Connecting beyond screens

Alex Vera, VP of creative & strategy at international brand experience specialist agency SGK, discusses the potential for integrating digital technologies in an experiential approach to connecting people with your brand.

“In a world where technology can achieve almost anything your brand desires, it’sunsurprising that some companies are tempted to start with attention- grabbing tech and build the brand story around that,” says SGK’s Alex Vera. “But whether you’re exploring the digital metaverse, staying in the analogue world, or bridging the gap between the two, if the experience you’re creating doesn’t allow people to authentically connect with your brand, all that investment and creativity is simply wasted,” he adds.

Vera’s insights are rooted in his extensive experience of delivering world-class experiential brand engagement solutions for some of the world’s most recognised brands.

As VP of creative & strategy at SGK, he leads a team of over 90 creative and strategy professionals across North America and says he is passionate about delivering integrated physical and digital experiences that bring brands and consumers closer together, pushing the boundaries of brand expression across all channels.

“New opportunities are constantly emerging to surprise, delight, and entertain consumers with creative approaches to leveraging technology,” he continues. “We’re creating brand experiences at a time when we have the digital tools to make people feel like they could be anywhere, and we’re able to bring the brand to life in a multi-sensory, immersive way. But we don’t just want to surprise and delight – we need to connect people with the essence of the brand; otherwise, they will remember the clever tech and creativity without becoming excited about the brand.”

Bringing the digital brand experience to exhibitions

While the team at SGK has delivered brand experiences at exhibitions and trade shows, much of the company’s work focuses on connecting the physical brand experience (on packaging, in-store, or at events) with the virtual brand experience (on social media platforms, through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or creative audio-visual experiences).

SGK occasionally helps brands create a more dynamic and memorable presence at exhibitions, drawing on the company’s experience in in-store and event environments to enhance what can be achieved at a show.

“Creating an impactful digital experience at a stand has to be about much more than playing a video on a screen or placing a few QR codes here and there so that people can download a digital brochure,” Vera explains. ‘The companies coming to us for help with their exhibition stands understand that. Usually, they are either existing clients who have worked with us on other digital brand projects, or they’re disruptor brands who want us to help them strategically leverage the power of digitally enabled creativity to articulate their brand and help people understand what makes them different.”

Creating an impactful brand experience

With the success of a digital brand experience relying as much on the strategic thinking steering the project as the technology used to deliver it, Vera highlights linear thinking as one of the key obstacles to achieving a truly impactful digital experience.

“Most people immediately think of how they can add digital to traditional platforms,” he explains, “but a much more successful approach is to consider digital as an integrated element from the outset, using interactivity to connect people to the brand.”

A recent example of this approach, developed by SGK, was its Puma experience at the NBA All-Star weekend, creating a gamified environment that connected a digital experience with real-world brand connection at one of the sport’s biggest events. Combining basketball hoops with interactive digital screens, SGK created a brand ecosystem where consumers could play with virtual characters using a real ball and hoop, with real-time scoring unlocking promotions and giveaways.

“In the real world, our experience is multi-layered,” Vera continues, “so why not offer that rich experience to people when we create a digital brand experience? That way, we enable them to step seamlessly into and out of the digital world, blurring the lines between the two.”

Developing the brand ecosystem

Vera also highlights the potential to personalise the brand experience by creating opportunities to interact with the space. QR codes can be used to unlock anamorphic 3D content and augmented reality, for example, or RFID near-field or far-fieldtechnology can be used to alter the environment as someone moves around the space, making the digital elements of the brand experience agile and responsive, as well as interactive.

An example of these principles is a project SGK delivered for a soft drinks brand, which elevated the immersive experience by introducing multi-sensory elements and integrating the virtual brand ecosystem into the physical environment.

“We designed an in-store meet- and-greet with the brand’s polar bear,” Vera explains. “But the animated bear only appeared in freezing conditions. Most of the time, the environment remained aquatic, with digital puddles on the floor that splashed as people stepped in them. When the floor ‘froze’ and frost spread across the windows, the polar bear emerged. To seamlessly blend the digital and real-world elements, the team used a liquid nitrogen fog curtain, not only enhancing the visual transition from water to ice but also physically cooling the space for a fully immersive experience.”

Virtually no limits

With so much technology available, coupled with the creativity and strategic focus of experts like Vera and the SGK team, the potential for integrating digital technology into the brand experience is vast.

“The only limits are time and budget,” he advises, “otherwise, everything is possible. But the biggest impacts don’t always come with the biggest budgets – or the most sophisticated digital elements.”

Alex cites SGK’s Cereal Man campaign for General Mills as an example, which leveraged nostalgia for milk bottles and deliveries to create shareable real-world content that went viral across digital channels, delivering over 74 million impressions.