activations to somehow use tech to amplify consumer
videos live on-site at events. Giving fans a cool and
worthy stage to play their branded content for others is
going to happen in 2020.

11. INFLUENCERS
AMPLIFIED
For years I thought “influencer marketing” was fluffy
bullshit. So in 2020 I am putting a major bet on influencer
marketing but with a twist. I predict marketers will
continue to invest massively not just to pay influencers
(everyone already knows that), but will amplify influencer
messages with serious marketing dollars. Marketers won’t
rely upon the influencers themselves to get the word out—
brands will boost the initial investment big-time to support
this form of content generation. Digital media must be
salivating at the cash headed their way but experiential will
reap the benefits, too, as influencers will be deployed to
drive interest in experiential activations.

12. GUERRILLA MEDIA
WANNABES AREN’T
EXPERIENTIAL
For too long, there has been acceptance by marketers and their
agencies of wannabe experiential players who really are just
guerrilla media vendors. They slap brand logos on pizza boxes,
street signs, pedicabs, and nail files. That is not a consumer
experience. That is just a media impression. Brands have been
turning to these guerrilla media types for years because they
provide a simple commodity that can make a basic media plan
seem more flashy. But the truth is, agencies themselves hate this
crap; it’s a pain in the ass, low money, and filled with drama. As
their clients accept that true experiential isn’t guerrilla media,
agencies can finally move away from relying on such small ball
tactics and turn to more dynamic experiential solutions.

13. Patrick West
patrick@themachinenyc.com
646.380.9467