Experiential Marketing Summit: What to Expect

The Experiential Marketing Summit (EMS) is an annual 3-day conference for creators and innovators in brand experiences. Covering both B2B and B2C industries, the Experiential Marketing Summit focuses on the future of brand experiences and how the industry will thrive and adapt.

What’s experiential marketing, and why does it matter?

Rather than merely delivering a message, experiential marketing uses pop-up shops, virtual events, and other means to create an experience for customers. This offers customers a way to interact with your brand in compelling, memorable ways.

In an era when customers are inundated with marketing messages across every medium, experiential marketing offers a way for a brand to make a unique, lasting, firsthand impression. This strengthens both brand recognition and customer loyalty. The Experiential Marketing Summit is an opportunity to find out where experiential marketing is today, and where it’s headed in the future.

What can you expect to learn at EMS?

Though the full agenda won’t be released until early 2024, the Experiential Marketing Summit has been around a long time — over 20 years — and is known for offering an agenda rich with keynotes, breakout sessions, panel discussions, case studies, tech demonstrations, and more. Here are some broad topics we’re expecting to hear more about at the 2024 event:

Adoption of New Technologies

A reoccurring topic during 2023 sessions was the rapid emergence of AI tools and how they are poised to create efficiencies around experience design. Expect the AI discussion to continue at the 2024 event, looking at how AI’s impact on experience design has evolved and what’s ahead.

Hybrid Experiences

For several years now, retailers have been incorporating digital technologies into stores with the aim of making shopping faster and more convenient; at this year’s EMS, expect to hear about incorporating digital technologies into other physical spaces, with the aim of creating unique, memorable experiences.

The Power of Intimate Events

At the 2024 Experiential Marketing Summit, you can expect to hear discussion around the shift to the smaller, more intimate, conversational networking/marketing gatherings we’ve been hearing so much about.

Making Authentic Connections

Authenticity builds better customer relationships, promotes brand closeness and encourages prospective customers to buy; the conversation at EMS will explore the importance of authenticity in building brand and trust.

Redefining Event KPIs

Expect the conversation to cover moving beyond traditional metrics to “Keep People Interested,” as well as explore innovative approaches to measuring event success.

Should you attend the Experiential Marketing Summit?

Yes! Because while you can Google anything you want to know about marketing, an in-person conference like EMS offers great benefits you just can’t get online:

Networking & Socializing

At a live event, you’ll have opportunities to meet other like-minded individuals in the event marketing community — other business owners, entrepreneurs, marketers and vendors/suppliers — people whose expertise and experiences you can draw from as you build your own experiential marketing efforts.

Look into the future

The marketing landscape is constantly changing, and experiential marketing is no exception. Learning from leaders in the industry and people who work in it every day will help you not only understand the current state of marketing but also hear expert predictions about the future.

Finding fresh inspiration

Trends come and go, and last year’s groundbreaking idea could be old hat 12 months from now. At a conference, you’ll get an up-close view of new ideas and strategies. You’ll return to your business ready to create and implement new campaigns and events.

Professionals who attend conferences regularly do so because investing in themselves, and their own ideas, is invaluable. This conference is a crash course in the experiential marketing industry. Learn tactics and trends from the experts who shape them. Believe it: You will be inspired.

Promobile Marketing is a dynamic experiential marketing agency based in New York City. For over a decade, Promobile Marketing has collaborated with a range of brands—from budding startups to major CPG brands—on immersive marketing campaigns. Get in touch to discuss your next project.