I recently revisited my Bars.com job description and, frankly, it was a disaster—a mess of jargon and ambiguity. I couldn't stand it. So, I decided to simplify it: "Building and operating a massively scalable experiential network."
This new version, while concise, lacks context, leading people to ask what it really means.
In our increasingly digital world, it’s always been inevitable that the efficiencies of digital will extend to real-world and merge with experiential settings.
This is driven by 3 key factors:
1. The physical world isn't going anywhere and like it or not we live in it.
2. IRL experiences are infinitely more valuable than digital interactions.
3. Digital experiences are infinitely more measurable than messy real-life events.
The reality, however, is that digital and experiential channels need not compete with each other—they do because we've created a connectivity and measurement gap.
Digital marketers thrive on metrics to enhance their strategies, while real-life experiences inherently offer greater relevance and impact. The challenge is that experiential must overcome the 'we brought receipts' mentality that digital marketers enjoy, and digital engagement must address its tendency to disrupt real-world social constructs, often leading to a paradoxical disengagement from reality.
The integration of digital efficiencies into real-world experiences represents more than a technological evolution; it is a cultural revolution and it has been playing out along generational lines. Our society is at a crossroads where the immersive, tangible value of physical interactions can be enhanced by the precision and scalability of digital tools. We are not merely bridging a gap; we are reimagining the way we connect, communicate, and engage.
To bridge this divide, we need to develop irl programmatic networks and cross-channel platforms that bring digital efficiency into the physical world. This requires implementing a framework that creates an always-on ecosystem, designed to drive relevance, actionability, and measurement across real-world settings. By providing interfaces and exchanges, we can facilitate data flow between digital and real-life experiences, creating a unified data channel that addresses audience needs in a relevant, actionable, and measurable manner across a merged platform.
Imagine a world where the authenticity of a face-to-face conversation is seamlessly augmented by the analytical power of digital insights. Where attending an event doesn't just mean being there, but experiencing a relevancy enhancement that enriches every interaction. This convergence doesn't just aim to make digital more human; it seeks to make human experiences more profound and meaningful.
This is the vision, and this is what’s driven me here. For me it’s about fostering connections that matter, both online and off and you can see the beginning of this vision at our new website on bars.com
#experiential #digital #programmatic
Head of Social Europe. Autistic + mom
2moStill no POC eh?