In-your-face authenticity is hot

There is something alluring about in-your-face authenticity. It’s sensational yet attractive, like Arthur Fonzarelli, better known as The Fonz.  People liked Fonzie.  He got what he wanted seamlessly, without sacrificing his values. That is, until he literally jumped the shark.

Jumping the shark is not

Jumping the shark, an idiom for when something well established begins a decline, originated when the writers of Happy Days had Fonzie literally jump a shark while on skis, wearing his trademark leather jacket and all.

Ride your Harley into the party

Losing your base can be pretty easy when you’re a big name with a known reputation like The Fonz or (insert your favorite brand name here).  A solid brand has already established where it fits, and has spent significantly to be there.  Any experiential program, event or otherwise, should be authentic to the soul of the brand, and honest to the expectations attendees have.  If you’re the Fonz, ride your Harley into the party. If you’re Grey Goose, showcase your signature cocktails in a super premium lounge.

Going over the top is not always better.  Simply slapping a well known name on something overly-sensational is unlikely to be good for a brand, even if it would get eyeballs.  You’ve probably already had an example or two come to mind, so I’ll politely refrain from naming any myself.

Cultivate an honest relationship

Experiential marketing — whether at a large event on in private — cultivates an honest, well-defined relationship. Isn’t that why we loved The Fonz?  He was edgy but he was true to the core.  Then…he jumped the shark.  So, aaay!  Learn from the Fonz.  Be cool. Authenticity is where it’s at.  Don’t be something you’re not, even if it promises to be a unique experience…or your brand may become the next symbol for jumping the shark.

As part of a highly integrated marketing program, Javelin partners with GREY GOOSE Vodka throughout the year to bring the spirit to major influencers and trend-setters at Best Of events across North America.

The latest in this series was the Miami Beach Polo World Cup 2010, where the world’s top players of the “sport of kings” competed for the coveted La Martina Cup.  GREY GOOSE spokes models welcomed spectators and players  served a variety of specialty martinis and signature cocktails made with GREY GOOSE Vodka Original, L’Orange, Le Citron, and La Poire.

A few readers (you know who you are) have requested more GREY GOOSE photos, so these are for you!

The human mind is the ultimate experiential consumer.

Where can we find some intellectual street cred and big brain support for our beloved discipline, experiential marketing? It is with keen insights and modern truths we can see and prove that the human mind is the ultimate experiential consumer—that experience drives all perception and opinion forming.

It is with great thanks (and enduring apologies) to Jonah Lehrer that I have done a mash-up of his great work, Proust Was A Neuroscientist, and our beloved discipline, experiential marketing. Briefly:

Proust had already discovered what Lehrer was trying to find out. He knew that 1) smell and taste produce uniquely intense memories, and 2) memory is dependent on the moment and mood of the individual. Scientists didn’t establish these facts until a few years ago, yet Proust made the point in 1913.

Smell and taste are the most intense of remembered sensations.

As we continue to learn more and more about the brain’s complex chemistry, we should – as experiential marketers – help our clients understand the primacy of the impact consumers will experience when they are addressed head-on in a sensory capacity. In fact, this bit says it all:

Proust’s goal in Remembrance of Things Past is to anatomize memory. His literary examinations teach him that smell and taste are the most intense of remembered sensations. Fast forward some 90 years to 2002, when Rachel Herz, a psychologist at Brown, shows that smell and taste are indeed uniquely potent evokers of memory.

This power, she speculates, lies in the direct connection the gustatory and olfactory nerves have to the hippocampus, which Lehrer calls “the center of the brain’s long-term memory.”

Establish the memories, then we can tinker.

Memories are not immutable as Herz and others have found; rather, they change as we remember them. I believe the key in experiential marketing is to first ESTABLISH the memories. We can then tinker with the nuance via social media and ad campaigns, but without base-line experiences to “fiddle with” we cannot gain serious ground in the consumer’s mind.

To me these are enlightenments equal to – if not more powerful than – ROI models. The discoveries of modern neuroscience, combined with the insights of these great thinkers, show that demonstration is king…that stimulating the senses is the coin of the realm in creating real, lasting memories…resulting in converted customers.

Enjoy Proust Was A Neuroscientist if you are so inclined. It’s a nice visit with Woolf, Stein, Escoffier, Stravinsky and of course Proust…our experiential forefathers.

Experiential marketing for Grey Goose takes place year-round in Austin.

Experiential marketing activations produced by Javelin for Grey Goose Vodka take place at luxury and influencer events throughout Austin year-round, but the one closest to my former-music-writer heart is South-by-Southwest.  Since not everyone has experienced it directly, allow me to share a slice of SXSW life.

Brands that can authentically participate in their consumers’ lifestyle events will achieve lasting results.

An irresistible draw to the movers, shakers, connoisseurs, and taste-makers of “what’s next”, SXSW is an extravaganza of music, film, and interactive goodies.  For ten days in March, Austin is home to thousands of national and international bands, agents, talent scouts, actors, producers, production companies, tech wizards, entrepreneurs and more who come to attend (and host) events promoting their work – plus the people who come to see them.  This convergence creates a perfect environment to for the right brands to authentically participate in their consumers’ lifestyles.   Enter Grey Goose and yours truly.

Grey Goose Vodka and SoBe Life Water sponsored premiere parties for the feature film Skateland, an official selection of SXSW, set in a 1980’s small town Texan skating rink.  First, guests crowded into Wet Salon for an afternoon of mingling and mixing Grey Goose cocktails.  The stars of the movie, Ashley Greene, Taylor Handley, Heath Freeman, and Shiloh Fernandez, mingled and occasionally gave interviews perched on a Love Sac.

Actor Taylor Handley (center) and friends, in Wet Salon’s hair washing stations

Brand personalization leads to ownership.

Experiential marketing thrives on tailored experiences. Cultivating brand ownership among consumers, bartenders invited guests to design their own custom cocktails using Grey Goose L’Original or one of the Grey Goose flavors: Le Citron, L’Orange, and La Poire. My personal favorite was the Grey Goose La Poire and SoBe Fuji Apple Pear, while not-so-sweet-drink-loving-fans preferred the Green Tea-ni, made with Grey Goose Le Citron and SoBe Green Tea.

Actor Heath Freeman analyzes his Grey Goose and SoBe concoction

Reinforcing the theme of the film, girls on roller skates zipped through the crowd snapping Polaroids of guests.

Girls on roller skates snap Polaroids to set the mood

The party migrated to the legendary Mohawk for ATX EMERGE 2010, an official SXSW celebration of Skateland’s premiere and showcase of Austin’s most adored musical acts.  Patrons queued around the block at dusk (in the rain) to see the twelve scheduled bands. Black Joe Lewis, an up-and-coming Austin phenomenon featured in Reversal Film’s new documentary Echotone, headlined the party.  Props to the production guys for pulling this all together and making it a branded entertainment success!

The stars of the day, Casey LaBow, Haley Ramm, and director Anthony Burns enjoyed the entertainment (not to mention the view) from the comfort of a 10’ tall roller skate atop the VIP rooftop lounge. Complementary Grey Goose cocktails flowed freely upstairs, while nearly 1,000 people downstairs enjoyed specially priced Grey Goose cocktails throughout the night. (Side note to all those in the liquor biz: sponsoring a VIP party in exchange for drink specials at the attached party is a great sales tool. Approximately 50 cases of Grey Goose Vodka were consumed that night, and only 15 were donated for the party above.)

Girls on roller skates walk out of a time machine onto the red carpet

Actor Heath Freeman and actress Kelly Monaco in the green room (literally)

Actress Ashley Greene and actor Shiloh Fernandez

The Grey Goose Vodka activations were a huge success as were a number of other experiential marketing programs I saw, including Bacardi USA’s Level 42 Vodka.  If only I could clone myself; then I could have experienced everything!    The sponsors and clients were equally pleased, and the SXSW action is never to be missed.

Like all good things, SXSW must eventually end.  It’s probably for the best; everywhere you look are exhausted Austinites. House guests crowd the airports. The city is littered with festival aftermath: band fliers, pasted movie posters, and hung over residents. There’s an audible murmur in the air as internal organs everywhere give thanks that nightlife is returning to normal.  It has been exhausting, but fabulous.