SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 9
Download to read offline
DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 19
A tectonic shift in design practice was underway in 1999.
Both traditional features and benefits marketing and brand
communications were giving way to customer experience
design. Our community saw that this was a more powerful
platform for integrating design and communications activities,
and a whole new set of approaches, methods, and tools were
beginning to be developed. While several authors, such
as Pine and Gilmore, had successfully advocated for this
new perspective, Bernd Schmitt from Columbia Business
School was creating a systematized, practical framework
for managing experience design.
The core ideas presented are still relevant today. In fact,
designers are still having to make the same arguments to
business 15 years later. Schmitt’s article (in addition to his
many other books and articles) reveals emerging distinctions
that many of us in the design industry have built upon in our
writings. While the concept of experience design has matured
to include more robust models and more comprehensive
frameworks for guiding design development, practitioners will
find this piece both useful for what they do today and a good
reminder of how we got here.
DARREL RHEA
Introduction by
from
vol.10,#2:
Spring 1999
Vice chairman of DMI Darrel
Rhea is an outspoken advocate
for our community of design
professionals. He is the founder
of Rhea Insight, a consultancy
that facilitates the creation of
strategy for senior executive
teams around the world. He is
also chief design officer of The
Technology Reserve, where he
is helping design a new global
platform to radically transform
the economics of intellectual
property and democratize
innovation. With 35 years of
consulting to Fortune 1000
companies, Darrel is the former
CEO of the publicly-held
innovation consulting firm
Cheskin Added Value. He is also
the coauthor of Making Meaning:
How Successful Businesses
Deliver Meaningful Customer
Experiences.
Experiential Marketing:
A New Framework
for Design and
Communications
ByBerndSchmitt
20 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
xperientialmarketing is
everywhere. In a variety of industries,
companies have moved away from
traditional features-and-benefits
marketing toward creating experiences
for their customers.1
“Welcome to the experience economy,”write B.
Joseph Pine II and James H.Gilmore in their article
of the same title.Using a long-term perspective,
these authors have distinguished four stages in the
progressionofeconomicvalue:commodities,goods,
services,and experiences.They write:“As services,
like goods before them,increasingly become
commoditized—think of long-distance telephone
services sold solely on price—experiences have
emerged as the next step in what we call the
progressionofeconomicvalue.From now on,leading-
edge companies—whether they sell to consumers
or businesses— will find that the next competitive
battlefield lies in staging experiences.”2
Unfortunately, traditional marketing and
other business fields offer hardly any guidance
for capitalizing on the emerging experiential
economy. I use the term traditional marketing
to refer to a canon of principles, concepts, and
methodologies that marketing academicians,
practitioners (marketing directors, brand
managers, communication managers), and
consultants have amassed throughout this cen­
tury and, in particular, during the past 30 years.
Traditional marketing presents an engineering-
driven, rational, analytical view of customers,
products, and competition. It was developed
in response to the industrial age. Today’s
information, branding, and communications
revolution calls for a different approach.
Traditional marketing has the following four
key characteristics:
1.A focus on functional features and benefits.
Traditional marketers—and product designers—
assume that customers weigh functional features
in terms of their importance, trade off features
by comparing them, and select the product with
the highest overall utility.
2. Product categories and competition are
narrowly defined. In the world of a traditional
marketer, McDonald’s competes against Burger
King and Wendy’s (and not against Pizza Hut
or Starbucks). Chanel fragrances compete
against Dior fragrances and not against
those of Lancôme or L’Oreal, or any other
fragrance offered by a mass-market retailer.
For a traditional marketer, competition occurs
primarily within narrowly defined product
categories—the battleground of product and
brand managers.
3.Customers are viewed as rational decision
makers. Customer decision-making processes
typically are assumed to involve several
problem-solving steps: need recognition,
information search, evaluation of alternatives,
purchase, and consumption. As Engel, Blackwell,
and Miniard3
explain, problem solving refers to
thoughtful, reasoned action undertaken to bring
about need satisfaction.
4.Methods and tools are analytical,quantitative,
and verbal. These techniques include regression
analyses,positioning maps,and conjoint
analyses based on Likert scales or that sacred
cow of qualitative research,the focus group
(conducted in artificial environments far
removed from the customers’natural settings).
But how about branding?
But,you may ask,didn’t the branding approach
change all that? Brand strategists certainly do not
look at products merely in terms of their functional
features and benefits.David Aaker,for instance,
describes brand equity as consisting of“assets (and
liabilities) linked to a brand,its name and symbol.”4
Unfortunately,most brand theorists have treated
brands as identifiers and signifiers of abstract
attributes such as“quality.”Their equation reads:
Brand = ID.As we will see,this view misses the
very essence of a brand as a rich source of sensory,
affective,and cognitive associations that result in
memorable and rewarding brand experiences: Brand
= EX.Today,customers take functional features,
benefits,and product quality as a given.What they
want is products,communications,and marketing
campaigns that dazzle their senses,touch their
hearts,and stimulate their minds.They want
Notes
1.The term experiential marketing
has been used by a variety of firms
(Coca-Cola,Forrester Research,
Gillette,MasterCard,Momentum
of McCann-Erickson,National Mall
Network) in a variety of contexts,
including event marketing and
sponsorships,shopping-mall
design,online marketing,and
E
various forms of communications.
Moreover,academic researchers
have explored the“experiential
aspects of consumption”(see
Morris Holbrook and Elizabeth
Hirshmann,“The Experiential
Aspects of Consumption:
Consumer Fantasies,Feelings,and
Fun,”Journal of Consumer
Research,September 1982,vol.9,
pp.132-140).
2.B.Joseph Pine II andJames
H.Gilmore,“Welcome to the
Experience Economy,”Harvard
Business Review,July/August
1998,pp.97-105.
3.James Engel,Roger D.Blackwell,
and PaulW.Miniard,Consumer
Behavior (Ft.Worth,Tex.: Dryden
Press,1994).
4.DavidAaker,Managing Brand
Equity: Capitalizing on theValue of
a Brand Name (NewYork:The Free
Press,1991).
DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 21
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
products,communications,and campaigns they
can relate to and that they can incorporate into their
lifestyles.They want products,communications,
and marketing campaigns to deliver an experience.
Experiential marketing:
Four key characteristics
Experiential marketing differs from the
traditional approach in four important ways
(Figure 1) —all aimed at a broader, more holistic
view of the consumer.
1.Customer experiences.
In contrast to traditional marketing’s narrow
focus on functional features and benefits,
experiential marketing focuses on customer
experiences, which makes for a much wider view.
Experiences occur as a result of encountering,
undergoing, or living through certain situations.
As I will demonstrate, experiences provide
sensory, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and
relational values that replace functional values.
2.
Consumptionasaholistic experience.
Experiential marketers do not think“shampoo,
shaving cream, blow dryer, and perfume.”
Instead, they consider the holistic consumption
experience of“grooming in the bathroom.”They
ask what products fit into this consumption
situation, how to design such products, and how
packaging and communications can enhance the
experience of using the products.
Examining the consumption situation and
sketching the fuzzy boundaries of categories and
competition accordingly amounts to a radical shift
in thinking about market opportunities—a shift
that moves marketing thinking“over”and“up.”
This type of thinking, illustrated in Figure 2, page
22, broadens the concept of a category (moving
over) and examines the meaning of the specific
consumption situation in its broader sociocultural
context (moving up). In sum, we are moving
away from thinking about an isolated product
and, instead, following along a sociocultural
consumption vector to arrive at a broader space
of meaning for the customer.
The holistic basis of experiential marketing
broadens the concept of a category (moving
over) and examines the meaning of a specific
consumption situation in its broader
sociocultural context (moving up). For example,
if you are marketing McDonald’s hamburgers,
you consider yourself to be competing against
all other forms of fast food, whether they are
competing hamburger chains or fried-chicken
shops. At the same time, experiential marketing
examines the macro picture: How does your
product fit into the cultural bias toward healthy
foods? How should McDonald’s be positioned
and communicate in this world?
3.Customeras rational
and emotionalanimal.
To an experiential marketer, customers are
emotionally, as well as rationally, driven. That
is, although customers may frequently engage in
rational choice, they are just as frequently driven
by emotions because consumption experiences
are often“directed toward the pursuit of fantasies,
Experiential Marketing
Customer EXPERIENCE
Focus on
CONSUMPTION
Methods are
ECLECTIC
Customers are
RATIONAL
EMOTIONAL
animals
Figure 1
The four characteristics of
experiential marketing.
22 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
feelings, and fun.”5
Moreover, it is useful to
think of customers as animals whose physical
and mental apparatus for generating sensations,
thoughts, and feelings evolved by natural
selection to solve the problems faced by their
evolutionary ancestors.
4.Methodsandtoolsare eclectic.
In contrast to the analytical, quantitative, and
verbal methodologies of traditional marketing,
the methods and tools of an experiential
marketer are diverse and multifaceted. In a word,
experiential marketing is not bound to one
methodological ideology; it is eclectic. Some
methods and tools may be highly analytical
and quantitative (such as eye-movement
methodologies for measuring the sensory impact
of communications). Or they may be more
intuitive and qualitative (for example, brain-
focusing techniques used for understanding
creative thinking). They may be verbal, taking
the traditional format of a focus group, in-
depth interview, or questionnaire. Or they may
be visual. They may occur in an artificial lab
environment or in a bar, where consumers watch
TV and drink beer.
A strategic framework
for managing experiences
This research builds on earlier work done with
Alex Simonson that culminated in our book
Marketing Aesthetics: The Strategic Management
of Brands, Identity and Image (New York: The
Free Press, 1997). Marketing Aesthetics, however,
focused on sensory experiences only. The current
framework is much more comprehensive and
incorporates all types of customer experiences.6
It
is marked by two key strategic concepts: strategic
experiential modules (SEMS) and experience
providers (ExPros).
Strategic experientialmodules (SEMs)
SEMs (Figure 3) are strategic experiential modules
that managers can use to create different types
of customer experiences for their customers.
The term module has been borrowed from recent
research in cognitive science and the philosophy
of mind to refer to circumscribed functional
domains of the mind. Modules have distinct
structures and functions.7
The experiential
modules to be managed in experiential marketing
include sensory experiences (SENSE), affective
experiences (FEEL), creative cognitive expe­
riences
(THINK), physical experiences, behaviors, and
lifestyles (ACT), and social-identity experiences
that result from relating to a reference group
or culture (RELATE). Each SEM has its own
objectives, internal structure, and principles.
SENSE: The SENSE module—or SENSE
marketing— appeals to the senses, with the
objective of creating sensory experiences through
sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. SENSE
marketing may be used to differentiate companies
and products, to motivate customers, and to add
value to products through, for example, aesthetics
or excitement. One of the key principles of SENSE
is“cognitive consistency/sensory variety”: that is,
the ideal SENSE approach provides an underlying
concept that is consistent but always fresh and
new. The long-lasting campaign for Absolut
vodka is a good example of SENSE marketing.
The bottle design provides the resting point and
Notes
5.Jessica Feldman andJohn
Boult,“Third-Generation Design
Consultancies: Designing
Culture for Innovation,”Design
Management Review,vol.16,no.1
(2005),pp.40-47.
The Socio-Cultural Consumption Vector
(e.g.,eating a hamburger as
part of a casual meal,given your
healthy diet)
Healthy Lifestyle
SCCV
Casual Meal
Hamburger
Socio-cultural context
(e.g.,low-fat,healthy-
diet environment)
SCCV
Figure 2
For an experiential marketer,
McDonald’s competes against
any other form of fast food,
whether it is a quick bite or a
hang-out. Moreover, experiential
marketing examines the macro
picture: What does it mean to
eat a hamburger in a time when
nutrition facts are screaming in
your face in the supermarkets
and when Martha Stewart
urges you to live a homey,
healthy lifestyle? How should
McDonald’s be positioned and
communicate in this world? For
example, if you are marketing
McDonald’s hamburgers, you
consider yourself to be competing
against all other forms of fast
food, whether they are competing
hamburger chains or fried
chicken shops. At the same
time, experiential marketing
examines the “macro” picture:
How does your product fit
into the cultural bias toward
“healthy” foods? How should
McDonald’s be positioned and
communicate in this world?
6.This framework is presented in
more detail in my book,Experiential
Marketing: How to Get Customers to
SENSE,FEEL,THINK,ACTand RELATE
toYour Company and Brands
(NewYork:The Free Press,1999).
7.Steven Pinker,How the MindWorks
(NewYork: Norton,1997).
DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 23
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
cognitive consistency, yet it can be executed in
continually new designs with sensory appeal.
FEEL: FEEL marketing appeals to customers’
inner feelings,with the objective of creating
affective experiences that range from mildly
positive moods linked to a brand (for example,for a
noninvolving,nondurable grocery brand or service
or industrial product) to strong emotions of joy
and pride (for example,for a consumer durable,
technology,or social marketing campaign).What
is needed to make FEEL marketing work is a close
understanding of stimuli that can trigger certain
emotions.Standard emotional communications
lack both because they do not target feelings during
consumption.It is difficult to create successful
FEEL campaigns on an international scale because
both the emotion-inducing stimuli and the
willingness to empathize in a given situation often
differ from culture to culture.
An example of a FEEL marketer is Hallmark.
From the design of its greeting cards and the
various sections in its Creations stores to its
website, Hallmark is all FEEL.
THINK: THINK marketing appeals to
the intellect, with the objective of creating
cognitive, problem-solving experiences that
engage customers creatively. THINK appeals
engage customers’convergent and divergent
thinking through surprise, intrigue, and
provocation. THINK campaigns are common for
new-technology products. A good example is
Microsoft’s“Where Do You Want to Go Today?”
campaign. But THINK marketing is not restricted
to high-tech. THINK marketing has also been used
in product design, retailing, and communications
in many other industries.
ACT: ACT marketing enriches customers’lives
by targeting their physical experiences, showing
them alternate ways of doing things (for example,
in business-to-business and industrial markets),
as well as alternate lifestyles and interactions.
Rational approaches to behavior change (that is,
theories of reasoned actions) are only one of many
behavioral change options. Changes in lifestyles
and behaviors are often motivational, inspirational,
and emotional in nature and frequently involve role
models (such as movie stars or athletes). Nike’s
Just Do It has become a classic of ACT marketing.
RELATE: RELATE marketing contains aspects
of SENSE, FEEL, THINK, and ACT marketing.
However, RELATE marketing expands beyond
the individual’s personal, private feelings, thus
relating the individual to something outside his
or her private state.
RELATE campaigns appeal to the individual’s
desire for self-improvement (a future ideal self
that he or she wants to relate to). They appeal
to the need to be perceived positively by other
individuals (peers, girl- or boyfriends, spouses,
or colleagues). They relate the person to a broader
social system (a subculture, a country).
America’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle is a
RELATE brand par excellence. Harley is a way
of life. From the bikes themselves to Harley-
related merchandise to Harley-Davidson tattoos
on the bodies of enthusiasts (who come from all
social groups), consumers see Harley as a part
of their identity. Not surprisingly, Harley-
Davidson users form strong bonds in the form
of brand communities.
SEM
EXPRO
Communications
Identities
Products
Co-branding
Environment
Websites
People
SENSE
FEEL
THINK
RELATE
ACT
ENRICHING vs SIMPLIFYING
INTENSIFYING
vs DIFFUSING
SEPARATING
CONNECTING
Figure 3
Strategic experiential
modules (SEMs) can be used
to create different types of
customer experiences.
BROADENING
vs
SHRINKING
24 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
SEM Overlap
As mentioned earlier, the five types of SEMs all
have their own inherent structures and principles.
SENSE design is aesthetically appealing or
exciting; FEEL design uses emotional symbolism;
THINK design is unusual and surprising; ACT
design is dynamic and action inducing; RELATE
design uses cultural and ethnic associations.
Or consider SEMs in advertising. A SENSE TV
ad campaign typically dazzles viewers’senses
with fast-paced, fast-cut images and music. It is
dynamic and attention-getting and may leave a
strong impression after just 15 seconds. FEEL TV
ads, in contrast, are often slice-of-life ads that
take time to draw the viewer in, building emotion
gradually. THINK campaigns are often sedate.
They begin with a voiceover, then move to text
on the screen. ACT campaigns show behavioral
outcomes or lifestyles. RELATE campaigns
typically feature the person or group to which the
customer is supposed to relate.
However, experiential appeals rarely result
in only one type of experience. Modules are
circumscribed, but they are not self-contained
structures; instead, they are connected and
interact. Many successful corporations employ
experiential hybrids that combine two or more
SEMS in order to broaden experiential appeal.
Ideally, marketers should strive strategically for
creating holistically integrated experi­
ences that
possess, at the same time, SENSE, FEEL, THINK,
ACT, and RELATE qualities.
The implementation tools of
experiential marketing: ExPros
The SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT, and RELATE
modules are implemented through what I call
experience providers (or ExPros), which include
communications, visual and verbal identity and
signage, product presence, co-branding, spatial
environments, electronic media, and people. To
create the appropriate marketing experience,
ExPros must be managed in three ways: (1)
coherently (that is, in an integrated fashion);
(2) consistently over time; and (3) by paying
attention to detail and using each ExPro to its
fullest potential for creating the experience.
Strategic managementissues
of experientialmarketing
Figure 4 illustrates the critical strategic issues—
intensity,breadth,depth,and linkage—of what I
call the experiential grid.
Intensity: IntensifyingVersus Diffusing.The
intensity issue involves individual grid cells.
Should the specific experience provided in a given
ExPro be experientially enhanced or diffused?
Let’s say you are Hallmark Cards, and you are
creating a FEEL experience in your commercial
(you know—those slice-of-apple-pie, two-
minute commercials showing the brother coming
home almost late for Christmas dinner, just in
time to sing a Christmas carol with his younger
brother). The question is: What is the perfect
level of intensity to get viewers to dab their eyes
and feel good about Hallmark—the level that
avoids overdoing it and coming across as tacky?
This is not an easy balance to strike. Without
the right kind of testing, you can overshoot your
mark or fall far short.
Breadth:EnrichingVersusSimplifying.The
breadth issue concerns the management across
ExPros. Should the organization enrich a given
experience by adding additional ExPros that
provide the same experience, or simplify the
experience by concentrating it into certain ExPros?
Imagine again that you are Hallmark.
Should your retail stores be experiential FEEL
environments in order to enrich the experience,
or should they be more functional selling spaces?
Or conversely, should you even drop the FEEL
advertising and use a more simplified approach
by relying solely on the messages and imagery of
the cards themselves? Hallmark has obviously
chosen the former; it has made its Creation shops
the epitome of FEEL by emphasizing a warm and
welcoming atmosphere. There are quiet spaces
for selecting cards (rather than rows and rows of
card displays), comfortable writing surfaces with
child-size tables and chairs and boxes of crayons
Should the organization broaden its experiential
appeal from individual experiences to experiential
hybrids and holistic experiences, or should it stick
to—or focus on—one single experience?
DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 25
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
available, and themed displays (Kids’Party, for
example, or Adult Birthday). Shoppers are welcome
to sit down and have a cup of coffee while they plan
a party or select a Mother’s Day gift.
Depth: BroadeningVersus Focusing.The depth
question is one of management across SEMs:
Should the organization broaden its experiential
appeal from individual experiences to experiential
hybrids and holistic experiences, or should it stick
to—or focus on—one single experience?
For example, as part of its strategic planning,
Hallmark may ask,“What is the function and
meaning of greeting cards in the electronic
age? Does it still make sense to send greetings
via mail? And what if greeting cards are sent
by email, or personally created and stored on
websites?”As these questions illustrate, in the
electronic age Hallmark may consider broadening
its experiential approach from FEEL to THINK
and perhaps even explore RELATE and ACT.
In fact, the company has capitalized on these
opportunities by inaugurating one of the most
exciting and thought-provoking sites on the web
(www.hallmark.com).
Linkage: ConnectingVersus Separating.This
issue involves the interrelations among SEMs,as
well as ExPros.It is often not enough merely to
add SEMs.SEMs need to be connected with one
another.In some cases,however,it may be beneficial
to separate experiences that have become too broad
and thus run the risk of being meaningless.
Should Hallmark create linkages and
connections between its traditional FEEL approach
and its new THINK approach by, for example,
adding multimedia to its physical greeting cards?
Or should electronic greeting cards and printed
ones be run as separate businesses?
Successfully managing these issues requires
making a commitment to an experiential
approach to marketing. Most companies, having
practiced features-and-benefits marketing for
many years, initially generate impoverished
experiential marketing strategies. They use an
approach that is too diffused and simplified,
focusing on one type of experience only or using
multiple, yet unconnected, ones. For them, the
strategic task clearly requires intensifying and
enriching current experiences, adding new types
of experiences, and connecting them with each
other gradually. As a result, major investments
in experiential marketing are needed, because
the strategy approach often calls for a stepwise
review and revision of all ExPros and the addition
of experiential elements into communications
hitherto used for features-and-benefits
marketing. It also requires the presence of certain
organizational structures and processes, which we
will discuss next.
Intensity, breadth, depth, and linkage are
critical strategic issues that must be considered
for each SEM.
Corporate branding
and sub-branding
Here we consider corporate/brand architecture as
it is projected to customers (suppliers, business
customers, or consumers). Typically, a company
that has very high corporate visibility (for example,
Ford or Sony) should create an experiential identity
for itself. But it must also create experiential
identities for its brands and products, and these
should not clash with the corporate identity. A
HOLISTIC EXPERIENCES
SENSE
FEEL
THINK
ACT
RELATE
Figure 4.
Intensity, breadth, depth, and
linkage are critical strategic
issues that must be considered
for each SEM.
26 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015
Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications
corporation that has created strong stand-alone
brand identities (such as General Motors or
Procter  Gamble) may forgo experiential branding
because it has less visibility as a corporation. But it
still needs to manage the experiential identities of
its products and brands very closely.
Newproducts,brand extensions,
and partnership strategies
In traditional marketing,the goal of new product
development is often the addition of new features
and benefits that will improve old products or old
technologies.Traditional marketing models view
brandextensionsintermsofthefitbetweenproduct
categories and the transfer of positive equity from
the current brand to the extension product.
In contrast, the experiential marketing
approach views new product and brand extension
decisions as driven by three factors: (1) the degree
to which the new product and extension category
enhances the experiential image of the company or
brand; (2) the degree to which new products and
brand extensions add new experiences that can be
leveraged in additional new products and further
brand extensions; and (3) the degree to which they
help in the creation of holistic experiences.
Similar considerations will also drive the
selection of other companies for strategic
partnerships. Such experiential considerations
may have been behind the decision of Swatch
and Daimler-Benz to form a joint venture to
manufacture a new car—a decision that puzzled
many industry experts. And the resulting
product—the Smart car—is an automotive
offering that is experiential from beginning to end.
The Smart reflects the best of both of its parents’
worlds. Its appeal derives from its design, which
couples attention to safety with a customizable
fashion look. The Smart car is a mini, designed to
fit in any parking space in any city in the world;
its thought-provoking slogan is“reduce to the
max.”The Smart is conceived as a completely new
product—an innovative solution to the problems
of city driving. Despite its size, safety is a central
design concern for the Smart, and it is passing
rigorous safety tests implemented by Daimler-
Benz. The Smart is also fun. Its distinctive look—
tiny, somewhat triangular, and modern—sets it
apart from all others; this car looks like nothing
so much as a sneaker! Its distinctive two-tone
color scheme is customizable to consumer
specifications, and its interior design is marked by
modular parts, which make it possible to stylize
the car quickly and cheaply. In fact, the Smart
represents the realization of a car as a safe and
well-designed fashion accessory.
Globalexperientialbranding
Experiential branding extended into the global
arena raises a range of complex issues. Are there
cultural differences in preferences for types of
SEMs? For example, do customers in one nation
prefer FEEL, in a second nation THINK, and in a
third one RELATE?
How about specific experiences? For example,
are certain nations more attuned to aesthetics in
SENSE, while others love excitement? Or do some
like nationalistic RELATE appeals, but others
global appeals?
Do different ExPro executions appeal to
customers in different countries?
Conclusion
Traditional marketing has provided a valuable
set of strategies, implementation tools, and
methodologies for the industrial age. Now that
we have entered a new era, it is necessary to move
from the features-and-benefits approach toward
marketing to customer experiences. Managers
need to consider new concepts, new approaches,
and new structures and processes within their
organizations to capitalize on the opportunities
offered by experiential marketing.
Suggested Readings
Elliott, Stuart.“Clinique Is
Introducing Scent in Bid for
Share of Premium Market.”
The New York Times, September
30, 1997, Section D, p. 6.
Kotler, Philip. Marketing
Management (eighth ed.).
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 1994.
Peters, Tom. The Circle of
Innovation: You Can’t Shrink
Your Way to Greatness. New
York: Knopf, 1999.
Porter, Michael. Competitive
Strategy: Techniques for
Analyzing Industries and
Competitors. New York:
The Free Press, 1985.
Bernd Schmitt (PhD,Cornell University) is professor of
international business in the marketing department of
Columbia Business School at New York’s Columbia University.
Traditional marketing has provided a valuable
set of strategies, implementation tools, and
methodologies for the industrial age.
Copyright of Design Management Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content
may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright
holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.

More Related Content

Similar to 1. Experiential Marketing.pdf

The Marketing Process Of Marketing
The Marketing Process Of MarketingThe Marketing Process Of Marketing
The Marketing Process Of MarketingEbony Bates
 
Product & product mix, branding
Product & product mix, brandingProduct & product mix, branding
Product & product mix, brandingAnuja Aggarwal
 
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptx
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptxPRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptx
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptxMussaKossa1
 
Owned First
Owned First Owned First
Owned First Performics
 
03. marketing management course delivery
03. marketing management course delivery03. marketing management course delivery
03. marketing management course deliveryRkpmani8714
 
session 1 MM 1.pptx
session 1 MM 1.pptxsession 1 MM 1.pptx
session 1 MM 1.pptxRajputRishav1
 
Audience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political Branding
Audience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political BrandingAudience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political Branding
Audience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political BrandingSabrina Baloi
 
Marketing management
Marketing managementMarketing management
Marketing managementVarna Goswami
 
Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...
Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...
Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...Darya Loban
 
Marketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec doms
Marketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec domsMarketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec doms
Marketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec domsBabasab Patil
 
Editorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative Consumers
Editorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative ConsumersEditorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative Consumers
Editorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative ConsumersIan McCarthy
 
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docx
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docxWrite a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docx
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docxambersalomon88660
 
Marketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mba
Marketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mbaMarketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mba
Marketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mbaBabasab Patil
 
Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1
Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1
Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1LubnaZurar
 
Chapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptx
Chapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptxChapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptx
Chapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptxProfessorDrMdAtiqurR
 
HCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESP
HCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESPHCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESP
HCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESPGood Rebels
 
Ch 1 marketing
Ch 1 marketingCh 1 marketing
Ch 1 marketingRoshan Khunt
 

Similar to 1. Experiential Marketing.pdf (20)

The Marketing Process Of Marketing
The Marketing Process Of MarketingThe Marketing Process Of Marketing
The Marketing Process Of Marketing
 
Product & product mix, branding
Product & product mix, brandingProduct & product mix, branding
Product & product mix, branding
 
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptx
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptxPRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptx
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING NTA8 PPT.pptx
 
Owned First
Owned First Owned First
Owned First
 
Becoming a citizen brands
Becoming a citizen brandsBecoming a citizen brands
Becoming a citizen brands
 
03. marketing management course delivery
03. marketing management course delivery03. marketing management course delivery
03. marketing management course delivery
 
session 1 MM 1.pptx
session 1 MM 1.pptxsession 1 MM 1.pptx
session 1 MM 1.pptx
 
Audience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political Branding
Audience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political BrandingAudience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political Branding
Audience Mindset And Influence On Personal Political Branding
 
Marketing management
Marketing managementMarketing management
Marketing management
 
Essay Marketing
Essay MarketingEssay Marketing
Essay Marketing
 
Owned First
Owned FirstOwned First
Owned First
 
Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...
Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...
Creating value for consumer brands: The implications of multi-touchpoint adve...
 
Marketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec doms
Marketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec domsMarketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec doms
Marketing management book 1 st sem mba @ bec doms
 
Editorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative Consumers
Editorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative ConsumersEditorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative Consumers
Editorial: User Innovation and the Role of Creative Consumers
 
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docx
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docxWrite a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docx
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you1. Compare a.docx
 
Marketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mba
Marketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mbaMarketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mba
Marketing management book @ bec doms bagalkot mba
 
Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1
Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1
Consumer Behavior notes mba unit number 1
 
Chapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptx
Chapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptxChapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptx
Chapter 1 Defining Marketing for the 21st Century.pptx
 
HCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESP
HCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESPHCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESP
HCO: Human-Centred Organisations ESP
 
Ch 1 marketing
Ch 1 marketingCh 1 marketing
Ch 1 marketing
 

Recently uploaded

GreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web Revolution
GreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web RevolutionGreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web Revolution
GreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web RevolutionWilliam Barnes
 
Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝
Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝
Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝soniya singh
 
Storyboards for my Final Major Project Video
Storyboards for my Final Major Project VideoStoryboards for my Final Major Project Video
Storyboards for my Final Major Project VideoSineadBidwell
 
McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)
McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)
McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)DEVARAJV16
 
Common Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic Creativity
Common Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic CreativityCommon Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic Creativity
Common Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic CreativityMonishka Adhikari
 
TAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto Sector
TAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto SectorTAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto Sector
TAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto SectorSocial Samosa
 
Call Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCR
Call Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCRCall Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCR
Call Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCRlizamodels9
 
Master the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdf
Master the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdfMaster the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdf
Master the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdfHigher Education Marketing
 
From Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEO
From Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEOFrom Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEO
From Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEOSzymon SĹ‚owik
 
marketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdf
marketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdfmarketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdf
marketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdfarsathsahil
 
The Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship Deck
The Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship DeckThe Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship Deck
The Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship DeckToluwanimi Balogun
 
Exploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdf
Exploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdfExploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdf
Exploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdfmarcuslary231
 
Red bull marketing presentation pptxxxxx
Red bull marketing presentation pptxxxxxRed bull marketing presentation pptxxxxx
Red bull marketing presentation pptxxxxx216310017
 
What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...
What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...
What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...Ahrefs
 
Social Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdf
Social Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdfSocial Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdf
Social Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdfSocial Samosa
 
ASO Process: What is App Store Optimization
ASO Process: What is App Store OptimizationASO Process: What is App Store Optimization
ASO Process: What is App Store OptimizationAli Raza
 
Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG compliance
Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG complianceAvoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG compliance
Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG complianceDamien ROBERT
 
The Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO Copywriting
The Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO CopywritingThe Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO Copywriting
The Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO CopywritingJuan Pineda
 
Fueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdf
Fueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdfFueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdf
Fueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdfVWO
 
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing Strategy
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing StrategyDIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing Strategy
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing StrategySouvikRay24
 

Recently uploaded (20)

GreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web Revolution
GreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web RevolutionGreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web Revolution
GreenSEO April 2024: Join the Green Web Revolution
 
Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝
Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝
Call Girls in Lajpat Nagar Delhi 💯Call Us 🔝8264348440🔝
 
Storyboards for my Final Major Project Video
Storyboards for my Final Major Project VideoStoryboards for my Final Major Project Video
Storyboards for my Final Major Project Video
 
McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)
McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)
McDonald's: A Journey Through Time (PPT)
 
Common Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic Creativity
Common Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic CreativityCommon Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic Creativity
Common Culture: Paul Willis Symbolic Creativity
 
TAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto Sector
TAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto SectorTAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto Sector
TAM AdEx 2023 Cross Media Advertising Recap - Auto Sector
 
Call Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCR
Call Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCRCall Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCR
Call Girls In Aerocity Delhi ❤️8860477959 Good Looking Escorts In 24/7 Delhi NCR
 
Master the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdf
Master the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdfMaster the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdf
Master the Art of Digital Recruitment in Asia.pdf
 
From Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEO
From Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEOFrom Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEO
From Chance to Choice - Tactical Link Building for International SEO
 
marketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdf
marketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdfmarketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdf
marketing strategy of tanishq word PPROJECT.pdf
 
The Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship Deck
The Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship DeckThe Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship Deck
The Skin Games 2024 25 - Sponsorship Deck
 
Exploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdf
Exploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdfExploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdf
Exploring The World Of Adult Ad Networks.pdf
 
Red bull marketing presentation pptxxxxx
Red bull marketing presentation pptxxxxxRed bull marketing presentation pptxxxxx
Red bull marketing presentation pptxxxxx
 
What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...
What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...
What I learned from auditing over 1,000,000 websites - SERP Conf 2024 Patrick...
 
Social Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdf
Social Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdfSocial Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdf
Social Samosa Guidebook for SAMMIES 2024.pdf
 
ASO Process: What is App Store Optimization
ASO Process: What is App Store OptimizationASO Process: What is App Store Optimization
ASO Process: What is App Store Optimization
 
Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG compliance
Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG complianceAvoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG compliance
Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG compliance
 
The Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO Copywriting
The Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO CopywritingThe Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO Copywriting
The Pitfalls of Keyword Stuffing in SEO Copywriting
 
Fueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdf
Fueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdfFueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdf
Fueling A_B experiments with behavioral insights (1).pdf
 
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing Strategy
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing StrategyDIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing Strategy
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE IN BTM -Influencer Marketing Strategy
 

1. Experiential Marketing.pdf

  • 1. DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 19 A tectonic shift in design practice was underway in 1999. Both traditional features and benefits marketing and brand communications were giving way to customer experience design. Our community saw that this was a more powerful platform for integrating design and communications activities, and a whole new set of approaches, methods, and tools were beginning to be developed. While several authors, such as Pine and Gilmore, had successfully advocated for this new perspective, Bernd Schmitt from Columbia Business School was creating a systematized, practical framework for managing experience design. The core ideas presented are still relevant today. In fact, designers are still having to make the same arguments to business 15 years later. Schmitt’s article (in addition to his many other books and articles) reveals emerging distinctions that many of us in the design industry have built upon in our writings. While the concept of experience design has matured to include more robust models and more comprehensive frameworks for guiding design development, practitioners will find this piece both useful for what they do today and a good reminder of how we got here. DARREL RHEA Introduction by from vol.10,#2: Spring 1999 Vice chairman of DMI Darrel Rhea is an outspoken advocate for our community of design professionals. He is the founder of Rhea Insight, a consultancy that facilitates the creation of strategy for senior executive teams around the world. He is also chief design officer of The Technology Reserve, where he is helping design a new global platform to radically transform the economics of intellectual property and democratize innovation. With 35 years of consulting to Fortune 1000 companies, Darrel is the former CEO of the publicly-held innovation consulting firm Cheskin Added Value. He is also the coauthor of Making Meaning: How Successful Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences. Experiential Marketing: A New Framework for Design and Communications ByBerndSchmitt
  • 2. 20 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications xperientialmarketing is everywhere. In a variety of industries, companies have moved away from traditional features-and-benefits marketing toward creating experiences for their customers.1 “Welcome to the experience economy,”write B. Joseph Pine II and James H.Gilmore in their article of the same title.Using a long-term perspective, these authors have distinguished four stages in the progressionofeconomicvalue:commodities,goods, services,and experiences.They write:“As services, like goods before them,increasingly become commoditized—think of long-distance telephone services sold solely on price—experiences have emerged as the next step in what we call the progressionofeconomicvalue.From now on,leading- edge companies—whether they sell to consumers or businesses— will find that the next competitive battlefield lies in staging experiences.”2 Unfortunately, traditional marketing and other business fields offer hardly any guidance for capitalizing on the emerging experiential economy. I use the term traditional marketing to refer to a canon of principles, concepts, and methodologies that marketing academicians, practitioners (marketing directors, brand managers, communication managers), and consultants have amassed throughout this cen­ tury and, in particular, during the past 30 years. Traditional marketing presents an engineering- driven, rational, analytical view of customers, products, and competition. It was developed in response to the industrial age. Today’s information, branding, and communications revolution calls for a different approach. Traditional marketing has the following four key characteristics: 1.A focus on functional features and benefits. Traditional marketers—and product designers— assume that customers weigh functional features in terms of their importance, trade off features by comparing them, and select the product with the highest overall utility. 2. Product categories and competition are narrowly defined. In the world of a traditional marketer, McDonald’s competes against Burger King and Wendy’s (and not against Pizza Hut or Starbucks). Chanel fragrances compete against Dior fragrances and not against those of LancĂ´me or L’Oreal, or any other fragrance offered by a mass-market retailer. For a traditional marketer, competition occurs primarily within narrowly defined product categories—the battleground of product and brand managers. 3.Customers are viewed as rational decision makers. Customer decision-making processes typically are assumed to involve several problem-solving steps: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and consumption. As Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard3 explain, problem solving refers to thoughtful, reasoned action undertaken to bring about need satisfaction. 4.Methods and tools are analytical,quantitative, and verbal. These techniques include regression analyses,positioning maps,and conjoint analyses based on Likert scales or that sacred cow of qualitative research,the focus group (conducted in artificial environments far removed from the customers’natural settings). But how about branding? But,you may ask,didn’t the branding approach change all that? Brand strategists certainly do not look at products merely in terms of their functional features and benefits.David Aaker,for instance, describes brand equity as consisting of“assets (and liabilities) linked to a brand,its name and symbol.”4 Unfortunately,most brand theorists have treated brands as identifiers and signifiers of abstract attributes such as“quality.”Their equation reads: Brand = ID.As we will see,this view misses the very essence of a brand as a rich source of sensory, affective,and cognitive associations that result in memorable and rewarding brand experiences: Brand = EX.Today,customers take functional features, benefits,and product quality as a given.What they want is products,communications,and marketing campaigns that dazzle their senses,touch their hearts,and stimulate their minds.They want Notes 1.The term experiential marketing has been used by a variety of firms (Coca-Cola,Forrester Research, Gillette,MasterCard,Momentum of McCann-Erickson,National Mall Network) in a variety of contexts, including event marketing and sponsorships,shopping-mall design,online marketing,and E various forms of communications. Moreover,academic researchers have explored the“experiential aspects of consumption”(see Morris Holbrook and Elizabeth Hirshmann,“The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies,Feelings,and Fun,”Journal of Consumer Research,September 1982,vol.9, pp.132-140). 2.B.Joseph Pine II andJames H.Gilmore,“Welcome to the Experience Economy,”Harvard Business Review,July/August 1998,pp.97-105. 3.James Engel,Roger D.Blackwell, and PaulW.Miniard,Consumer Behavior (Ft.Worth,Tex.: Dryden Press,1994). 4.DavidAaker,Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on theValue of a Brand Name (NewYork:The Free Press,1991).
  • 3. DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 21 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications products,communications,and campaigns they can relate to and that they can incorporate into their lifestyles.They want products,communications, and marketing campaigns to deliver an experience. Experiential marketing: Four key characteristics Experiential marketing differs from the traditional approach in four important ways (Figure 1) —all aimed at a broader, more holistic view of the consumer. 1.Customer experiences. In contrast to traditional marketing’s narrow focus on functional features and benefits, experiential marketing focuses on customer experiences, which makes for a much wider view. Experiences occur as a result of encountering, undergoing, or living through certain situations. As I will demonstrate, experiences provide sensory, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and relational values that replace functional values. 2. Consumptionasaholistic experience. Experiential marketers do not think“shampoo, shaving cream, blow dryer, and perfume.” Instead, they consider the holistic consumption experience of“grooming in the bathroom.”They ask what products fit into this consumption situation, how to design such products, and how packaging and communications can enhance the experience of using the products. Examining the consumption situation and sketching the fuzzy boundaries of categories and competition accordingly amounts to a radical shift in thinking about market opportunities—a shift that moves marketing thinking“over”and“up.” This type of thinking, illustrated in Figure 2, page 22, broadens the concept of a category (moving over) and examines the meaning of the specific consumption situation in its broader sociocultural context (moving up). In sum, we are moving away from thinking about an isolated product and, instead, following along a sociocultural consumption vector to arrive at a broader space of meaning for the customer. The holistic basis of experiential marketing broadens the concept of a category (moving over) and examines the meaning of a specific consumption situation in its broader sociocultural context (moving up). For example, if you are marketing McDonald’s hamburgers, you consider yourself to be competing against all other forms of fast food, whether they are competing hamburger chains or fried-chicken shops. At the same time, experiential marketing examines the macro picture: How does your product fit into the cultural bias toward healthy foods? How should McDonald’s be positioned and communicate in this world? 3.Customeras rational and emotionalanimal. To an experiential marketer, customers are emotionally, as well as rationally, driven. That is, although customers may frequently engage in rational choice, they are just as frequently driven by emotions because consumption experiences are often“directed toward the pursuit of fantasies, Experiential Marketing Customer EXPERIENCE Focus on CONSUMPTION Methods are ECLECTIC Customers are RATIONAL EMOTIONAL animals Figure 1 The four characteristics of experiential marketing.
  • 4. 22 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications feelings, and fun.”5 Moreover, it is useful to think of customers as animals whose physical and mental apparatus for generating sensations, thoughts, and feelings evolved by natural selection to solve the problems faced by their evolutionary ancestors. 4.Methodsandtoolsare eclectic. In contrast to the analytical, quantitative, and verbal methodologies of traditional marketing, the methods and tools of an experiential marketer are diverse and multifaceted. In a word, experiential marketing is not bound to one methodological ideology; it is eclectic. Some methods and tools may be highly analytical and quantitative (such as eye-movement methodologies for measuring the sensory impact of communications). Or they may be more intuitive and qualitative (for example, brain- focusing techniques used for understanding creative thinking). They may be verbal, taking the traditional format of a focus group, in- depth interview, or questionnaire. Or they may be visual. They may occur in an artificial lab environment or in a bar, where consumers watch TV and drink beer. A strategic framework for managing experiences This research builds on earlier work done with Alex Simonson that culminated in our book Marketing Aesthetics: The Strategic Management of Brands, Identity and Image (New York: The Free Press, 1997). Marketing Aesthetics, however, focused on sensory experiences only. The current framework is much more comprehensive and incorporates all types of customer experiences.6 It is marked by two key strategic concepts: strategic experiential modules (SEMS) and experience providers (ExPros). Strategic experientialmodules (SEMs) SEMs (Figure 3) are strategic experiential modules that managers can use to create different types of customer experiences for their customers. The term module has been borrowed from recent research in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind to refer to circumscribed functional domains of the mind. Modules have distinct structures and functions.7 The experiential modules to be managed in experiential marketing include sensory experiences (SENSE), affective experiences (FEEL), creative cognitive expe­ riences (THINK), physical experiences, behaviors, and lifestyles (ACT), and social-identity experiences that result from relating to a reference group or culture (RELATE). Each SEM has its own objectives, internal structure, and principles. SENSE: The SENSE module—or SENSE marketing— appeals to the senses, with the objective of creating sensory experiences through sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. SENSE marketing may be used to differentiate companies and products, to motivate customers, and to add value to products through, for example, aesthetics or excitement. One of the key principles of SENSE is“cognitive consistency/sensory variety”: that is, the ideal SENSE approach provides an underlying concept that is consistent but always fresh and new. The long-lasting campaign for Absolut vodka is a good example of SENSE marketing. The bottle design provides the resting point and Notes 5.Jessica Feldman andJohn Boult,“Third-Generation Design Consultancies: Designing Culture for Innovation,”Design Management Review,vol.16,no.1 (2005),pp.40-47. The Socio-Cultural Consumption Vector (e.g.,eating a hamburger as part of a casual meal,given your healthy diet) Healthy Lifestyle SCCV Casual Meal Hamburger Socio-cultural context (e.g.,low-fat,healthy- diet environment) SCCV Figure 2 For an experiential marketer, McDonald’s competes against any other form of fast food, whether it is a quick bite or a hang-out. Moreover, experiential marketing examines the macro picture: What does it mean to eat a hamburger in a time when nutrition facts are screaming in your face in the supermarkets and when Martha Stewart urges you to live a homey, healthy lifestyle? How should McDonald’s be positioned and communicate in this world? For example, if you are marketing McDonald’s hamburgers, you consider yourself to be competing against all other forms of fast food, whether they are competing hamburger chains or fried chicken shops. At the same time, experiential marketing examines the “macro” picture: How does your product fit into the cultural bias toward “healthy” foods? How should McDonald’s be positioned and communicate in this world? 6.This framework is presented in more detail in my book,Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to SENSE,FEEL,THINK,ACTand RELATE toYour Company and Brands (NewYork:The Free Press,1999). 7.Steven Pinker,How the MindWorks (NewYork: Norton,1997).
  • 5. DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 23 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications cognitive consistency, yet it can be executed in continually new designs with sensory appeal. FEEL: FEEL marketing appeals to customers’ inner feelings,with the objective of creating affective experiences that range from mildly positive moods linked to a brand (for example,for a noninvolving,nondurable grocery brand or service or industrial product) to strong emotions of joy and pride (for example,for a consumer durable, technology,or social marketing campaign).What is needed to make FEEL marketing work is a close understanding of stimuli that can trigger certain emotions.Standard emotional communications lack both because they do not target feelings during consumption.It is difficult to create successful FEEL campaigns on an international scale because both the emotion-inducing stimuli and the willingness to empathize in a given situation often differ from culture to culture. An example of a FEEL marketer is Hallmark. From the design of its greeting cards and the various sections in its Creations stores to its website, Hallmark is all FEEL. THINK: THINK marketing appeals to the intellect, with the objective of creating cognitive, problem-solving experiences that engage customers creatively. THINK appeals engage customers’convergent and divergent thinking through surprise, intrigue, and provocation. THINK campaigns are common for new-technology products. A good example is Microsoft’s“Where Do You Want to Go Today?” campaign. But THINK marketing is not restricted to high-tech. THINK marketing has also been used in product design, retailing, and communications in many other industries. ACT: ACT marketing enriches customers’lives by targeting their physical experiences, showing them alternate ways of doing things (for example, in business-to-business and industrial markets), as well as alternate lifestyles and interactions. Rational approaches to behavior change (that is, theories of reasoned actions) are only one of many behavioral change options. Changes in lifestyles and behaviors are often motivational, inspirational, and emotional in nature and frequently involve role models (such as movie stars or athletes). Nike’s Just Do It has become a classic of ACT marketing. RELATE: RELATE marketing contains aspects of SENSE, FEEL, THINK, and ACT marketing. However, RELATE marketing expands beyond the individual’s personal, private feelings, thus relating the individual to something outside his or her private state. RELATE campaigns appeal to the individual’s desire for self-improvement (a future ideal self that he or she wants to relate to). They appeal to the need to be perceived positively by other individuals (peers, girl- or boyfriends, spouses, or colleagues). They relate the person to a broader social system (a subculture, a country). America’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle is a RELATE brand par excellence. Harley is a way of life. From the bikes themselves to Harley- related merchandise to Harley-Davidson tattoos on the bodies of enthusiasts (who come from all social groups), consumers see Harley as a part of their identity. Not surprisingly, Harley- Davidson users form strong bonds in the form of brand communities. SEM EXPRO Communications Identities Products Co-branding Environment Websites People SENSE FEEL THINK RELATE ACT ENRICHING vs SIMPLIFYING INTENSIFYING vs DIFFUSING SEPARATING CONNECTING Figure 3 Strategic experiential modules (SEMs) can be used to create different types of customer experiences. BROADENING vs SHRINKING
  • 6. 24 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications SEM Overlap As mentioned earlier, the five types of SEMs all have their own inherent structures and principles. SENSE design is aesthetically appealing or exciting; FEEL design uses emotional symbolism; THINK design is unusual and surprising; ACT design is dynamic and action inducing; RELATE design uses cultural and ethnic associations. Or consider SEMs in advertising. A SENSE TV ad campaign typically dazzles viewers’senses with fast-paced, fast-cut images and music. It is dynamic and attention-getting and may leave a strong impression after just 15 seconds. FEEL TV ads, in contrast, are often slice-of-life ads that take time to draw the viewer in, building emotion gradually. THINK campaigns are often sedate. They begin with a voiceover, then move to text on the screen. ACT campaigns show behavioral outcomes or lifestyles. RELATE campaigns typically feature the person or group to which the customer is supposed to relate. However, experiential appeals rarely result in only one type of experience. Modules are circumscribed, but they are not self-contained structures; instead, they are connected and interact. Many successful corporations employ experiential hybrids that combine two or more SEMS in order to broaden experiential appeal. Ideally, marketers should strive strategically for creating holistically integrated experi­ ences that possess, at the same time, SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT, and RELATE qualities. The implementation tools of experiential marketing: ExPros The SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT, and RELATE modules are implemented through what I call experience providers (or ExPros), which include communications, visual and verbal identity and signage, product presence, co-branding, spatial environments, electronic media, and people. To create the appropriate marketing experience, ExPros must be managed in three ways: (1) coherently (that is, in an integrated fashion); (2) consistently over time; and (3) by paying attention to detail and using each ExPro to its fullest potential for creating the experience. Strategic managementissues of experientialmarketing Figure 4 illustrates the critical strategic issues— intensity,breadth,depth,and linkage—of what I call the experiential grid. Intensity: IntensifyingVersus Diffusing.The intensity issue involves individual grid cells. Should the specific experience provided in a given ExPro be experientially enhanced or diffused? Let’s say you are Hallmark Cards, and you are creating a FEEL experience in your commercial (you know—those slice-of-apple-pie, two- minute commercials showing the brother coming home almost late for Christmas dinner, just in time to sing a Christmas carol with his younger brother). The question is: What is the perfect level of intensity to get viewers to dab their eyes and feel good about Hallmark—the level that avoids overdoing it and coming across as tacky? This is not an easy balance to strike. Without the right kind of testing, you can overshoot your mark or fall far short. Breadth:EnrichingVersusSimplifying.The breadth issue concerns the management across ExPros. Should the organization enrich a given experience by adding additional ExPros that provide the same experience, or simplify the experience by concentrating it into certain ExPros? Imagine again that you are Hallmark. Should your retail stores be experiential FEEL environments in order to enrich the experience, or should they be more functional selling spaces? Or conversely, should you even drop the FEEL advertising and use a more simplified approach by relying solely on the messages and imagery of the cards themselves? Hallmark has obviously chosen the former; it has made its Creation shops the epitome of FEEL by emphasizing a warm and welcoming atmosphere. There are quiet spaces for selecting cards (rather than rows and rows of card displays), comfortable writing surfaces with child-size tables and chairs and boxes of crayons Should the organization broaden its experiential appeal from individual experiences to experiential hybrids and holistic experiences, or should it stick to—or focus on—one single experience?
  • 7. DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 25 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications available, and themed displays (Kids’Party, for example, or Adult Birthday). Shoppers are welcome to sit down and have a cup of coffee while they plan a party or select a Mother’s Day gift. Depth: BroadeningVersus Focusing.The depth question is one of management across SEMs: Should the organization broaden its experiential appeal from individual experiences to experiential hybrids and holistic experiences, or should it stick to—or focus on—one single experience? For example, as part of its strategic planning, Hallmark may ask,“What is the function and meaning of greeting cards in the electronic age? Does it still make sense to send greetings via mail? And what if greeting cards are sent by email, or personally created and stored on websites?”As these questions illustrate, in the electronic age Hallmark may consider broadening its experiential approach from FEEL to THINK and perhaps even explore RELATE and ACT. In fact, the company has capitalized on these opportunities by inaugurating one of the most exciting and thought-provoking sites on the web (www.hallmark.com). Linkage: ConnectingVersus Separating.This issue involves the interrelations among SEMs,as well as ExPros.It is often not enough merely to add SEMs.SEMs need to be connected with one another.In some cases,however,it may be beneficial to separate experiences that have become too broad and thus run the risk of being meaningless. Should Hallmark create linkages and connections between its traditional FEEL approach and its new THINK approach by, for example, adding multimedia to its physical greeting cards? Or should electronic greeting cards and printed ones be run as separate businesses? Successfully managing these issues requires making a commitment to an experiential approach to marketing. Most companies, having practiced features-and-benefits marketing for many years, initially generate impoverished experiential marketing strategies. They use an approach that is too diffused and simplified, focusing on one type of experience only or using multiple, yet unconnected, ones. For them, the strategic task clearly requires intensifying and enriching current experiences, adding new types of experiences, and connecting them with each other gradually. As a result, major investments in experiential marketing are needed, because the strategy approach often calls for a stepwise review and revision of all ExPros and the addition of experiential elements into communications hitherto used for features-and-benefits marketing. It also requires the presence of certain organizational structures and processes, which we will discuss next. Intensity, breadth, depth, and linkage are critical strategic issues that must be considered for each SEM. Corporate branding and sub-branding Here we consider corporate/brand architecture as it is projected to customers (suppliers, business customers, or consumers). Typically, a company that has very high corporate visibility (for example, Ford or Sony) should create an experiential identity for itself. But it must also create experiential identities for its brands and products, and these should not clash with the corporate identity. A HOLISTIC EXPERIENCES SENSE FEEL THINK ACT RELATE Figure 4. Intensity, breadth, depth, and linkage are critical strategic issues that must be considered for each SEM.
  • 8. 26 DMI 40thAnniversaryIssue 2015 Feature ExperientialMarketing:ANewFrameworkfor Designand Communications corporation that has created strong stand-alone brand identities (such as General Motors or Procter Gamble) may forgo experiential branding because it has less visibility as a corporation. But it still needs to manage the experiential identities of its products and brands very closely. Newproducts,brand extensions, and partnership strategies In traditional marketing,the goal of new product development is often the addition of new features and benefits that will improve old products or old technologies.Traditional marketing models view brandextensionsintermsofthefitbetweenproduct categories and the transfer of positive equity from the current brand to the extension product. In contrast, the experiential marketing approach views new product and brand extension decisions as driven by three factors: (1) the degree to which the new product and extension category enhances the experiential image of the company or brand; (2) the degree to which new products and brand extensions add new experiences that can be leveraged in additional new products and further brand extensions; and (3) the degree to which they help in the creation of holistic experiences. Similar considerations will also drive the selection of other companies for strategic partnerships. Such experiential considerations may have been behind the decision of Swatch and Daimler-Benz to form a joint venture to manufacture a new car—a decision that puzzled many industry experts. And the resulting product—the Smart car—is an automotive offering that is experiential from beginning to end. The Smart reflects the best of both of its parents’ worlds. Its appeal derives from its design, which couples attention to safety with a customizable fashion look. The Smart car is a mini, designed to fit in any parking space in any city in the world; its thought-provoking slogan is“reduce to the max.”The Smart is conceived as a completely new product—an innovative solution to the problems of city driving. Despite its size, safety is a central design concern for the Smart, and it is passing rigorous safety tests implemented by Daimler- Benz. The Smart is also fun. Its distinctive look— tiny, somewhat triangular, and modern—sets it apart from all others; this car looks like nothing so much as a sneaker! Its distinctive two-tone color scheme is customizable to consumer specifications, and its interior design is marked by modular parts, which make it possible to stylize the car quickly and cheaply. In fact, the Smart represents the realization of a car as a safe and well-designed fashion accessory. Globalexperientialbranding Experiential branding extended into the global arena raises a range of complex issues. Are there cultural differences in preferences for types of SEMs? For example, do customers in one nation prefer FEEL, in a second nation THINK, and in a third one RELATE? How about specific experiences? For example, are certain nations more attuned to aesthetics in SENSE, while others love excitement? Or do some like nationalistic RELATE appeals, but others global appeals? Do different ExPro executions appeal to customers in different countries? Conclusion Traditional marketing has provided a valuable set of strategies, implementation tools, and methodologies for the industrial age. Now that we have entered a new era, it is necessary to move from the features-and-benefits approach toward marketing to customer experiences. Managers need to consider new concepts, new approaches, and new structures and processes within their organizations to capitalize on the opportunities offered by experiential marketing. Suggested Readings Elliott, Stuart.“Clinique Is Introducing Scent in Bid for Share of Premium Market.” The New York Times, September 30, 1997, Section D, p. 6. Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management (eighth ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1994. Peters, Tom. The Circle of Innovation: You Can’t Shrink Your Way to Greatness. New York: Knopf, 1999. Porter, Michael. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: The Free Press, 1985. Bernd Schmitt (PhD,Cornell University) is professor of international business in the marketing department of Columbia Business School at New York’s Columbia University. Traditional marketing has provided a valuable set of strategies, implementation tools, and methodologies for the industrial age.
  • 9. Copyright of Design Management Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.