You can’t underestimate the importance of brand experience today. The term refers to all the interactions and impressions a customer experiences with a company.

Your customers’ opinions and behaviours towards your business are influenced by what they experience, perceive and feel every time they come into contact with your brand. How they perceive your brand influences the relationship they have with you and, consequently, your reputation and income.

If you want to please, captivate and attract customers, you need to create a solid brand experience. This article will guide you through the different elements of brand experience and explain why it’s important. We’ll also explain how to create an effective brand experience and the benefits of getting it right. Our trade booth manufacturers finish up with tips for creating an unforgettable brand experience at a trade show.

What is brand experience?

Brand experience is the set of emotions and ideas a consumer has when they come into contact with your brand. This includes both direct and indirect interactions. Brand experience is influenced by your products, services, advertising, customer service, reputation and word-of-mouth.

Brand experience differs from customer experience in that it aims to improve the individual’s perception of you, whether or not they are already a customer. It is not limited to the moments when buyers make a purchase or use a product, but extends to all the impressions made via your marketing and communications efforts.

To sum up, brand experience is a broad concept that refers to a company’s efforts to create a consistent, positive brand image across all touchpoints, not only to retain existing customers, but also to attract potential new ones.

Why is brand experience important?

Brand experience plays a crucial role in customers’ overall perception of a company. It enables a customer or prospect to develop an emotional attachment to your brand. A good brand experience can turn satisfied customers into enthusiastic ambassadors, while a bad experience can seriously damage a brand’s reputation. Getting it right helps your brand shine and grow.

Benefits of creating a strong brand experience

An effectively crafted brand experience provides numerous advantages that can positively influence how your company is perceived and its overall performance. Let’s take a look at the main benefits.

Improve customer loyalty

A positive brand experience generates positive feelings in customers. Creating a strong emotional bond leads to brand loyalty. Loyal customers are not only more likely to return, they are also less sensitive to the actions of competitors. Customer loyalty reduces the cost of acquiring new customers and increases the lifetime value of existing ones.

Stand out from the crowd and create a competitive advantage

In a saturated market, a unique and memorable brand experience is the key to differentiation. Brands that invest in a strong brand experience can attract attention and stand out, even in highly competitive sectors. This competitive edge is crucial to attracting new customers and maintaining market relevance.

Gain attention through word-of-mouth

Satisfied customers will share their positive experiences with their network, which will increase your brand’s reach. Word-of-mouth and personal recommendations are among the most powerful and trusted forms of marketing. An exceptional brand experience encourages customers to become brand ambassadors and contributes to organic growth.

Increase perceived brand value and impact

An exceptional brand experience increases the perceived value of your products or services, which can justify asking higher prices. Customers are willing to pay more for a brand that offers them a superior experience and emotional satisfaction. The perception of quality and value is reinforced by a consistent, well-managed brand experience.

Boost engagement and interaction

An engaging brand experience will encourage customers to interact more with your brand, whether online or in person. Frequent, positive interactions strengthen the customer-brand relationship and lead to an increase in engagement. This increased engagement leads to greater brand awareness and a higher likelihood of conversion.

6 Steps to creating a better brand experience

Bringing innovative products and services to the market is one of the main pillars of brand experience. Improving your brand experience also involves studying your brand and properly defining your communication and marketing strategies.

1. Know your brand, your purpose and your competitors

Clearly identify what your brand stands for, its mission and its raison d’être. This foundation is essential for all future actions.

Conduct a competitive analysis so you understand your competitors in depth. Analyze their strategies, strengths and weaknesses to identify opportunities and threats for your brand.

Gather market information and trends to better understand the environment in which your brand operates.

2. Identify brand and customer objectives and values

Establish clear brand goals regarding brand awareness, brand image and brand performance. Clarify your brand’s core values and make sure they resonate with those of your target audience.

Make sure your brand values and goals are well aligned with your customers’ expectations and values so you can creat an authentic connection.

3. Identify brand touchpoints

Identify all touchpoints between your brand and your customers, from initial interaction to after-sales service. These can be varied, including everything from advertising, websites, social networks, emails and trade show animations and events.

Evaluate each touchpoint to confirm that it delivers a positive, consistent experience. Improve touchpoints as needed based on customer feedback and industry best practices.

4. Create a coherent, authentic content marketing strategy

Develop a content and communications strategy that reflects your brand’s values and identity. This can include blogs, social networks, advertising and more. Verify that every interaction with your brand leaves a good impression, from website design to the quality of customer service.

Be authentic and human in all your communications. Customers appreciate brands that show transparency and genuine humanity. And don’t forget that a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints builds trust and brand credibility. Broadcast your identity visually across all your communications. That way, customers know what to expect and can count on consistent quality, which reinforces trust.

5. Tell your story

Use storytelling in all your content and communications to create an emotional connection with your audience. Tell the story of your brand, including its origins and any memorable challenges and successes. Again, make sure that the story you tell is consistent across all communication channels. Authentic and engaging storytelling allows you to create campaigns that resonate emotionally with your audience.

6. Establish key performance indicators to monitor progress

Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your brand experience strategy. These could include customer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer loyalty and conversion rates.

Improving your brand experience strategy is a continuous optimization process. By monitoring KPIs to visualize performance, you can identify areas for improvement. Regularly assess progress and adjust strategies according to results. Benchmark your performance against competitors and industry standards to identify opportunities for improvement. This cycle must be ongoing to adapt to customer behavior and market changes.

Examples of successful brand experience strategies

Apple is renowned for its loyal community, and places the consumer at the heart of its strategy. Its customers are willing to pay more for quality and brand values because they feel emotionally connected to Apple. For example, Apple has used videos shot by real customers to show how the iPhone fits into their daily lives, to strengthen the emotional bond with its audience even further.

Netflix offers an exceptional brand experience thanks to the personalization of its content via a sophisticated algorithm. The platform tailors movies and series to subscribers’ tastes, allows interrupted viewing to be resumed, and highlights current trends. Netflix also uses Instagram to engage its audience by sharing bonus videos and exclusive excerpts.

IBM has a unique brand experience strategy, which involves combining events such as IBM Think with its participation in trade shows such as CES. These events showcase their innovations through conferences and interactive demonstrations, reinforcing its position as a leader in their field and creating opportunities for collaboration. This approach allows them to reach a global audience and strengthen relationships with both customers and partners.

How to create a unique brand experience at an event

Trade shows are a great opportunity to create memorable brand experiences. To be effective, the brand experience at a trade show should include all the ways your customer will contact you, from the beginning to the end of the buyer’s journey.

Be prepared with an attractive trade show booth

At a trade show, your booth may be the first and only point of contact with a customer. To attract more visitors, your trade show booth – whether it’s custom-built, portable or modular – needs to be attractive and appeal to people at first glance.

Its design must be unique and represent your brand identity. Your advertising banners and accompanying messages should also be included. All the elements that support your brand must have the same style.

Your team also plays an important role in brand experience. Team members must be polite, smiling, dynamic, friendly and appropriately dressed.

What happens before, during and after the sales process is what will stick in your customer’s mind. Prioritize the experience over sales.

Encourage visitors to interact with your brand

Trade shows are the perfect opportunity for the customer to interact with your product or service.

Your product or service meets a need and certainly solves a problem. Which one is it? Your trade show brand experience should highlight this element.

Your customers should have a clear picture of this when interacting with your product or service. Make sure to deliver an enjoyable and memorable experience.

Hire speakers and influencers

Hiring a well-known speaker or having influencers involved is also a great way to create a brand experience that your customers will remember.

Even if you have a team of experts in the field, a speaker or influencer often has stronger charisma or a very convincing je ne sais quoi.

Speakers and influencers also often have an innate talent for interacting with crowds.

Trade show brand experience, you and your customers

Taking the time to understand all the elements that make up a complete brand experience is essential. The brand experience you offer your customers is not a luxury, it is a conscious effort and an investment you make to generate more success and take a more prominent place in your customer’s heart and mind.

For more information on the topic, we invite you to read our article on the topic of experiential marketing. You can also contact our team if you’re looking to create an interactive and branded trade show booth for your next event.

Creating a Brand Experience: What It Is and Why It Matters