Agency EA Forecasts 2020 Experiential Marketing Trends in New Industry Survey

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Dec 12, 2019, 08:37 ET

CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Agency EA, an award-winning brand experience agency, announced today the findings of its third annual research study on the state of experiential marketing. The industry-wide survey reveals the anticipated impact and trends of 2020, including marketing spend, sustainability and event customization.

An industry pioneer for two decades, EA has closely tracked the uptick in experiential budget, omnipresence and measurable impact. As the field rapidly evolved in the past few years, EA has monitored sentiment across brand-side marketers and agency leaders. This year's proprietary research study spanned more than 644 professionals across Fortune 500 companies, top agencies and vendors.

Key Themes in 2020:

Brands are allocating higher budgets for the third consecutive year, validating that experiential is integral to their marketing strategy.
Diversity and sustainability are top of mind, yet brands struggle to find the funds to support sustainability initiatives.
Marketers emphasize the real value of face-to-face experiences in an increasingly digital world.
The biggest industry trend centers around creating "events within events" – adding in exclusive experiences for specific audience segments like VIPs.

Notable Study Findings
Budget/Investment

87% of brand-side marketers invest in experiential to effectively connect with their target audience, a 30% increase from 2018.
83% invest in experiential to generate traffic/lead generation.
Nearly 20% of brand-side respondents said they spent more than a quarter of their marketing budget on experiential.

Diversity and Sustainability

64% of brand-side marketers admit they struggle with incorporating diversity and inclusion in their events.
60% of brand-side marketers think diversity and inclusion are important aspects of events, but not a top priority. They cite speaker line-up as the top tactic (84%) to make events more inclusive.
59% of brand-side marketers agree that sustainability is important to their event strategy.

Event Reach + Impact

In this increasingly digital world, 73% of brand-side marketers say they agree to strongly agree that their brand values providing human-to-human experiences at events.
72% of brand-side marketers look to incorporate events within events (e.g. VIP sessions, exclusive evening events) in 2020.

"We're at a critical moment in the growth and usage of experiential marketing, as the industry moves from a niche marketing initiative to a strategic imperative," said Gabrielle Martinez, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Agency EA. "Our annual study captures valuable real-time data on how experiential drives dollars, action and results for our clients."

Agency EA (www.agencyea.com) is an award-winning brand experience agency, acclaimed for strategic vision, inspired creative and seamless execution for global B2B experiential marketing campaigns. EA unites brands and target audiences by creating exceptional user events, worldwide event programs, summits, conferences, and product launches. Named an Adweek "Fastest Growing Agency" in 2019, one of Ad Age's "Best Places to Work," and a "Top 10 Best Places to Work for Women" by Crain's, EA is also a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE). Founded in 1999, Agency EA has worked with a broad spectrum of esteemed clients across industries, including Google, Hilton, Intuit, Samsung, Molson Coors, Facebook, Twitter and the Obama Administration.

Media Contact: Claire Holland
VP Marketing Communications, Agency EA
[email protected]
312.879.0186

SOURCE Agency EA