MASTERING ESCAPES AND EXPERIENCES IN A POST-COVID WORLD
Large-scale, in-person gatherings may provide too difficult a hurdle to overcome this fall, but experientials are certainly in reach - in fact, it’s growing in vitality for the future of our industry. Experiences are everything these days and a growing priority for consumers everywhere.
Escapes and experiences are not only safe and clever ways to bring people together at a safe distance, but a creative way to have consumers engage with your brand in a new and exciting way. So read on to get Wizard Studios’ advice on how to have fun, create a memorable brand moment, and avoid the pitfalls.
Escapes and Experientials 101
Like any experiential event, the point of any escape is to create a dynamic, fully-immersive experience for the consumer so that they leave with an impression that is both meaningful and long-lasting. The most effective experientials are ones that successfully tie that positive experience with the brand, creating a win-win for both the people who created the experience and those on the receiving end of it.
To create an exceptional escape experience, your job is to superimpose the exciting and cerebral challenge of an escape room onto a larger and socially distant canvas. Invite couples, families, and teams of two to six friends or coworkers to engage with your brand by following clues and solving consecutive steps in pursuit of solving a large puzzle. Layer in a timer with a need to think outside the box, and teams have no choice but to lean on one another and solve the puzzle together.
The benefit of utilizing an escape is that it doesn’t have to be an “escape,” but more so an “exploration.” Most consumers are familiar with the escape room format, so tweaking it to your needs and brand are what’s going to make it unique and memorable. To use a real world example, the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada created a “Locked Zoo: Finders Keepers” escape event that allowed teams of participants to test their knowledge of animals in pursuit of solving a puzzle that spanned the entirety of the zoo. Learn from their model, and consider adding some pre-purchased dinner boxes or individualized drinks that could accompany your event’s theme. People will snack, interact, collaborate, and problem-solve, all in pursuit of your brand!
Take Advantage of the Outdoors
Who doesn’t like to be outside in the fall? Combine an escape room and with elements of a scavenger hunt to fit any landscape or area. It’ll feel a little bit like that CBS reality show, “The Amazing Race,” and offer a fun and competitive way to get consumers immersed with your brand while elevating their engagement to a whole new level.
Outdoor escapes and experientials allow each team to keep a safe distance, work in a way that feels comfortable and safe to them, and collaborate to solve puzzles over the terrain of everything from a park to an entire pocket of a major city. Which area speaks most to your brand or can get peoples’ eyes and minds on your product or service? Think with the end in mind and take advantage of the beautiful fall weather!
A Digital Component is Crucial
Always remember to plan for those consumers nervous to bring interaction into the physical world. Allow your future escape or experience to have a digital element that can be accessed from home. Interactive virtual events can be filled with puzzles, photo challenges, and trivia to make sure groups are connecting from any location. Similarly, virtual events can offer swag to participants at home, so consider what you might be able to send to your participants prior to their event to add an extra layer of engagement. Take it one step further and add a social media contest with a live, digital scoreboard to add even more excitement to the timed experience!
As your organization considers the steps it wants to take to create the escape or experiential of a lifetime, always keep safety as the priority. If you’re looking for some help as to how to get started, contact the risk management and mitigation, escape, and experiential experts at Wizard Studios today.