Convenience + Entertainment - A Brand's Key to Connecting with Consumers
Creating Connection
Brands are increasingly looking for a way to garner the ever more elusive consumer attention. It’s not about overtly pushing product but about providing convenience and entertainment that happens to be intertwined with the brand. Capital One has launched Capital One Cafe’s, Taco Bell has a branded Las Vegas wedding chapel and recently took over a boutique Palm Springs hotel for a 4 day Taco Bell branded experience replete with influencers obsessed with the brand. Bud Light, Cheetos and KFC are now in the fashion industry. I know, how is that even possible?!
Capital One Cafe’s are part bank, cafe and FREE co-working space with financial management and banking advice available but not pushed. It’s an effort to get Millennials back into the bank branch, a place many deem unnecessary. The free co-working space is genius, with comfortable seating and charging stations encouraging long stays. Plus a Capital One card gets you 50% off your beverage of choice.
Bud Light has teamed up with musician Post Malone on a limited fashion collection sold online and in a 2 day popup shop in NYC. Bud Light is among a handful of brands like Cheetos, Taco Bell and KFC to launch limited branded apparel collections in an effort to incite urgency and gain cache amongst Gen Zers and Millennials through exclusivity.
Malone is also performing in the upcoming Bud Light Dive Bar Tour. With the tour sponsorship Bud Light is wearing its cheap beer rep as a badge of honor, appealing to a consumer proud to frequent the local watering hole, eschewing more upscale spots. The Dive Bar Tour microsite incorporates a lead gen play with a Miami to Key West Cruise giveaway.
Taco Bell’s Palm Springs boutique hotel debut The Bell was a four day branded experiential extravaganza with food tastings, synchronized swimmers in hot-sauce suits, a poolside concert by Fletcher, a “freeze lounge”, a slew of Baja Blast variations all enjoyed by the media, influencers and brand loyalists. Taco Bell’s Feed the Beat organization supports up and coming musicians and was an early Fletcher advocate. An on-site salon decked attendees out with flaming manicures, Taco Bell inspired fades, cinnamon twist braids and branded gear including everything from bikinis and shorts to yoga mats and chargers.
Image via ADWEEK
What’s the key takeaway? To connect with consumers, brands need to go above and beyond to provide convenience and entertainment. The term lifestyle brand has now evolved from simply providing products consumers use in their life to now also providing those experiential activations. Lululemon was an early example with their in-store yoga classes and workshops. How can your brand use events to connect with consumers?