Experiential Marketing - Essay Example

?Experiential Marketing Introduction In the writings by Maklan and Klaus p33), they described experience as “the practical contact with and observation of facts or events,” while Kotler (2001, p13) in his writings described experience as “an event or occurring that leaves an impression on the audience.” Based on the two definitions and in relation to the concept of marketing it is correct to state that experience is an opportunity that enables the audience to get firsthand knowledge on the facts associated with a certain event, product, and or service. The integration of experience to marketing practice led to the emergence of experiential marketing, which is described by Addis and Holbrook (2001, p 63-66) as “a form of advertising that focuses on helping consumers experience a brand.” Experiential marketing is different from the traditional forms of advertising since it engages all the critical senses of a targeted consumer with a particular product or service, thereby giving the targeted consumer a firsthand ‘feel’ of the product or service. This present essay seeks to critically review the nature, role, and development of experiential marketing, evaluate its drawbacks, and discuss its potential contribution to theory and practice. Experiential marketing theories In the studies by Grundey (2009, p36) he argued that the relationship between stimulus and reaction is a process that led to the notion of experience within the field of marketing, which acknowledges the marketing knowledge that consumers or the target audience already have. It is because of the marketing knowledge that consumers have, that it became necessary for marketers to engage their consumers in a manner that is memorable unlike the traditional forms of marketing. Grundey (2009 p137) stated that through this memorable experiences, marketers are able to engage the audience from various fronts that include spirituality, socially, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Through this engagement Grundey (2009 p137) stated that marketers are able to create sensual perception among the target audience, which guarantees them reliability on their observations and/or the facts that they have read. Therefore, it can be argued that because of the marketing knowledge that consumers currently have, it has been impossible to build a trustworthy relationship with them because of their rational behavior and skepticism on adverts that are purely one-side i.e. mainly communicate about the benefits or advantages of a particular product and/ or service (Katona (1953, p 307-318). By providing an experience in order to communicate to the target audience about the benefits/ advantages of a particular product and/ or services, marketers enable the audience to have an independent view that is devoid of any forceful persuasion (Lee and Overby, 2004, 54-67). This result in the audiences building trust on the business organization and its associated products and/ or services, as it was not in a hurry to influence their purchasing decision but rather it focused more on providing a memorable experience to the audience that can be used to make a rational purchasing decision. Affirming the previously mentioned argument, Shmitt (1999, p 23-54) developed a framework that contained key elements of experiential marketing. One of the elements is sense of which Shmitt (1999 p 58) stated that sense, which is offered through experience is important in differentiating a product/ service and consumers will develop a sense of value on the aforementioned product or service. The second element is ‘feel’ of which Shmitt (1999, p 34) stated that a clear and positive feeling on a particular service or product is capable of influencing its consumption. The third element is ‘think’ and Shmitt (1999, p 41) on this element stated that experiential marketing, accord the target audience an opportunity to conduct a critical and logical thinking on a company and its associated products/ services. The fourth element is ‘act’ of which Shmitt (1999, p 44), argued that by providing experience, marketers aim at creating long-term consumer behavior that favor the marketed product/ service. The fifth element is ‘relate’ and in this regard, Shmitt (1999, p 52) stated that experiential marketing aims at identifying the audience with the context or ideologies underlying within a certain product or service. Goods-dominant logic concept and Service-dominant logic concepts to experiential dominant To begin with, Vargo and Lusch (2004, 1-17) described dominant logic as the practices as well as the beliefs that a company explores in order to generate profit as well as retain its competitive position within the market. Dominant logic is classified into two broad categories of which goods-dominant logic concept is based on the premise that a company generates its profits primarily from the tangible goods that is sales, which have been integrated with value during their production (Pine and Gilmore, 1998, p 13). On the other hand, Gentile et al. (2007 p 395-410) stated that service-dominant logic is based on the premise that the service offered within a business organization form the main basis for financial transaction or exchange. This premise is based on the argument that processes within a business organization including the production process largely depend on the operant services such as skill and knowledge of the employees, and therefore, service is the pillar for every exchange between the business and the consumers (Chou, 2009, p 998). McCole (2004, p 531-539) argued that the premises of service-dominant logic encouraged the development of experiential marketing since through experiential marketing, a business organization was able to incorporate the consumers in the core creation of value and it helps in builds relations, which is an intangible assets that contributes to the success of the business. Consumer perspective on experiential marketing Consumer expectations According to Yang and He (2011 p6738-6746), consumers expect that through experiential marketing they will be able to experience the true performance or operation of a product or service that has being hyped. Secondly, consumers expect to be entertained with the marketing campaign in order to have a memorable experience. Thirdly, consumers expect to observe or to exhibit the capacity and true potential of the service of product. Fourthly, consumers expect evangelism in the sense of being thoroughly convinced to purchase the advertised product or service. The customers’ expectation on experiential marketing is very different from what they could expect from the traditional forms of advertisements. Smilansky (2009 p 34-37). argued that based on the fact that consumers presently have marketing knowledge they will therefore, expect something more unique under experiential marketing which will captivate their mind and market to them the product in a different manner. For example, when seeking to buy a new car the dealer first show the customer the cars that are available for sale, which is exhibitionism. Secondly, the dealer will give the potential buyer the car for a test drive (experience) in order to offer him/ her memorable experience with the car. In addition, the dealer expects that through the test drive the prospective buyer would gain some from form enjoyment whilst experiencing the true performance of the car. Fourthly, upon returning the car from the test drive the dealer will ‘preach’ about the unique features and extra capabilities of the car that makes it a perfect choice, which is evangelizing the car. Additionally, Corbae et al (2003 p 56-61) stated that consumers expect to have fantasies from experiential marketing. Secondly, they expect to develop feelings for the product or service, and thirdly to have fun from the entire experience presented through experiential marketing. In the case example, of a prospective buyer wishing to buy a new car the above mentioned experiences are attained whilst the potential buyer is test driving the car, since he or she will start picturing riding and enjoying the car as his/ her own, which meets the expectation of creating fantasies to the prospective buyer. Moreover, through these imaginations, the prospective buyer will be able to develop deeper feelings for the car whilst having fun on the road as he/ she is testing it. Consumption process According to Schmitt (2010), establishing the consumer perspective on the consumption process largely require evaluation of user experience, which investigates how a consumer feels by using a particular product/ service. This also known as customer holistic experience investigates how a consumer might feel about the brand experience, message experience, visual experience, physical experience, social experience, product experience, and service experience of a particular product or service. In the case example, of the iPhone 5 release it can be argued that while using the new phone the customers aimed at gaining experience from using Apple brand, witnessing the visual image that had been promoted by physically holding phones. Thirdly, by using the phone the customers observed the marketing message that had been used in the promotions, and fourthly, by using the phone they at acquiring a new social status whilst associating with Apple’s products and services. Organisation perspective on experiential marketing Yuan and Wu (2008, p78-79) stated that business organizations mainly perceive experiential marketing as an opportunity to create a great impression to the customers and interact with the target audience on a one-on-one basis. For example, by furnishing hotel rooms with their products, IKEA provides an opportunity for customers to interact with the products for a longer duration and to develop personal attachment to the products. Moreover, IKEA will also be able to obtain valuable feedback from the hotel guest who used their products for future considerations (DiMatteo, 2011, p1). From the case example mentioned above, it is correct to state that IKEA views experiential marketing as an opportunity to enable the consumers to interact with their product and perhaps fulfill certain expectations that they might have. According to Corbae et al (2003 p 73-76), through the strategy adopted by IKEA consumers are able to exhibit the company’s product, gain an experience from using them, enjoying using the products, and most important the company in directly evangelizes about the product to the potential customers. Moreover, IKEA enables the guests in the hotel rooms to develop fantasies and deeper feelings from their products as they get attached from the joyful experience of using their products whilst in the hotel rooms. Pros and cons of experiential marketing Conway and Leighton (2011, 35) stated that experiential marketing could be organized in advance such that everyone will be aware or it can be a surprise to everyone. When it is a surprise such as a sudden street performance to promote an upcoming television show or movie it will create a stronger impression and it will reach a wider audience. However, its disadvantages are that it might miss the targeted audience or potential viewers of the show/ movie, secondly, it will have low engagement with the audience, and thirdly, it is prone to negative effects of external factor such as sudden rainfall (Conway and Leighton, 2011, p 41-45). When the street performance is planned, it will have the advantage of creating a buzz and building an audience. However, certain target consumers may opt not to attend the performance show, secondly, it will not be much of a surprise, and it might leave the audience with unfulfilled expectations (Conway and Leighton, 2011, p 47-53). Conclusion Traditional forms of marketing mainly differ from experiential marketing because of the fact that under experiential marketing consumers are able to interact with the products or service that is being promoted either when they search/ shop for it, consume the product or receive the service (Brakus et al. 2008 p3; Arnould et al 2002 p 8; Holbrook, 2000 p 178-192). Moreover, This study as established that business organizations create experiences that are memorable by simple utilizing goods or tangible products as props while services as the stage (Pine and Gilmore, 1998, p, 3). The strategy conforms to the service-dominant logic concepts that perceive consumers to be co-creators of value and that marketing efforts should focus on building relationships. Conclusively, it is correct to state that experiential marketing is graded as more effective than the other traditional forms of marketing because of its five critical elements that include sense, feeling, thinking, action, and relation. Through these elements, the experiential marketing campaigns are able to influence fully all the critical elements that influence the purchase decision, which means that it has more likelihood of success than the other traditional forms of marketing. References Addis, M. and Holbrook, M. B. (2001) ‘On the Conceptual Link between Mass Customisation and Experiential Consumption: An Explosion of Subjectivity’, Journal of Consumer Behaviour 1(1): 50-66. Arnould, E. Price, L. and Zinkhan, G. 2002. Consumers (2nd Edition). McGraw-Hill/Irwin Borden H. N. (1964). “The Concept of the Marketing Mix”, Journal of Advertising Research, June, pp. 2-7. Chou, H. J. (2009). The effect of experiential and relationship marketing on customer value: A case study of international American casual dining chains in Taiwan. Social Behavior and Personality, 37(7), 998. Conway, T., & Leighton, D. (2011). Experiential marketing in the performing arts and heritage sectors. Arts Marketing: An International, 2(1), 35-51. Corbae, G. Jensen, J. and Schneider, D. 2003. Marketing 2.0: Strategies for Closer Customer Relationships. New York, U.S: Springer Publications Top of Form Bottom of Form Brakus, J. Schmitt, B. and Zhang, S 2008, “Experiential Attributes and Consumer Judgments,” in Handbook on Brand and Experience Management. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. DiMatteo, A. 2011. What is Experiential Marketing? Retrieved from: http://www.webolutions.com/blog/what-is-experiential-marketing-. Accessed on [15.11.2013] Gentile, C., Spiller, N., and Noci, G. (2007). How to sustain the customer experience: An overview of experience components that co-create value with the Customer. European Management Journal, 25(5), 395-410. Grundey, D. 2008. Experiential Marketing vs Traditional Marketing: Creating Rational and Emotional Liaisons with Consumers. The Romanian Economic Journal. XI (29) 133-149 Holbrook, M. B. 2000. The millennial consumer in the texts of our times: Experience and entertainment. Journal of Macro marketing, 20(2), 178-192. Katona G. (1953). “Rational Behaviour and Economic Behaviour”, Psychological Reviewer. September, pp. 307-318. Kotler P. (2001). Marketing Management: The Millenium Edition. New Jersy: Prentice Hall. Lee, E. J., & Overby, J. W. (2004). Creating value for online shoppers: Implications for satisfaction and loyalty. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 17, 54-67. Lenderman, M. 2009. Experience the Message. New York: Basic Books Maklan, S., & Klaus, P. (2011). Customer experience: Are we measuring the right things? International Journal of Market Research, 53(6). 33-39 McCole, P. (2004). Refocusing marketing to reflect practice the changing role of marketing for business. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 22(5), 531-539. Pine, J. and Gilmore, J. 1998 The Experience Economy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1999. Schmitt, B.H. 1999 Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT and RELATE to Your Company and Brands. New York, US: The Free Press. Schmitt, B. 2010. Customer Experience Management: A Revolutionary Approach to Connecting with your Customers. UK: John Wiley & Sons   Smilansky, S. 2009. Experiential Marketing: A Practical Guide to Interactive Brand Experiences. London: UK, Kogan Page Publishers Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004). Evaluating to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68(1), 1-17. Yang, Z. Y., & He, L. Y. (2011). Goal, customer experience and purchase intention in a retail context in China: An empirical study. African Journal of Business Management, 5(16), 6738-6746. Yuan, Y. H., & Wu, C. (2008). Relationships among experiential marketing, experiential value, and Customer satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 32, 78-79 Read More