Brand experiences are more than just marketing – they shape emotions, create connections, and drive action. A well-crafted experience doesn’t just introduce a product; it immerses people in its story, guiding them from awareness to consideration and, ultimately, purchase. Whether through interactive installations, immersive digital environments, or personalised storytelling, these experiences play a crucial role in the purchase funnel – moving consumers from curiosity to commitment.
But what happens when the product doesn’t yet exist? When there’s nothing physical to showcase, how can brands spark interest, build confidence, and secure pre-orders? This is where digital storytelling excels – transforming ideas into interactive narratives that make the intangible feel real, ensuring that when launch day arrives, customers are already primed to buy.
People are more likely to buy something when they can experience it. But if a product has yet to launch – think a new car or consumer electronics – how do you secure those pre-orders? Brands need to share product specifics, and examples of use and build that all-important anticipation of something new to come.
Meanwhile, in the world of luxury, many products – be they houses, yachts, or cars – will be bespoke, with personalised design important to the appeal and the sell. Here, digital brand experiences allow individuals to test out design options and find what best fits.
Embarking on the path to purchase
Brand experiences can tell the story behind the launch. They allow people to virtually test the product, to entice people to start the customer journey; important elements to set customers on their path to purchase.
So, what needs to be conveyed? There are the obvious essentials – what is it, how it works, what it looks like, what its features are and what its point of difference is. So far, so like any other brand story. But the emotion is different. Through digital storytelling, the brand can build excitement as well as introduce a level of innovation not possible in the real world. What you lose in not being able to physically interact with the product – the tangible aspects – you gain in the emotional. Digital allows for an imaginative, playful aspect.
For example, compare a virtual test drive with a real one. The virtual one will allow the driver to pass through mountains, deserts, and any landscape of their choosing. They can configure the car as they want. Technologies like pixel streaming now allow audiences to do this in high definition on their mobile devices or browsers, like a computer game but without any specialist hardware or software.
Unknown factors
The biggest challenge with designing a yet-to-launch product experience is the unknowns. There may be specifications yet to be set, colour options yet to be chosen, and capacities yet to be achieved. In this case, the experience design needs to focus elsewhere – to highlight the areas of the product that have been determined and fixed. The creativity will turn up or down different features based on the known capabilities of the product.
Baked into the brand experience is the need for updates. Information may be released in stages depending on the release cycle of the product. Even though the experience is created before the product is launched, if it continues to be used after its launch, you need to build longevity into it. Beyond that, it may require the creative flexibility to be scaled to other markets and languages.
Digital storytelling works because it allows brands to build emotional resonance and memories. Secured memories are carried on to the point of purchase. And this is why updates are important – the consumer might not be able to make a reservation to buy the product straight away but they may be able to in three months’ time. So that mechanism might need to be added later. What might start as ‘keep me informed’ is modified to ‘be one of the first to own it’.
Reality in digital experiences
As augmented reality has matured it has introduced depth, excitement and new levels of immersion. People can explore in ways that were never previously possible, bringing products to life in their digital manifestations. In the world of interior design, for example, people can envisage furniture in their own homes. In this way, the digital brand experience outperforms the real-world one.
Generative AI tools allow for more personalised experiences. People can be shown the benefits that are most relevant to them, as well as offering tools to help answer questions. AI-powered chatbots can give feedback and take on the preliminary role of a sales advisor – before a real-world sales advisor comes into play.
The design quality – and hence storytelling – has progressed significantly since the days of flat CGI renders. With the improved technology comes the ability to be more imaginative, to better represent unknown worlds and situations.
Measuring effectiveness
And finally, a benefit of brand experiences and technological advancements is in data collection. Determining from the outset what data needs to be captured influences the design – knowing if it is a path to purchase if sales are the goal. It will not always be about reach, but also about depth – the time spent with the brand – and who is most interested.
As technology advances, we’re seeing an ever-closer merging of the physical and digital worlds. Tools like Apple Vision Pro and generative AI are setting new benchmarks for hyper-realistic, personalised interactions. But beyond just innovation for innovation’s sake, these advancements serve a greater purpose: they empower customers, democratise access, and reduce waste – eliminating the need for excessive prototypes or costly physical showrooms.
The future of brand storytelling isn’t just about pre-selling products; it’s about building trust, deepening engagement, and ensuring that when the product finally launches, it already holds a place in the minds – and hearts – of its future customers.
Simon Levitt
Simon Levitt is Global Creative Technology Director at Imagination.
