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Experiential marketing can help build brand loyalty when an engaging interaction also gives people a meaningful reason to remember, trust, or choose a brand. Immersion alone is no guarantee: an entertaining activation can leave little lasting brand impact if participants do not connect it to the brand or its message.
What experiential marketing is—and what it is not
Experiential marketing is a deliberately planned strategy that uses participants’ personal experiences to influence how they think or feel about a brand, product, or service. It can be physical or digital, individual or shared. A live event is one possible setting, but event marketing and experiential marketing are not the same: a branded event does not automatically create a meaningful brand experience.
A 2023 Delphi study by Davey, Sung, and Butcher describes experiences as sensory, emotional, behavioral, and/or intellectual. Its central distinction is between immersing people in a spectacle and involving them in an experience that also makes the brand and its meaning relevant. Read the study in the Journal of Brand Management.
How an immersive experience may support loyalty
The proposed pathway is indirect: an experience may strengthen or refresh brand associations, making the brand easier to recall and consider later. If the product or service genuinely matters to the participant, the experience may also support trust, preference, and eventually repeat choice. Those are plausible steps toward loyalty, not an automatic result of participation.
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Three layers of immersion matter
- Experience: The person is engaged in the activity itself.
- Brand: The brand is meaningfully present in that activity, rather than merely stamped onto it.
- Message: The participant can connect the interaction to what the product or service does, or why it might matter to them.
If the experience is memorable but the brand or message is not, it may create goodwill toward the event without changing the participant’s relationship with the brand. Motivation, attention, accessibility, and personal relevance can all affect how much a person engages. The Delphi study proposes these mechanisms but says the depth of immersion and its impacts still need empirical validation.
What consumer and industry surveys show
Recent surveys report positive recall, consideration, and purchase-intent responses to live experiences. They measure different populations and outcomes, however; they should not be combined into one estimate or read as proof of lasting loyalty.
| Source and sample | Reported finding | What it does—and does not—show |
|---|---|---|
| EY-Parthenon and BookMyShow, India; post-event surveys of 7,450 attendees, announced March 2026 | 59% recalled brands they engaged with on-ground; 55% reported higher purchase intent after brand interaction; 63% felt brands enhanced the event experience; 29% reported improved brand imagery. | These are reported recall, intent, and perception responses, not verified repeat purchases or proof that the activation caused long-term loyalty. See the EY announcement. |
| Sparks and Event Marketer, EventTrack 2026; the landing page describes more than 1,000 Fortune 1000 marketers and attendees across B2C, B2B, and trade show sectors | 61% said they were more inclined to purchase after attending a live event; 85% of B2B attendees said they felt more educated after attending an in-person event. | The public landing page does not provide the full methodology. These self-reported responses are not evidence of sustained purchasing or a causal effect. See EventTrack 2026. |
| OAAA and The Harris Poll; U.S. online survey fielded August 4–5, 2026, among 2,015 adults ages 18+, with analysis focused on 1,474 adults ages 18–64 | 80% said live product or retailer events make them more likely to remember the brand, and 80% said an in-person product experience makes them more likely to consider it. Among surveyed consumers who had attended a live marketing event, 40% reported making a purchase, 38% trying a sample, 35% visiting a website, and 33% posting about the experience. | These are survey responses, including reported behaviors among attendees—not a randomized estimate of what the event caused or evidence of repeat buying. See the OAAA report announcement. |
For a category-specific example, McKinsey’s 2023 research on travel loyalty found that experience-related factors such as having a worthwhile experience and feeling cared for accounted for three of the five leading drivers of loyalty to cruise lines, hotels, and airlines. That finding concerns travel and should not be generalized to every industry. Read McKinsey’s travel loyalty analysis.
How to design an experience with a clear brand connection
- Choose the outcome first. Decide whether the campaign is meant to improve awareness, prompt trial, increase consideration, generate purchases, or encourage repeat behavior. One activation should not be judged against every goal at once.
- Start with the audience’s reason to participate. Make the experience useful, enjoyable, or personally relevant to the people the brand needs to reach. Consider whether they will have the time, access, and attention to engage.
- Build the brand into the activity. Make the product, service, or brand story part of what participants do or learn, rather than relying on a logo beside an unrelated attraction.
- Choose a format that fits the message. Sampling and product trials can make sense when the objective is firsthand evaluation. Participatory activities, retail experiences, cultural partnerships, festivals, and digital activations can also work when they reinforce the intended association.
- Respect the surrounding context. An activation should add value to the setting and participants’ experience, not just interrupt it. EY’s India report describes live activations designed around access, comfort, discovery, community, self-expression, and product trial.
- Make the next step natural. If the goal extends beyond awareness, give participants a relevant path to learn more, try the product, or return. Track that behavior against the campaign’s stated objective.
Measure engagement separately from loyalty
Attendance and activity tell you whether people encountered the campaign; they do not establish whether the campaign changed what people think or do. Match each measure to the outcome you set, and distinguish immediate responses from later behavior.
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| Measurement layer | Examples | What it can tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Activity and exposure | Attendance, dwell time, interactions, samples distributed, participant-created content | Whether people showed up or engaged. These are campaign outputs, not evidence of loyalty. |
| Reported response | Brand recall, consideration, brand image, purchase intent | What participants say they remember or may do. Intent is not a completed purchase. |
| Commercial behavior | Purchases, repeat purchases, return visits, or other relevant follow-up behavior | Whether behavior changed over time. A credible comparison is needed to judge how much change can be attributed to the experience. |
The reviewed sources do not establish a universally accepted measurement protocol for experiential marketing or a directly comparable randomized evaluation showing that immersive campaigns outperform other approaches on long-term loyalty across sectors. For a stronger assessment, measure the chosen outcome before and after the campaign, follow behavior beyond the event, and use a suitable comparison group or other credible way to account for what would have happened without the activation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the evidence means for marketers—and consumers
Survey results suggest that people can remember and respond positively to live brand experiences, but recall, favorable perceptions, purchase intent, reported purchases, and repeat behavior are different things. For marketers, the practical test is whether the experience connects a relevant participant need to a clear brand meaning, then whether follow-up evidence shows an effect beyond attendance or stated intent. For consumers, an enjoyable activation can be worthwhile without obliging them to become loyal to the brand behind it.
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