EXPERIENTIAL KILLED THE DIGITAL STAR.

We’re well into the age of recommendation.
Brands aren’t built by posters — they’re built by what people say when no one’s watching. What they share, post, review, forward, or just casually mention to a mate.

And nothing sparks that conversation like experiential.
Not just stunts or street teams — but any real-world moment, physical or digital, that brings a brand to life in a way people actually remember.

So why does experiential still get overlooked in favour of traditional digital?
It’s not because it underperforms. Quite the opposite.
Done well, experiential delivers fast, measurable return, drives real engagement, and creates social content that doesn’t need forcing.

It’s not about budget.

Most experiential agencies run lean teams and fee-based models — often delivering better value than sprawling ATL setups.
And it’s certainly not a creativity issue.
Some of the most awarded campaigns in recent years have had experience at their heart.

So what is it?

It’s mindset.

Great experiential needs lateral thinking. Spatial, emotional, social, environmental. It takes strategists, creatives, producers and technologists working together — not just someone who can write a decent script.
And in some markets, that talent hasn’t been properly cultivated yet.
So when the opportunity knocks, it either gets missed… or passed over as “a bit of a faff”.

“It’s not that people don’t understand experiential. It’s that once you’ve done it properly, you can’t go back.”

Experiential doesn’t compete with digital or telly — it completes them.
Strong ideas deserve to live beyond a screen.
They should be touched, shared, walked through.
The best experiences become the campaign. The film. The social thread. The pitch-winning case study.

Once brands and agencies embrace that, everything changes.
And that’s what unsettles people: what happens when the bar is raised?

Because once you’ve created something that genuinely connects with people —
Impressions start to feel a bit… flat.

SHA is a strategic advertising agency, creating brand strategy, advertising, design for print and content for web and social. If you want to know more, get in touch with nigelh@sha-agency.com or visit our contacts page.

“The opinions in this article are that of the author alone and in no way, reflect the opinions or viewpoint of the agency. Unless of course we happen to agree with those opinions completely, in which case they might, but otherwise they don’t”