From screen to handshake: why real beats fake, every time

Our Netherlands team, BeGlobal, recently hosted a Marketing Experience event, and one thing became clear very quickly: getting people in a room still matters.

What the event showed – through conversations with clients and suppliers is that real-life interaction still plays a critical role in how business gets done.

When people meet face to face, conversations are more natural. You learn more. Ideas come quicker. You get to the point faster, but you also go further. And for Prominate Group, it opened the door to some genuinely exciting opportunities (more to come!)

Credit to Marco and Andre for creating the environment for this to happen. The mix of clients and sectors made it broad and interesting, but what really made it work was the willingness to engage in real life.

And this is where there was a clear learning from a chat with clients. Many companies are still relying on familiar, often predictable approaches with branded merchandise to engage with employees and customers. Campaigns are old school. But they do not always stand out. Consistency isn’t what we thought it was.

This is something Will Rust and I talked about during the event. There is no argument that social, influencer and creator-based strategies drive attention – but when we look at retention, great merch can give depth, meaning, memorability and (wait for it) magic!

Just look at Dunkin’ Donuts SuperBowl tracksuits, keeping the brand present long after the event itself has finished, adding that longer term echo to content that simply put, “pays twice.” It’s not consistency – it’s brand equity in motion.

The challenge is not whether this works. The evidence is clear that it does. The real challenge is whether businesses are willing to move beyond the familiar and use it in new and imaginative ways.

And this requires a shift in thinking. It means moving away from purely deterministic thinking about merch as a transaction and brand building thinking that is long term, consumer centric, experiential and creative.

The BeGlobal Marketing Experience was a strong reminder that the opportunity is there. Real-life engagement is not old-fashioned – if anything, it is underused. The brands that recognise this, and act on it, will be the ones that win!

Written by Will Good

Global CEO – Prominate Corporate