I ran across this article this morning about a Stove Top Stuffing campaign set to launch in December.  The idea is that Kraft (maker of Stove Top) will provide heating in various bus shelters and provide cups of warm stuffing to pedestrians forced to wait in the cold for their bus.  The campaign will be localized in the Chicago area, but is generating buzz nationwide as an industry first.  Stove Top will be the first brand to use “heat” or “warmth” as a street advertising tactic.

“Stove Top Stuffing is all about warming up families with hot, delicious meals when the temperatures drop, and we wanted a stand-out way to demonstrate this to consumers this holiday season,” said Stove Top Brand Manager Ellen Thompson.

This illustrates beautifully something we here at Mojoloco have been “warming up” to in the past few months.  Branding, as we say, is all about the “experience you create.”  Therefore, if your brand is, for example, about creating a family atmosphere, then you can embed this perception in the consumer’s psyche by creating that experience through some sort of event or mini-event much faster than you can by running ads in print or multimedia.

This is exactly what Stove Top is doing…they are creating the experience they wish to be known for.  Bravo…and Standing O.

We’re talking to a couple of our clients about this very idea and are working towards some event-based promotions for 2009.  Using experience as a brand association is the way of the future, I have no doubt.  Experience can come in a variety of forms:

• it can come in the form of a physical sensation, such as the Stove Top campaign built around warmth…
• or in the form of an emotional sensation- Extreme Home Makeover has mastered this…
• or in the form of an activity, which is why Hummer has obstacle courses built into its car lots…
• or in the form of smells, which perfumes and fragrances have been doing for years…
• or in the form of taste (think Coke/Pepsi taste test)…
• or in the form of sounds, which is what Muzak has built its fortunes on…

It doesn’t always have to be an all-out event geared to stimulate all of the senses.  But, the more, the merrier.  Engage one sense, and make a dent.  Engage all of the senses, and own the mind.

Of course, the catch to this is that you have to be true to that experience day in and day out.  You can’t be on your best behavior the day of the event and then fudge the rest of the year…you have to make it real.  Consumers are quick to sniff out a fraud.

Bottom line, if you wish to be known for a certain sensation or experience, then create that experience for your consumer.  Build a campaign around it.  And then follow it up with daily reinforcement.