20 Experiential Marketing Examples That’ll Leave A Lasting Impression

Consumers have so many choices when it comes to which product to buy. 

Unfortunately, this presents a challenge for marketing teams because more choices mean it is easier to get lost in the noise.

To truly stand out and create a memorable experience, brands must differentiate through experiential marketing.

But Experiential marketing is more than just a simple event. It’s about creating consumer engagement through the brand’s products and value. An immersive experience forges deeper connections with its consumers and can drive tangible marketing results.

Need inspiration for what great experiential marketing looks like?

Let’s explore 20 inspiring examples of experiential marketing that will spark your creativity and help you develop successful campaigns. From pop-ups and test drives to virtual reality experiences and interactive product demonstrations, these examples showcase the power of connecting with consumers personally.

Why experiential marketing matters

Humans learn best by experiencing things in the flesh. 

You’re reading this on a screen right now, and you’ll likely spend much of your day typing on various devices and talking to people through multiple screens. 

Being a marketer doesn’t make you unique in those ways — that’s what most people will do today. Most people would rather not interact in real life. That’s why experiential marketing matters. 

A good brand activation engages people’s senses. A great one creates memories that set that brand apart from the competition. It gets people interested in learning more and gives them a reason to provide information about themselves—to become sales leads.

The numbers show for themselves. According to SplashThat, marketers believe that events play a major role in the growth of their business.

A showroom experience is more impactful than building a car online and why a proper test drive converts more customers than riding an indoor auto show track. The numbers stood out when SplashThat surveyed U.S. and UK marketers about the value of incorporating event-level growth strategies in their marketing initiatives.  

The benefits of experiential marketing

Experiential marketing is more than just an event or activation; it's an approach that directly engages consumers with a brand's values, products, or services. 

By creating immersive experiences, brands can forge deeper connections with their target audience and drive tangible business results. Here are a handful of benefits that you can expect:

1. Connection: Creating lasting memories connects people to brands on a deeper level.
2. Differentiation: In a crowded marketplace, experiences offer a way to stand out.
3. Personalization: Building brand affinity begins with making people feel seen, heard and important.
4. Engagement: Real-life interactions elicit tangible reactions. Those can be soft, like social media likes and mentions, or hard, like providing first-party data.
5. Insights: Data collection leads to actionable information about what people like and dislike about an activation, event or brand.
6. Lead Generation: Filling the top of the sales funnel allows brands to nurture purchase journeys and turn leads into converts. 

By creating memorable experiences, brands can differentiate themselves and build a strong emotional connection with their audience.

20 inspiring experiential marketing examples to learn from

Let's walk through 20 different experiential marketing examples below.

We've grouped them into various types including branded pop-ups, interactive product demos, digital and virtual experiences, and immersive test drives.

Branded pop-ups examples

Branded pop-ups are temporary spaces designed to create a unique and memorable consumer experience. These pop-ups are usually themed around a specific product, event, or campaign and can be found in various locations, such as shopping malls, airports, or even public spaces.

1. Only Murders in the Building

For two days in the summer of 2023, fans of Only Murders in the Building could go to the United Palace Theater in New York City and investigate the murder of Ben Glenroy, played by Paul Rudd. 

They were given a playbill and flashlight to look for clues. The event did a great job promoting Season 3 of the hit show and generating buzz on social media.

2.  Solve’s 5-Minute Internship

The creative agency Solve was looking to find summer intern recruits who could think fast. 

They built a portable, small-scale replica of their office and hit college campuses. Students were given a five-minute challenge, and top performers were interviewed on the spot. They tripled the number of intern applications. 

3. Kit-Kat’s: Free No Wi-Fi Zone

Have a break, have a Kit-Kat is a slogan known around the world, and the brand built an experience around it. 

In Amsterdam, they set up no-free Wi-Fi zones, a playful take on free Wi-Fi zones. Seating areas were created in spaces with blocked connectivity. The simple yet elegant idea was to promote taking a break from the digital world to experience the real one. 

It was on-brand and created media buzz, putting Kit-Kat back in the spotlight for a while.

4. The Body Shop at Union Station

The experiential pop-up, presented as a larger-than-life advent calendar, invited customers to learn more about the brand's Community Fair Trade program, the largest in the cosmetics industry. 

Interactive elements, including daily giveaways at 12:25 p.m. and daily deals, could be revealed through a QR code powered by Limelight.

The pop-up delivered an immersive experience for customers while building the brand's customer database to maintain communication and offer exclusive deals throughout the holiday season. 

5. Downy's 'Rinse It Out' at the 2024 US Open

Downy and tennis legend Venus Williams created Rinse It Out, which shined a light on sweating in sports, and how Downy's Rinse & Refresh products fight odour. 

Visitors received product samples and personalized sweat towels. They also had the opportunity to clock their best serves to see how they ranked against Williams. Samples plus swag and personalization often equals engagement.

Interactive product demonstrations

Interactive product demonstrations are hands-on experiences that allow consumers to interact with a product in person or online. These experiential marketing examples give potential customers a deeper understanding of a product’s features and benefits.

6. Nike By You

Nike allows people to customize their shoes online. Everything from colors to materials to design can be personalized, allowing consumers to create nearly unique products. That fosters engagement and brand loyalty while highlighting Nike’s commitment to innovation. 

7. The Apple Store

Apple is one of the OGs of interactive marketing, starting with the iPhone launch and continuing today with glitzy product galas and its retail spaces. 

The Apple Store is famous for allowing shoppers to see new products, learn about features and use the devices. Another thing Apple is famous for? The fierce loyalty of its customer base, a good percentage of which can be traced back to its store ethos.

8. Disney’s Immersive Animation Tour

For lovers of Disney’s animated classics, this experiential show travelled to 11 cities. It featured sensory activations that turned iconic characters, scenes and more into IRL adventures for fans of all ages, extending Disney’s reach beyond the screen.

9. Peloton’s Home Fitness Demos

During the pandemic, Peloton’s at-home fitness demos helped spike sales and turn the company into an overnight sensation. 

Potential buyers could try live virtual classes and interact with instructors in real-time. The website included previews that allowed people to experience the bike’s features. 

10. The Pepsi Max Taste Challenge

These were blind tests against competitors executed in major cities to promote Pepsi’s zero-sugar cola.  

The experience included interactive kiosks and voting stations consumers used record preferences and share opinions on social. The campaign leveraged real-time interaction and social sharing to boost brand awareness.

Digital and virtual experiences

What makes digital and virtual experiences is that they’re completely online. They’re interactive experiences in a digital or virtual environment and can be accessed through smartphones, tablets, and even virtual reality headsets.

11. Mercedes-Benz Augmented Reality Showroom

Mercedes allows customers to experience vehicles virtually. 

People can interact with 3D models by taking 360-tours that include detailed exteriors and interior simulations. Consumers can even see how the car will look in their driveway. 

This advanced experience screams luxury for a luxury brand, further cementing Mercedes’ spot in the market while also leading to more sales.

12. Travis Scott x Fortnite

In a first-of-its-kind event, rapper Travis Scott performed a virtual concert inside the popular video game Fortnite. 

Players interacted with the concert by using their avatars to dance, react in real-time, get swept up by environmental changes, and more. The concert attracted over 12 million players, showing how brands can collaborate with gaming platforms to reach huge audiences. 

13. L'Oréal's Virtual Makeup Try-On

L'Oréal's tool allows customers to experiment with different makeup products to see how they look. 

It’s been used in stores and at pop-ups for people on the go who don’t have time to apply and reapply for products, and it is very popular online. It’s a sales driver that also generates leads.

14. IKEA's AR App

Customers get an opportunity to visualize furniture and appliances in their own homes before making a purchase. 

It’s incredibly popular with people designing spaces like kitchens and bathrooms because it helps make purchase decisions for in-person and online sales. 

15. The Whopper Detour

Burger King launched a mobile app that used geofencing to send notifications to users within 600 feet of a McDonald’s. 

The app then asked if they wanted to buy a Whopper for a penny and directed them to the nearest Burger King to pick it up. The campaign created buzz on social media and led to more than 1.5 million downloads. It was a great example of using a digital tool to engage consumers.

Immersive test drives

16. Land Rover Experiences

Land Rover has always leaned into its origins. The brand offers driving experiences of all kinds, from travel adventures to local rides and drives to factory tours. 

Want to off-road in Africa? 

Take immersive lessons from instructors closer to home? Customize your adventure? Land Rover does it all. This brand caters to its audience and gives them memories they won’t forget. And when it’s time to buy their next vehicle, guess where they’re most likely headed?

17. Porsche Ladies Retreat

This is a luxury girl's weekend spent driving luxury cars. The experience begins in Los Angeles with a drive to Santa Barbara. 

The trip includes spas, vineyards, boutique hotels and more. It’s a perfect example of how to attract a specific demographic and interest in a product. The entire weekend is upscale, just like Porsche and the women who can afford one.

18. NASCAR Racing Experience

The famous Daytona International Speedway (and other tracks) isn’t only for the pros. 

People can spend time behind the wheel or in the passenger seat while passing slower cars, making pit stops and racing for the checkered flag. No one on the track will buy the No. 77 Ford, but NASCAR makes fans for life by getting people inside their cars to feel the power under their seats. It’s a brand-building experience that few other sports can equal.  

19. BMW Performance Center

If you like to drive nice cars fast, this is for you. BMW uses the performance center to get enthusiasts into their vehicles for driving classes, speed tests, mixed reality demonstrations and more. For a brand that uses the slogan Sheer Driving Pleasure, that’s what this is.

20. Las Vegas Off-Road Experience

This one is a little less class and a little more badass. It’s not about a specific brand as much as it is about high-energy fun in the desert.

Take a race truck, a dune buggy or a side-by-side out onto the sand course and see what you’re made of. Renting a muscle car for the day is also an option to get you to and from the experience. So, it can be two experiences. 

Experiential marketing lessons you can take away

Successful experiential marketing lies in its ability to create lasting impressions and drive meaningful connections.

By understanding the key lessons learned from successful campaigns, you can maximize the impact of your initiatives.

1. It’s about making memories, not money. Most experiences, events or activations don’t turn into a sale on the spot. They are long games that end with conversions.
2. Don’t take the experience too seriously. Every live marketing activation needs to tie into a brand’s overarching ethos, but it doesn’t have to pretend life isn’t fun and whimsical.
3. Take risks. Who ever thought an experience within a video game would attract millions? It did, and now more do. But some marketer somewhere had to pitch that idea.
4. You’re not only preaching to the converted. Experiential marketing is about generating excitement for products. But that doesn’t mean the Toyota loyalist can’t be intrigued and excited about a Dodge. Cast a wide net, and the people in your camp will still be there.
5. People like to try new things. New technologies mean consumers are wowed by (or expect) the ability to experience products in some form without being in a physical store. AR, VR and whatever comes next will lead to conversions. Embrace them.

How Limelight can help with your live marketing experience

Experiential marketing offers a refreshing and engaging way to connect with consumers on a deeper level. Creating immersive and engaging experiences allows your brand to differentiate itself, build brand loyalty, and drive tangible business results.

There are several ways to make your experiential marketing stand out, from injecting fun and creativity to embracing new technologies.

Get inspiration from these 20 examples of experiential marketing to help you create engaging activations promoting brands while offering something in return for those who experience them. 

If you want to enhance your experiential marketing, capture more leads and measure your results, then check out a demo of Limelight here.