How experiential marketing can supercharge your growth – and 10 tactical insights to make it happen

At a time when traditional advertising is becoming easier to tune out, experiential marketing is emerging as a powerful way to build emotional connections and long-term loyalty – something the whole team at Your Brand Travel is passionate about.

We’d like to share the insights from the 10 Experiential Marketing Tactics to Supercharge Your Growth talk by Jonathan Yaffe, Co-Founder and CEO of AnyRoad - a leading experiential marketing platform - and dive into how forward-thinking brands are embracing experiences to drive real transformation. Drawing on his work with brands like Red Bull, Tabasco, and Nike, Jonathan Yaffe makes a compelling case for why experiential marketing isn’t just a nice-to-have, but a must-have.

Let’s explore why experiential marketing matters now more than ever, and how smart brands are turning customer journeys into unforgettable stories.

According to Jonathan Yaffe, the shift from a “things” economy to an experience economy is real. We are living through a profound shift from a transactional, product-focused economy to one driven by experiences and emotional value. While consumers are already there - 76% of them prefer to spend on experiences over products - most brands are still catching up.

Yaffe kicks off with Red Bull as a case in point. By hosting high-adrenaline events, Red Bull has become more than just an energy drink, it’s now a lifestyle brand. These experiences don’t just entertain, they change brand perception and influence long-term purchasing behavior.

Following up, he shares 10 practical experiential marketing tactics worth considering:

1. If your brand was an experience, what would it be? Think like Nike: they don’t just sell shoes,they sell movement. From in-store basketball courts to Nike Running Clubs open to everyone (even non-customers), Nike shows how to create brand-aligned, emotional experiences at scale.

2. Know your target audience: start small by serving your core community. Mayke like Nike again, focusing first on urban runners before scaling further.

3. Test, then scale: great experiences should engage at least three senses. Yaffe gives examples like Sprite’s beach showers, Tabasco’s immersive hot sauce museum, and Lululemon’s free yoga sessions.

4. Create seamless operational execution: the behind-the-scenes logistics must match the on-site magic to ensure every touchpoint is smooth.

5. Stop “counting smiles”, start measuring smartly: track actual data such demographics, behavior, engagement time - not just whether people “seemed happy.”

6. Ditch vanity metrics: likes, impressions, and views don’t tell the whole story. Go deeper into what changes behavior.

7. Use data to optimize: real data proves ROI, and experiential programs increase loyalty, lifetime value, and brand affinity. Consider using tools like NLP (natural language processing) can even uncover the “why” behind emotions.

8. You’re competing with everything else: the average person sees 1,400+ ads daily. Your brand experience has to break through that noise.

9. Focus on lifetime value, not conversions: social posts might generate quick sales, but to truly change long-term buying habits, brands must invest in immersive and memorable experiences. Think beauty masterclasses or real-life community meetups.

10. Transform your business with experiences. As Yaffe puts it, “Red Bull is an energy company, not just a drink brand.” Experiential thinking should touch every part of the business.

The takeaway? “Great brand experiences drive transformation, not just attention.” Experiences aren’t just marketing tactics, they’re strategic tools for building emotional connections, changing perceptions, and driving sustainable growth. And as consumer expectations evolve, the brands that succeed will be those who lead with.

The numbers speak for themselves: consumers value experiences over things, and brands that provide meaningful, memorable moments drive stronger engagement and higher lifetime value.

That’s why at Your Brand Travel, we created Xbrandify, a white-label experiential travel platform designed to help your brand stand out, scale impact, and connect deeply with your audience. You can unlock new revenue streams, boost customer loyalty, and scale your brand engagement like never before. Whether you're in sports, fashion, outdoor gear, or luxury retail, Xbrandify enables you to offer branded travel experiences that not only elevate your loyalty program but become part of your customer’s life story.

Ready to go from storytelling to storydoing? Let’s talk about how Xbrandify can help power your brand’s next chapter.