Designs of Experiments - Optimizing Investments in Real Time

One of the strengths of Experiential Marketing or Event Marketing is its ability to deliver measurable results in real time.

This lends Experiential Marketing to a Six Sigma process called Designs of Experiment, or DOE.

A well-constructed DOE allows you to “test drive” a tactic or series of tactics before committing all your resources. This type of objective comparison allows you to select the best option, and best of all, to know what type of result to expect from your program.

I have seen cases where two ideas that both sounded equally brilliant on paper achieved dramatically different results in the field at the DOE stage.

So how do you create an Experiential Marketing DOE? It must start with these two questions:

• -       What do we hope to achieve?
• -       How will we define success?

From there, you can brainstorm activities that could potentially drive consumers toward the desired response. There may be many options, and your experience and insights will help to identify those with the best chances of success.

However, the beauty of the DOE is that it lets you test some ideas that may seem far-fetched or at least less obvious than your normal approach.

Since you are not going to dedicate a large budget at the DOE stage, your risk in trying these ideas is very low.

With several possible winners in hand, it’s time for field testing.

Here are other important considerations:

• -       Clearly define the data you will be gathering.
• -       Target quick returns – after all, this is the strength of Experiential Marketing.
• -       Control the independent variables where possible, so that you feel comfortable making comparisons. You don’t want to be at the mercy of capricious weather, for example.
• -       Use your weighted objectives to compute Return on Objectives scores from each project.
• -       Be ready to quickly roll out whichever tactic performs the best.

Gather the data, compare the weighted results against the execution cost in order to determine Return on Investment, take your Return on Objectives scores into account, fine-tune if needed, and roll out the winning plan as quickly as possible.

Then bask in the admiration of your peers.