How Ai can be used in experiential marketing campaigns.
How can Ai be used in experiential marketing campaigns?
At the time of writing in 2025, Ai is still relatively new although more widely available than ever. You wouldn’t normally associate Ai or Artificial Intelligence with experiential marketing or promotional campaigns. But Ai is here to stay. So how and why can Ai be leveraged to enhance physical marketing campaigns? We explore a little here.
Ai is beginning to bridge the gap between physical and digital marketing. Using Ai is helping to create experiences that are both personal and measurable. But it;’s by no means perfect. Let’s take a look at some of the keys points about why and how we could use Ai in our industry.
Ai is really good (and fast) at analysing huge amounts of data. It can instantly take information from social media, from retailers, sales records, loyalty programmes and all kinds of other sources. It can then provide us with a better understanding of consumer behaviours, preferences and demographics. Furthermore it can predict shopper trends to help develop experiential strategies.
Ai-powered brand activations (such as ChatGPT) can self-build interactive experiences for consumers in real time. What the heck does that mean? So for example, it can tailor the experience (ie – it can adapt or change the campaign) to suit the consumer right there and then. It can analyse gender, age and other factors to determine and create the best experience for the user on the spot. That would be pretty cool.
This is where we think Ai can really help brand activations and work alongside the physical world. It could take the logistics, analyse them and tell us the best and most efficient way to run the campaign. Like the best route for the promo staff and teams. It can plan optimal routes and timings for promotional vehicles. Ai could even check the stock as it’s distributed (for example when sampling). And if it can make a campaign more efficient that means it saves budget, which makes it more cost effective for the brand.
What do we mean by this? It means we can use Ai tools to analyse customer feedback on the spot (in real time). It can check the social media chatter immediately or collate the physical feedback at the time to create the best possible experience.
One thing Ai is great for is measurable ROI. We can use Ai sensors to monitor footfall at an event. Or the uptake and redemption of product samples. It can identify KPI’s and make sure they’re met. In addition, it could set goals and create the tools needed to track the results. The possibility really are mind-blowing.
