Inside the mind of Line Up's Duncan Beale
Has your event got the X Factor?
As the dust settles on another incredible X Factor year, I’ve been reflecting on what brands and experiential agencies can learn from this all-powerful brand experience.
It all began as just another TV talent show. In fact, it wasn’t even an original idea – just think back to Opportunity Knocks and New Faces. But now X Factor has become a phenomenon that pervades all media. A force that attracted a final weekend TV audience of 20 million, and which has sparked millions more conversations, on and off-line.
This year, finalists seemed to be as busy with their Twitter and Facebook pages as they were learning new songs each week. The tabloids and gossip magazines went X Factor crazy and shopping centres were filled with screaming fans every time one of the finalists stepped onto a stage. ITV are alleged to have taken £20m in advertising revenues last weekend alone and roughly £175m over the entire run. So, against a background of recession and debt, it’s clearly bucking a trend.
So what is the biggest lesson we can take away and apply in the event and experiential marketing world?
I believe this series of X Factor will be seen as a landmark in the convergence of media. As punters, we could access X Factor any time, anywhere and we felt a part of it, we could get involved, make our opinions public and vote to determine the outcome. What was conceptualised as a TV programme invaded our lives in ways that we could never have imagined only a few years ago.
This is where brands now need to be. They need to embrace experiential to create empathy, understanding and accessibility with their audiences. The passive audience is no longer a receptive audience so brands should not treat their audiences as ‘listeners’. Although X Factor has really been about discovering one voice, it has given its audience a voice in more ways than one and brands can do the same.
