Summary: Experiential recruitment marketing focuses on creating memorable, sensory-driven moments that job seekers feel and share, not just see. When done well, it increases employer brand visibility, relevance, and engagement by delivering value in real-world contexts.
In The Studio, we spend a lot of time thinking about what actually makes job seekers and candidates feel something. Not just see it.
Not just scroll past it. Feel it.
So, Will Jeffreys (Senior Director of Client Strategy and professional question-asker) sat down with Sophie Stones (Senior Content Producer and Strategist) to talk about how experiential marketing can be used in recruitment.
Sophie’s a big believer in creating moments that stick. The kind people remember, talk about, and share without being asked. In this conversation, we explore why experiential isn’t just for big-budget campaigns, how to do it well, and why the thinking behind it can elevate any piece of work.
What is “experiential”?
Will: Okay, first question, how would you actually describe experiential marketing?
Sophie: I think the main thing to start your thought process is that you’re creating a memory. Not just something people see, but something they feel. What they hear, smell, touch, even taste. And how all of that comes together in a moment. It’s less about 'an activation' and more about creating a feeling or memory people carry with them afterwards.
Will: We’re talking about crafted experiences. In recruitment marketing, something an organization builds for potential job seekers to go through. Is that always offline?
Sophie: Yeah, I’d say experiential at its heart has to be shared. You can have things that feel similar online, but it’s not quite the same as an experiential journey.
What does that actually look like?
Will: Give me an example.
Sophie: The Stranger Things immersive experience is a great example for people who might not be familiar with the terminology yet. When you enter, you’re not just looking at a set, you’re in the Upside Down. Everything around you is working to make you feel part of that world.
But that’s the high-end version. You don’t need that kind of budget to think experientially.
It’s more about intent. Are you considering every part of what someone experiences? Or just what they see?
Why start with experiential?
Will: So if we boil it down, experiential is about crafting something people remember about a brand. When would we actually suggest that to a client?
Sophie: I think it’s a really good starting point if they want to do something bigger. Experiential gives you a central idea you can build everything else from. Content, PR, social, it all flows outwards from that one moment. It creates a spiderweb of outputs that you can build from.
Will: Yeah, because in some ways the answer is: if you want to be memorable, start with experiential. If a client's struggling to make their employer brand stand out or compete against the market, this gives you something out of the ordinary, something designed to stick.
Sophie: Yeah, exactly. And if you do it well, you almost don’t have to do as much advertising, because the PR that comes from it can be massive. People share it, talk about it — you’re building that visibility naturally. With recruitment marketing this is a great way to get people interested outside of the industry itself.
“But that sounds expensive…”
Will: I suppose the immediate reaction from a client is: that sounds expensive. So is the answer that you get a lot of that back?
Sophie: Yeah, definitely. When it’s done well, you get press, you get people sharing it.
But also, budget isn’t always as big a constraint as people think. You can scale it. It can be a question of asking how you use what you already have. Can you use your own space? Can you reuse materials? Can you bring in a sustainability angle?
It’s about using those constraints to make something more interesting. And sometimes that’s where the most exciting ideas come from because you’re looking at things from a new angle.
Will: That’s essentially what we do at Symphony Talent; we’re creative problem-solvers in talent acquisition — and we’ll find a way to do that within your budget.
Why experiential matters more now
Will: Why are brands leaning into experiential marketing more now?
Sophie: Because everything is saturated — and sometimes isolating. You’re constantly being hit with ads; scrolling through social media, watching TV, even now when you pause the TV, there is an ad.
Experiential cuts through that because you’re not interrupting someone, you’re adding to their day. And that’s the key difference.
Will: That point really stands out — adding to someone’s day. It’s not about grabbing attention, it’s about giving someone something worthwhile.
It has to be a two-way exchange
Sophie: And we try to think about that with everything, from social media to experiential, and everything in between. What is the audience getting out of this?
You can’t just think about the client’s goal. If they’re advertising a role, for example, what does the job seeker who sees the advertisement get?
Are they learning something? Feeling something? Getting something useful? Experiential can make that much more obvious.
Will: So it’s like a two-way street: what are you giving, and what are you receiving?
Why experiential can be more effective than social
Will: Do you think that makes experiential easier to think about than social in some ways?
Sophie: In a way, yeah. On social, a lot of brands are answering the same need. Someone on LinkedIn is probably looking for career advice or progression, so the content ends up quite similar.
With experiential, you’re thinking about a specific moment or place.
So, for example, someone coming out of a subway station — what do they need right then? If they’re feeling a bit hot or uncomfortable after traveling, and your organization creates different fragrances, you can deliver something that makes sense for both your brand and the consumer. It’s about finding that sweet spot between the two needs, so it becomes much more relevant and personal.
Will: It relies on a situation. With social media, you don’t really know if you’re catching someone at the right moment or just interrupting them.
Sophie: And that’s the best part — you’re not trying to appeal to everyone. If you try to please everyone, you won’t really excite anyone. It’s better to focus on a smaller group and do something meaningful for them. In recruitment marketing, that helps ensure you’re also getting more applications from the right people for your culture.
Do people actually want this?
Will: Do you think there’s more of a desire now for shared, real-world experiences?
Sophie: I think there are two sides to it. People do want connection and shared experiences and you can see that everywhere, even within the trends we’re seeing on social media: lots of tactile imagery and ‘come with me’ style videos. But even with that, there’s the question of is this just for the content? Here in London, we see this in things like Coal Drops Yard when they had the outdoor cinema. Years ago, it was a lot quieter and built for commuters to relax after work. But then it went viral and got absolutely packed.
So, you could logically say people are really craving that outdoor, connected experience. But if you dig deeper there is also the social media side. People want to say they’ve been somewhere, that they’ve done something. So it’s a bit of both.
Will: There’s a duality — people want the experience, but also want to share that they’ve had it.
Sophie: Yeah, exactly. And for brands, that’s ideal, because people end up doing the advertising for you.
The key points
Will: If employer brand or recruitment marketing teams do decide to go down the experiential route, what should they be thinking about?
Sophie: The main thing is purpose. What’s the purpose for you, and what’s the purpose for the person going? Even if it’s just giving them a good day, there has to be something in it for them.
Then the journey.
Every little detail matters, from start to finish. What are they feeling at each point? Are there emotional highs and lows? It’s considering everything: the environment, the people interacting with them, even things like temperature or crowd control can create that desired feeling you’re after. Otherwise, it just becomes an event.
And then the hook.
What draws people in? And what are they taking away? Do they have a new association with your company as an employer?
What would someone say about it afterwards? What would they post? What would the press say?
Will: Thinking about it in terms of “what would the headline be?” feels like a really good way to frame it.
Sophie: And it’s not just traditional press anymore.
You have to think about how it looks on someone’s phone. Are there moments people will take photos of? What will they caption it?
Some things are more about press, others are more about social media and you have to consider that at the planning stage. For example, the EDF Cauldron for the 2024 Paris Olympics was always going to be platformed on news sites around the world, versus something like Grave of Thrones (a graveyard experience created to advertise a new season of Game of Thrones), which is much more selfie-driven.
The last thing to consider is what are you leaving behind. Is there a way that you can create a lasting legacy, or impact the community around you in some way? The best experiential campaigns take purpose even further in this way.
Will: It’s thinking beyond the immediate experience … what action does it lead to afterward?
Events vs. experiences
Will: One thing that stood out to me is that there’s a difference between an event and experiential. A lot of organizations already run hiring events. Is the opportunity to turn those into an experience?
Sophie: Definitely, an event is something that happens. Experiential is something you feel — it’s designed, it has a journey.
Will: And a lot of the time, organizations are already spending most of the budget on the event. So it’s not starting from scratch. It’s about investing a bit more to turn it into something more impactful.
Sophie: Even small changes can make a difference, so even if it’s not turning your recruitment event into experiential, it’s taking those learnings, thinking about the journey, the senses, what people are actually feeling that can make a big difference.
Will: It feels like there's two ways of thinking about any sort of advertising or communication. One is ‘this is the message that I wish to give to you, and this is the broadcast medium that I'm going to use to do it’. And the second one is, ‘this is a two-way conversation. I want you to get something out of it as much as I'm trying to give you something to take away as well.’
Sophie: Exactly — and experiential sits firmly in that second one.
