These are exciting times for experiential marketers. With the rapid advancement of emerging technologies, now more than ever marketers are harnessing the power of a brand's physical presence. Check out AMP’s perspective on the experiential landscape for 2016 and beyond. Experiential Insight from AMP Agency Authors: Derek Shore, Dan Hicks and Lauren Peterson

For decades, retailers have relied on very traditional transactions. In the not so distant past, consumers who wanted to buy something would have to 'actually'? go to a store location to make their purchase. Over the past several years, this traditional transaction model has dramatically changed. With the move to more online retail destinations, no more Saturdays spent getting the kids into the car and bouncing from store to store to get what you need. All one has to do now-a-days is log on to a site like Amazon.com and everything from hammers to curtains to even baby formula is just a click away. So, how can the traditional retailers stay afloat in this e-commerce driven society? New Technologies With the advent of the smart phone app and new app-related technologies such as Square, everyone from retailers to street peddlers can now accept credit cards like a legit store. With people carrying less and less cash these days, having the ability to put a purchase on a debit card or credit card is an absolute necessity for most shoppers. Mobile payment solutions like LevelUp, PayPal mobile and Google Wallet have had a huge impact on the transaction landscape. Just 5 years ago, a mobile card reader would have been considered futuristic. All of these technologies have allowed retailers and brands to get outside of the brick and mortar store and onto the street. Beyond the Physical Footprint Today, companies like our client Samsonite have gone a step further to reach consumers where they are. Late last year, they commissioned a retail trailer to accompany their experiential activities. Now, at an experiential event for the Samsonite brand, you can not only test out their casual bag products on their branded inflatable proving grounds, you can also purchase your very own bag to take home. The fact is Samsonite and companies like them have just begun to scratch the surface of what we expect to see for years to come. Brands and their partner agencies are certainly up for the challenge of finding alternative avenues to the traditional retail space. Making products available for sale at experiential events is certainly a smart way to move consumers from awareness to purchase fairly quickly. Whether leveraging the latest technologies or creating pop-up stores, there are an array of options for marketers to help extend the retail experience beyond the physical store to reach more consumers and ultimately drive more sales. Additionally, integrating retail extensions to experiential events can offset some of the costs for the marketing investment. A win-win for consumers and brands!'?

Hear the AMP Insights Lab perspective on why digital tools enhance experiential marketing efforts. Matt Rainone, Manager in our Integrated Marketing Group, discusses 4 helpful tools to integrate digital into your next experiential marketing campaign: 1) MoZeus (http://www.mozeus.com/) 2) Grandstand (http://getgrandstand.com/) 3) Aurasma (http://www.aurasma.com/) 4) Magisto (http://www.magisto.com/) AMP Agency presents Videos by the Insights Lab- a think tank dedicated to uncovering, understanding and leveraging the best way to connect brands with consumers via the latest technology.

y Pete D'Andrea, SVP, Sponsorship and Events As the football season comes to a close (with another Cowboyless Super Bowl) it was pointed out by several friends that it is my turn in the hood to host the Super Bowl party. Seems simple ' some wings, lots of beer, and a bunch of guys huddled around a TV stuffing their face for 5 hours - Wrong. I was quickly reminded that I graduated college many years ago and no longer live in a house with 10 other dudes. After taking 30 seconds to let this sink in (25 of those seconds remembering how easy life was back then), I began to think this isn't much different than another day in the office planning an event. So let's dig in. After the brief meeting with the CMO (aka my wife Nicole), a budget and core objectives were set: Host a great event that the neighborhood will be talking about and posting on FB Make sure me and my neanderthal football buddies can focus on the game and talk football for 5 hours straight Don't ignore the wives and make sure they have something to do The game will last about 4 ' 4.5 hours so make sure our guests don't lose interest Tough day to hook a babysitter so the kids have to be invited and need something to keep them busy (i.e. out of the way if they aren't watching the game) These are some similar challenges we face when planning an event for young kids. It is important to think about and plan for the entire family to maximize attendance and participation at your event. Of course the experience for the kids needs to be relevant to the brand and fun and exciting but you also need to consider the parent and build in activities for them as well. Setting up areas that allow the parent to take a break, get some refreshments, relax on comfortable furniture while still keeping one eye on their child is key. Build activities where the parent can participate with the brand along with their child and not just be a spectator. Reward the parent with adult relevant prizes along with younger themed prizes and swag for the kids. Include this messaging in your pre-promo to make sure parents know there will be something in it for them. These type of tactics will build a common thread between the parent and the child, build parental endorsement and increase sharing within online communities via the parent. I don't know of too many employed 8 year olds that are driving so it is important to remember Mom or Dad when building out your event experience. So back to delivering on my CMO's objectives: Establish a core football room ' minimum of 2 big screens so every play can be viewed at every angle, replayed, rewound and replayed again Non-football watching youngsters ' in the basement with babysitter (this way you only need 1 for the neighborhood), X-Box, Wii, and collection of American Girl dolls to dress, undress and re-dress TV in kitchen ' can't miss the game while reloading the cheese and crackers and'?¦..doesn't everyone always end up in kitchen? Boxes ' small dollar amount for football pool to keep interest even in a blow-out And if all else fails ' FREE WINGS AND BEER ' isn't that enough? (sorry Nicole