Spending on experiential marketing tops pre-pandemic levels

Dive Brief:

Global experiential marketing spending is expected to reach $128.35 billion in 2024, rising above pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to recent research PQ Media shared with Marketing Dive.
The expected 10.5% jump in experiential marketing spend this year outpaces the 9.7% growth seen in 2023. Strong investments from both B2B and B2C companies over the past couple of years has set experiential marketing spending on a path to surpass the $121.87 billion spent in 2019.
B2C experiential marketing spending is predicted to reach $90.32 billion in 2024, a 10.3% increase over 2023. B2B marketing is on track to put up a 11.1% increase to $38.03 billion.

Dive Insight:

Following a few fallow years, experiential marketing continues to recover from the pandemic and remains a key tool for marketers in both the B2C and B2B space, according to PQ Media’s Global B2C & B2B Experiential Marketing Forecast 2024-2028. The United States remained the world's largest market in 2023, reaching $52.80 billion in spending and commanding 45.5% of global spending on experiential marketing.

“Experiential marketing is becoming a more important part of marketing campaigns because of better metrics and engagement with customers,” said Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ Media in a press release.

When social distancing shut down in-person events and activations, experiential marketing became much more difficult. The lack of in-person events made interacting with consumers more challenging for both B2B and B2C marketers. While many in the industry turned to internet activations, such as the metaverse, the usual channels of sports, live events and conferences were mostly out of the picture.

The return of major live events over the past couple of years has been a large contributor to the spending rebound by B2C advertisers. Live events was the fastest growing channel in the B2C space, up 9.6% in 2023. The enthusiasm for the return of live sports was also evident, with the category capturing a 67.1% share of the market for B2C experiential marketing, according to the report. In 2024, marketers found the Paris Games a valuable opportunity to engage consumers around live events.

Looking ahead, B2C marketers are expected to focus on in-person experiences, such as music festivals. Alcohol brands such as Smirnoff Ice have already taken advantage of festival season to connect with consumers on a more personal level.

B2B marketers have found value in conferences and other industry events, especially as professionals seek demonstrations of new AI tools. The research backs this up, with exhibit space rental fees reaching $20.93 million in 2023, up 11.8%. There has also been an increase in both exhibit booth rentals and attendance fees.