Experiential Marketing Strategies of Disneyland Paris - Literature review Example

Marketing Contents Contents 2 Literature Review 3 Experiential Marketing 3 Experiential Marketing of Disneyland Paris 5 Cultural difference and Marketing Strategies 7 Summary 8 Reference List 9 Literature Review Experiential Marketing The term experiential marketing is a relatively new concept in the marketing literature. Originally the concept was introduced by Schmitt (1999) and he has almost single-handedly brought this new concept in marketing. The rationale behind the introduction of this term was the growing importance of the experiential economy (Schmitt, 1999). According to the views of LaSalle and Britton (2003) traditional mode of marketing channels does not provide an opportunity to capitalize on the new aspect described as experiential economy (LaSalle and Britton, 2003). Schmitt had initially pointed out that there are two aspects crucial to the understanding of experiential marketing. The first one is the five types of experiences christened as experiential modules and the second aspect is the experience providers. The view of Schmitt was not unchallenged. The use of experiential marketing as a key strategic marketing tool had been criticized by Holbrook (2000) who had pointed out that this approach is rather too modest to handle the key strategic issues of an organization. Holbrook had proposed a logical sequence of experiential marketing namely romanticism leading to experiential consumption leading to emotional responses and finally pleasure (Holbrook, 2000). The key departure from the initial view of Schmitt was that in this approach the concept of sensations were given more importance than the rational thoughts of the consumers. The five senses that forms the basic framework of experiential marketing involves: Sense: Marketing aesthetics can be equated with sensory experiences as sensory experience adds value to the identity of the brand and helps in connecting with the brand identity. Feel: This includes marketing strategies which are able to invoke emotional responses among the customers which can range from mild positive feelings on mentioning the name of the brand to strong emotions among customers of pride and joy. The basic requirement of the marketer is to identify the stimulus that triggers the emotional response among the customer. Think: This refers to involving customers in problem solving approaches that appeals their intellect. Act: It aims to alter the physical and bodily experience of the customers by introducing them with the alternative ways of doing things. Relate: This allows the marketers to help the individual evolve over his private feelings by connecting with his ideal-self which helps the individual to connect to other people and other culture. It helps individual customers to connect to a broader social system. Culture has a very important role to play in experiential marketing. The works conducted by Fortezza and Pencarelli (2007) had shown that the traditional marketing does not take into consideration the expectation of visitors based on the difference of his culture and this often leads to failure of the marketing strategy (Fortezza and Pencarelli, T., 2011). Experiential marketing is well equipped to deal with less tangible variables which become more important than rational behaviour of consumers in influencing their purchasing decision. The finding of Robinson had confirmed that visitors in the 21st century want more than their value for money. They want to be “entertained, stimulated, emotionally and creatively challenged” as well. French and American upper-middle class have different views relating to intellectualism, cosmopolitanism and refinement. French moral humanism cannot be separated from the humanistic culture compared to American society. French consumers are driven more by culture than morality than the American consumers. The experiential marketing strategy in France is based on promoting the French culture by taking into consideration the language of France, love for liquor and romanticism (Lamont, 1992). According to the views expressed by Smilansky (2009) experiential marketing is the way in which organizations address the needs of the customers by identifying and satisfying them meticulously. This two way communication between the organization and the customers helps in bringing life to the brand personalities and adding value to the customers who are engaged in the process (Smilansky, 2009). Significant insights regarding the topic of experiential marketing have been provided by Experiential Marketing Association (2011 cited in Fortezza and Pencarelli, 2011). It has been stated that experiential marketing allows the customers to interact with the brands, products and services on a sensory level. You Ming (2010) had concluded in his findings that experiential marketing is a way in which brands can communicate with the customers by tapping their physical and emotional needs (You–Ming, 2010). Cantone and Risitano (2011 cited in Leeflang, 2011) had pointed out that a large number of firms are now turning to the process of experiential marketing in which sentiments and passion are targeted to build relationships with the customers. It is now being increasingly realized that customer experience is the virgin territory that needs to be explored by marketers as the 21st century consumers pose considerable challenges to the marketers. The customers have become free-thinking and articulate. Researchers have established that the firms which engage in experiential marketing use events, experience and interaction to connect with the consumers to make the brand a living entity for the consumers to enjoy (Caru and Cova, 2007). This type of marketing transcends the transaction-based relationship with the consumers and develops a continuous process of experience-based relationship that caters to the irrational side of the customer (Yao, 2007). The existing literature has identified a crucial link between customer loyalty and experiential marketing. It has been established that if consumers are likely to be more loyal if firms follow experiential marketing. Experiential marketing has been identified as a tool that establishes a connection with the customers at multiple emotional and sensory levels (Pine and Gilmore, 2002). This connection is generally in the form of experience that is memorable and interactive for the consumers which helps them to feel the brand. This leads to increase in sales for the organization and helps it to enhance the level of brand loyalty for the customers (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). Global organizations are now resorting to experiential marketing because there is a growing realization that engaging experience in the marketing strategy is a way of giving dimension, feel and smell to a brand. It is believed that if marketing strategy incorporates experience in it then it is able to have long-lasting relationships with the consumers as consumers internalize the experience in the forthcoming years. Experiential Marketing of Disneyland Paris The initial marketing strategy that had been adopted by Disneyland was not a very successful one as it had focused on direct marketing. Disney had initially assumed that this strategy would be successful as it had proven to be in the Japanese market. A rude shock awaited Disney when it was unable to penetrate into the French culture with the existing strategies. The European customers have rejected to be influenced by the initial marketing strategies that had resulted in huge losses for Disney. The paradoxical situation of Disneyland in Paris and its remedy is a classic example of experiential marketing. Disneyland had been one of the most successful imports from America into Europe as it was one of the most popular destinations yet it had limited acceptance among the people. In 2012 the company had boosted its footfall to 16 million based on experiential marketing alone (EDHECD Business School, 2014). Disneyland has been successful in deliberately differentiating itself from competitors by strategically following experiential marketing which had allowed it to from long-lasting relationships with the customers. It has extensively relied on brand experience events to enhance with the five senses of the customers and amplified it other marketing strategies directly involving the customers. Disneyland Paris has allowed its customers to touch, hear, smell and feel its characters which have allowed customers to generate an emotional response towards the brand. This has been a crucial factor to bridge the cultural difference between the two countries and helped Disney in attracting customers. The emotional response evoked in the customers has been able to create a sense of loyalty in them and has altered their purchasing behaviour. Brand-relevant customer experience has become the core framework for Disney business management. Disneyland has used its strong global brand name in Paris by striking a perfect balance between the company logo, storyline, theme (which collectively forms the mythology about the brand) with the strategic use of media through movies and advertising. Disneyland amusement parks in Paris have been able to combine the physical presence of American animation’s largest brand by incorporating visual, physical and sensual environment of the customers to increase the attendance in the park. The customer centric focus of the company has been able to create a “Disney experience” for the customers every time they visited the amusement park (Shimp and Andrews, 2013). Disneyland Paris tried to create an environment in which stimuli, spectacle and entertainment are all intertwined. The visitors of the park was involved in the brand building process and allowed them to be a part of holistic experience. Therefore, the strategies followed by Disneyland Paris can be directly linked to the concept introduced by Schmitt that major corporate brands like Disney itself “fabricates synergistic holistic experiences across scales and domains through a global supremacy together with the converging effects of information technology, integrated communication and entertainment” (Mitrasinovic, 2006). Cultural difference and Marketing Strategies Disneyland had soon realized that its traditional marketing was unable to bring enough customers to the park. The first thing done by Disneyland was to change its existing name to Disneyland Resort Paris. Disney had first banked on the accessibility of the park by collaborating with EuroStar and Le Shuttle train companies (Thomas and O’Donoghue, 2013). In order to connect with the French people Disney had revised its policy of serving no-alcohol and allowed wine and beer to be served in the restaurants (Lindquist and Sirgy, 2003). This was done to appeal the French customers and lure them to the restaurants. Disney had then focused on rebuilding the brand by concentrating on its major characters like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse and giving them French accents. This was done to ensure that consumers try to observe the existing brand Disney in new light and have a different perception about it. To target the sensory and emotive aspects of the customers Disneyland Paris had changed the name of the rides like Galleries under the tree to Le Ventre de la Terre, Treasure Island to I’lle au Tresor and Snow White’s castle to Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant to name a few. It was expected that the visual changes in the names and messages is bound to attract the attention of the French. This shows that Disney had considered theme and brand culture to influence the consumers. These changes were done to immerse the consumers in the experience offered by Disney and create experiences for them they had never experienced before (Matusitz, 2010). In order to address the cultural difference the French attractions were created alongside the American mainstream theme destinations. This was done to allow the customers to understand the American culture by infusing it with the French culture. Disney had specifically constructed Cinemas Gaumont to organize events and music festivals by allowing interaction with the customers. The advertising strategy of the company had also been changed by collaborating with Ogivly and Mather Direct (Kaynak and Herbig, 2014). The advertising communication strategy of the company was modified because Disneyland Paris had realized that the European population did not grow up with characters like Cinderella and Mickey Mouse. The marketing strategy had focused o the parents and grandparents and they were encouraged to indulge their children and grandchildren to take part in the Disney experience (Newell, 2013). This was a direct attempt to target the European customers by allowing them to think and relate to Disney and connect with the global brand. This was an attempt to create memorable experience for the customers that were visiting the park based on these changes. Disney expected to build long-lasting relationships with the customers by altering its marketing and advertising strategies. Disney had focused on creating nostalgia and memory for the visitors so that they would eventually return to the park. This attempt to Diney could be linked to the findings of Arnould, Price and Zinkhan (2004). These researchers had concluded that experience of individuals is related to the physical, cognitive and emotional interactions that they have with the environment. Also it was concluded that if experiences are authentic then it leads to meaningful experience for the individuals (Arnould, Price and Zinkhan, 2004). Disneyland Paris had the understanding that it was the first theme based park in Europe which could provide authentic experience to the visitors yet overcoming the cultural gap became the big challenge for them. Therefore, it had turned to experiential marketing in order to allow the consumers to experience the difference that was offered by Disney. Disneyland Paris had ensured that the visitors in the park are over stimulated at a sensory level by interacting with the characters, taking pictures with them and watching them perform according to the local cultural adaptations. Additionally, Disney ensures that the customers are not creative in an individual manner but guided by the creativity that is being preached by Disney. This has been able to drive more customers for Disneyland in Paris. Summary From studying the existing literature it appears that experiential marketing is a relatively new concept that is being considered by marketers. This is because traditional marketing has its own shortcomings and it is unable to tap the potential of the experiential economy. Disneyland Paris is a prime example of a global organization that had resorted to experiential marketing as a way to attract audience. The purpose of this dissertation is to empirically verify the existing marketing strategy of Disneyland Paris by capturing the variables that best capture experiential marketing. This will add to the existing literature of experiential marketing by focusing on the exact parameters that influences the marketing strategy of Disneyland Paris. Reference List Arnould, E. J., Price, L. and Zinkhan, G., 2004. Consumers . NewYork: McGraw-Hill. Caru, A. and Cova, B., 2007. Consuming experience. London: Routledge. EDHECD Business School, 2014. Disneyland Paris at EDHEC: A dream comes true for MSc in Marketing Management students. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 July 2014]. Fortezza, F. and Pencarelli, T., 2011. Experience marketing: specific features and trends. The Wish Days case study, Journal of Marketing Trends, 1(6), pp. 57–69. Holbrook, M. B., 2000. The Millennial Consumer in the Texts of Our Times: Experience and Entertainment, Journal of Macromarketing, 20(2), pp. 178–192. Kaynak, E. and Herbig, P., 2014. Handbook of cross-cultural marketing. London: Routledge. LaSalle, D. and Britton, T. A., 2003. Priceless: Turning ordinary products into extraordinary experiences. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Leeflang, P., 2011. Paving the way for “distinguished marketing”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 28(2), pp. 76–88. Cantone Lindquist, J. D. and Sirgy, M. J., 2003. Shopper, buyer and consumer behavior, casebook. New Delhi: Dreamtech Press. Matusitz, J., 2010. Disneyland Paris: a case analysis demonstrating how glocalization works. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 18(3), pp. 223-237. Mitrasinovic, M., 2006. Total landscape, theme parks, public space. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. Newell, L., 2013. Mickey Goes to France: A Case Study of the Euro Disneyland Negotiations. Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, 15, pp. 15-31. Pine, B. J. and Gilmore, J., 1999. The experience economy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Lamont, M., 1992. Money, morals, and manners: The culture of the French and the American upper-middle class. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pine, B. J. and Gilmore, J., 2002. The Experience is the marketing. Brand Strategy, pp. 50-51. Schmitt, B., 1999. Experiential marketing: How to get customers to sense, feel, think, act and relate to your company and brands. New York: The Free Press. Shimp, T. and Andrews, J. C., 2013. Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Smilansky, S., 2009. Experiential Marketing: A practical guide to interactive brand experiences. London: Kogan Page. Thomas, P. and O’Donoghue, D., 2013. The Channel Tunnel: transport patterns and regional impacts. Journal of Transport Geography, 31, pp. 104-112. Yao, L., 2007. Real estate marketing. Chongqing: Chongqing University Press. You–Ming, C. 2010. Study on the impacts of experiential marketing and customers´ satisfaction based on relationship quality, International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 3(1), pp. 189-209. Read More