Are we becoming less material? It certainly seems that way. Research shows that today’s consumers increasingly prioritize experiences over material goods – and this is particularly true among millennials, where 75 percent say they value experiences over things.

1. EVERY BRAND MUST CREATE
IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES FOR THEIR
CUSTOMERS

2. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Are we becoming less material? It certainly seems that way. Research shows that today’s
consumers increasingly prioritize experiences over material goods – and this is
particularly true among millennials, where 75 percent say they value experiences over
things.
This major trend will undoubtedly affect the way businesses interact with customers. In
short, brands that want to stay relevant must turn the customer journey – whether it is
online or offline – into a thoughtful, memorable experience.
EVERY BRAND MUST CREATE IMMERSIVE
EXPERIENCES FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS

3. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
WELCOME TO THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
This overarching move towards experiences is known as the experience economy. It’s not a new term –
“experience economy” was first coined in a 1998 Harvard Business Review article by Joseph Pine and
James Gilmore – but it certainly seems to be ramping up now, with brands across all sectors seeking to
create immersive experiences for customers.
Pine and Gilmore used kids’ birthday cakes to demonstrate the move away from goods and services
to experiences. Originally, parents would buy the ingredients and make a birthday cake from scratch.
Then along came convenient, preprepared cake mix products, like those by Betty Crocker. Then came
the service economy, where busy parents would order cakes from the local store or bakery (at ten
times the price of a homemade or box cake mix). And now, many parents will gratefully outsource the
whole birthday party to a restaurant or business that hosts events. In this way, the humble birthday
cake neatly demonstrates the evolution of the experience economy – an economy that is distinct from
the goods- and service-based economies that came before it.

4. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Pine and Gilmore went on to argue that, for the brands of the future, providing a
good product or service would no longer be enough – brands would have to
create memorable experiences as well. Their prediction seems to be playing out
before our eyes, as customers place more and more emphasis on the overall
experience. For instance, in a survey by Barclays 81 percent of customers said the
experience provided by a brand is just as important as value for money, and 42
percent said they’d be happy to pay extra for a better experience.

5. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
EXAMPLE: FROM RETAIL TO 2EXPERIENTIAL RETAIL”
Of course, there are whole sectors devoted to providing cool experiences (sports and
entertainment spring to mind). But this focus on experiences is beginning to filter into other
sectors, such as retail. In other words, a customer entering a brick-and-mortar shop is no
longer just looking to buy a product and leave – they want a memorable in-store experience
while they’re there.
Think of the flagship Topshop store on London’s Oxford Street hiring DJs to come and play the
ground floor, or shopping malls hosting pop-ups and activities for shoppers. Another example
comes from IKEA’s “sleepovers,” in which IKEA enthusiasts were invited to don their pajamas and
stay overnight in the store. It started as a PR stunt, but has since turned into a host of
sleepovers in IKEA stores worldwide. Lucky participants are even given sleep-themed goody
bags and breakfast in bed!

6. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Or there’s the Gucci Garden concept store in Florence, Italy, which features a
restaurant, contemporary artworks and an exhibition of classic Gucci memorabilia –
oh, and a boutique selling selected Gucci products, of course. The Gucci Garden is
such an attraction in its own right, you have to pay to enter the gallery (but not the
boutique).
Elsewhere, South Korean sunglasses and eyewear brand Gentle Monster has also
turned its worldwide stores into contemporary art galleries, with each store
showcasing unique sculptures and installations. To keep customers coming back for
more, the look and feel of stores changes regularly.

7. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
TIME TO GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY REALLY WANT –
A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE
Bottom line, whether you engage with your customers online, offline, or both, it’s vital you rethink the
value you’re offering and ask yourselves, “How can we add even more value by turning this interaction
into an experience?”
For brands like Adobe, this question is so important, they even employ a chief experience officer (CXO)
to lead the customer – and employee – experience across the organization. (It makes sense that the
CXO’s role should be to consider the employee experience as well as the customer experience, since
one generally feeds into the other. Happy employees deliver a better customer experience.) This
investment in the overall customer and employee experience is something I’m seeing more of among
forward-thinking brands.
Even if you don’t go as far as hiring a CXO, I urge you to consider the immersive experience trend. If
you don’t, your customers may end up heading elsewhere for memorable experiences.

8. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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have a look at my book Business Trends in Practice: The 25+ Trends That are
Redefining Organizations. Packed with real-world examples, it cuts through
the hype to present the key trends that will shape the businesses of the
future.

9. © 2021 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker,
futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and
companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data
more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as
artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is
a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for
Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers
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