Advertising Week 2016 - AB InBev: Experiential Marketing

Todd Allen, VP Global Marketing at Stella Artois, shares the importance of ROE (return on experience) and how AB InBev wants to monetize experiential marketing to become an entertainment business.

Interview with Todd Allen (VP Global Marketing, Stella Artois) Interviewer Lukas Derksen (Managing Partner,  Sid Lee)

People’s perception and expectations have changed about a premium brand in last couple of years. Previously being expensive was enough, but now that's not good enough in terms of how consumers view premium. You need to have style and substance both. You can’t just be expensive, you have to be worth it. And the biggest shift we have seen over the past couple of years is that consumers value experiences more than material possessions

“providing unforgettable experiences — and capitalizing on the content that comes from it — will grow both brand equity and the bottom line.”

What does experienced economy mean to you?

The challenge for us was that, the consumers need a purpose from the brand, how are you going to make their life better. And doing that in a old one-way communication model does not work, you have to bring the brand purpose to life physically through experiences. So that the consumers can touch and feel and interact with the brand. And the biggest challenge for marketers is how to drive scales from experiences in order to get returns not only from investments but from equity perspectives. We are really focused on driving the amplification plan behind the experiences from the branded content to PR, to our trade activation. That is where we are focused on how we are evolving in the experience economy. 

“Experiences can be the most authentic form of branded content when done well. ”

How do you approach the ROI conversation?

Rethink the model. In past, the experiences were measured by cost per contact that visited your event. And frankly, that doesn't pay back. The amplification and scalability of going forward in two ways, having an experience in person but surrounding it with robust branded content, that can be amplified with paid and earned media through traditional channels most importantly digital and social media. So the amplification plan is that drives the scale and reach of the ROI or return on equity. And the second approach is that you take inspiration from your global events and create a scalable model for local markets to be able to execute it in their tier two versions of those events, whether it is sponsored event or a premium influential restaurant/bar.  

Lukas Derksen, Sidlee - Best modern day brands are a collection of experiences. And they believe that every interaction they have with the audience is a moment of truth. And the collection of those moments is really what makes a experience with the company. We think, how an experience permeates every single consumer touch point and then how every consumer touch point has the ability to drive content that people want to share. And we work with the clients that share that vision.

“An experience permeates every single consumer touch point and every consumer touch point has the ability to drive content that people want to share.”

What makes experiential approach really exciting for your brand?

Stella Artois was originally crafted as a holiday beer for people in Belgium. And Stella in latin means a Star, so it was named after a christmas star. And in our 2015 holiday campaign we wanted to create an experience to pay a homage to that original story. So stella installed a light installation, where we gifted the stars to people of new york city through an art installation and people were able to walk literally and immersively through it. And we amplified this by partnering with John Legend who created a ‘spoke song’ called ‘Under the Stars’ which took inspiration from the actual sounds that stars made in the sky. Also, he performed it live in the opening of New York city installation. And we created a music video that we were able to amplify post event. We saw a great return and great results, so for us we have been doing it for a long time and we want to continue doing it and evolve it into more of proprietary platform. 

So clearly experiential is the way for the brands now, but then you capitalized on what is the most trending culture that is food culture. So what that meant for your brand in particular?

We really wanted to create a proprietary platform that combined food, art, music and Stella Artois into an immersive experience that people haven't experienced before. A tailor made experience rooted in our brand purpose that we can ultimately build for a long term and that's what we embarked on.

The Case Study Video

The goal of Le Savoir was to create an unforgettable experience that will further endear millennials, in particular, to the brand.

It brought millennials' passion points of food, music and art together under one platform to deliver an immersive dining experience, all perfectly paired with Stella Artois.

The growing consumer appetite for new experiences and different perspectives has changed the game for marketers. Todd Allen, VP of global marketing for Stella Artois, explains how providing unforgettable experiences — and capitalizing on the content that comes from it — will grow both brand equity and the bottom line.

Take Aways

1. Delivering a Meaningful Experience can really set you apart as a brand - Brands that can bring more purpose and meaning to people’s lives are connecting and seeing stronger results in engagement with consumers and in top line sales as well.
2. Right Partnership is the Key - Co-branded content allows a brand to reduce costs and increase the impact of their campaigns. The key element of success of LaSaviour was partnering with the right influencers in art, food and music industry in order to get maximum user generated content.
3. Creating Engaging Content - Producing content of such quality that it will be self-sustaining, generating profits by itself. Content worth as much as, the consumers pays the brand directly for access to such a content.