Anton Jerges, CEO of brand experience agency, We Are Collider, says conferences need behavioural science to be more meaningful and memorable.
Many marketers have jumped on the ‘experience bandwagon’ because it’s so effective. In fact, marketers now put so much faith in the channel that it’s matured to the point where we’ve moved beyond ‘peak experience’. Audiences have become so well-acquainted with the experience economy that they are savvier, more demanding and have more options than ever. Whether B2B or B2C, cutting through is becoming increasingly challenging.
Production expectations are now incredibly high, while attention spans are incredibly short (eight seconds, according to our recent research). Connecting with customers in any live or hybrid environment is now harder than ever before.
MARVELS
So, how do you do it? The answer lies in behavioural science.
Alongside behavioural scientist Patrick Fagan, we undertook a weighty literature review of over 100 academic sources, interviewed industry experts and conducted a quantitative survey of over 1,000 British adults to interrogate the way the human mind responds to different stimuli and triggers. The research revealed seven behavioural science levers that can be pulled to make events more memorable and effective: Magic, Adequacy, Relevance, Value, Exchange, Labelling and Sociality (aka MARVELS).
Regardless of whether an event is a fully immersive live experience, a fleeting sampling activity, a sponsorship moment or a digital/hybrid experience, these seven levers can be dialed up or down to make conference interactions more memorable; and therefore more effective.
How to stand out
The research revealed how ‘Peak End Experience’ and ‘Cue Utilisation’ theories help us understand how experiences with an X-factor stand out, but also how a higher emotional engagement drives a more narrowed focus.
‘Expectation’ theory outlines how we all have expectations and how we are left with a profound sense of loss if they aren’t met. Even cloakroom arrangements can have a lasting effect on delegates’ takeaways.
But that’s not all. ‘Peak End Experience’ theory explains how expectations can be played with to create intensely memorable moments.
Relevance gives us the ‘Cocktail Party Effect’, which is critical for B2B audiences. So-called because it’s based on the premise that you’re at a party talking to friends, but then your attention shifts immediately as you hear someone on the other side of the room say you’re a bad guy. Your focus narrows and you zoom in on the other group.
This is the cocktail effect in action: where we are only aware of about 0.0004% of the data our brains are processing, but when it’s highly relevant, you focus wholeheartedly. Meanwhile ‘Cognitive Gap’ theory tells us how to make people think by not telling them something. ‘Co-creation’ theory covers delegate exchanges and how interactivity is key to influencing audience behaviours, both on the day and post-event.
And finally, the ‘Spreading Effect’ and ‘Social Identity’ theories say all we need to know about tapping into System One thinking to achieve the virality that can amplify activations well beyond live audiences.
