Innovation and experimentation are key to creating brand experiences that resonate with audiences, according to Lindsay Hegleman, director of global experiences at Meta.
“Brands should be open to testing and learning as well,” she said.
Hegleman oversees Meta’s experiential marketing strategy, bringing its products and services to life at both its own events and those where it activates, from Meta Connect to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the World Economic Forum, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and more.
Her team works closely with the tech giant’s data and decision science team and chief marketing officer and vp of analytics Alex Schultz to ensure events are not just engaging for audiences, but drive insights the tech giant can use to inform future experiential strategies.
“He has pushed us very hard over the past [few] years to measure the effectiveness of our events, experiences, and programs,” she explained at Mediaweek. “We partner often and early with [data science] to bring them in as we set the goals, gather the insights, and look at our objectives, which vary by audience.”
Speaking in a fireside chat with ADWEEK’s chief content officer, Zoë Ruderman, Hegleman discussed how experiential is critical to Meta’s overall marketing strategy.
Bringing Meta to life at industry events
When it comes to activating at external events and conferences, Meta centers the audience and tries to meet them where they are.
For instance, Meta uses CES, which is focused on emerging technology, as an opportunity to conduct meetings and hardware demos, as well as to focus on thought leadership.
At Davos, which centers on business more broadly, Hegleman’s team focus on landing Meta’s narrative and pushing its products, whereas in Cannes, the team creates immersive experiences since “some of the greatest minds in the world are there all talking about marketing,” she said.
For each event, Hegleman’s team begins with a strategic brief and collaborates with Meta’s data science team to ensure the experience meets business and customer needs.
Meta Lab
Meta also views experiential marketing as an opportunity to get its hardware products in the hands of consumers.
For instance, last fall, Ray-Ban and Meta collaborated to create smart glasses, wearable tech that uses AI to allow wearers to capture photos and videos, listen to music, make calls and texts using voice commands, and more. The brands recently partnered with Translation for a spot featuring musicians Anderson .Paak, Tinashe, and James Blake, highlighting the glasses’ hands-free capabilities.
Meta is now gearing up to open its newest retail experiential space, Meta Lab, in November, which Hegleman described as “an immersive, hands-on environment that allows people to check out Ray-Ban Meta’s AI features” in real life.
“The retail focus is on expression and customization, so wave one will be focused on low-rider culture and [then] we’ll pivot to a DIY set-up for wave two,” said the exec.
At Meta Lab: Los Angeles, customers can get their Ray-Ban Meta glasses cases engraved. The pop-up will also have an immersive room that “uses scenic mirrors and LEDs to create an immersive, hands-free capture moment for users,” Hegleman said.
Hegleman said that with the activation, both brands will be able to garner information about the benefits of leading with experiential retail. She also said that Meta’s primary focus with Meta Lab is on testing and learning about what resonates with audiences at scale rather than driving sales.
link