Download Study on the Experiential Marketing Strategies in Chinese Enterprises

Study on the Experiential Marketing Strategies in Chinese
Enterprises
SHAO Jihong
School of Management Hubei University of Technology Wuhan, P.R.China, 430068
[email protected]
Abstract: Experiential marketing exists everywhere. Nowadays, every market, every industry
(consumer, service, technology and industry) and various kinds of organizations have all began to adopt
experiential marketing to develop new product, communicate with customers, improve the marketing
relationship, choose business partners, lay out retail booth and build website, and these changes have
been increasingly evident. More and more marketers have discarded traditional marketing ways base on
“features and benefits”, and pay more attention to creating experience for customers. This article
exposits the meaning and characteristic of experiential marketing as well as the causes, and emphasizes
on the specific measures.
Keywords: Experience, Experiential economy, Experiential marketing
1 Introduction
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Experiential Marketing has arouse people’s attention since B • Joseph Pine
and James H •
Gilmore, the founder of the United States strategic horizon, published an article “Welcome to the
Experience Economy” in the “Harvard Business Review” in 1998. Experience is a customer-oriented
activity which takes service as the enterprise stage, the commodity as tools in order to create memorable
events. So we can understand this experience in the enterprise to provide services in the form of
scenarios, the customer as the center of the whole process of consumption through personally involved
in this process was an unforgettable beauty and profound impression.
2 The connotation and characteristic of experiential marketing
Experiential marketing is a way of thinking which redefines designing marketing from the five
aspects of customers’ sense, feel, think, and act and relate. It has some characteristic as follows paying
attention to the customer’s experience, digging up their desire, producing and making sale the products,
always be concerned with the consumption before, during and after the experience of customers with
experience-oriented design, customers are not only rational, but also sensible, all of which should be
taken into consideration in the marketing activities, so we should firstly design a “subject”; secondly
make our methods and tools diversified.
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2.1 Consumers “participate actively”
Whether consumers can participate actively or not is the fundamental of marketing experience,
which is the most notable features that different it from “commodity marketing” and “marketing
services”. Without the consumer’s initiative, all the “experience” is not likely to be produced and have
its own consumer.
2.2 Personalized Consumers experience
As we all know, during nowadays’ leisure times, everyone’s spirit pursuit is individual, aesthetical
standard is diversified and the demand for value is pluralism, will all kinds of different consumers have
sympathetic response to the same experience? To satisfy the personality-oriented and quality-pursuit
customer, the BenQ introduced in the Q-Desk series of desktop computers the whole package, all colors
of the packaged computers will be given personalized content: blue signifies romance; silver is the
symbol of elegance and tranquility; pink, the symbol of warmth and lovely and green, the symbol of
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vigor and vitality. This is what the BenQ Q-Desk tried to shake off the nightmare of commercialization,
and give customers personalized experience in the experience-center.
2.3 Consumer is the combination of rational and emotional Abbreviations and Acronyms
Consumers are regarded as rational purchasers and decision-makers in traditional marketing, and
consumers’ decision-making is regarded as a process of solving problem, with rational analysis,
evaluation, the final decision to purchase, but the marketing experience is different.
As Boen De • H • Schmidt points out: “Experience marketing staff should understand: customers are
controlled by emotion and ration simultaneously. That is to say, the probability of purchase owing to
reason is equal to that owing to impulsive.” This is the basic starting point of experience marketing.
3 The causes that experience marketing appears
With consumer demands become increasingly different, personalized and diversified, modern society
has entered an era of giving more attention on “emotional satisfying” than “functional value”. It also
shows that we are entering a consumption era of more attention paid on meeting the joy of the spirit and
personality. Today among the young generation, the slogan “what I like is the best” fully reflects that
young consumers pursuit for “personality”. We can say the new generation’s demand for sentiment,
boost and symbol value surpass the material value of the goods. This is the root causes of experience
marketing grow up. The new concept of marketing experience is different from traditional marketing in
many ways. The latter only focus on the characteristic of product and service, how to bring material
benefits to consumers, whereas experience marketing pay more attention on the customers’ “experience”,
let customer test consumption experience in a wider social and cultural background. On the whole, we
can conclude that experience marketing’s growing up is based on the causes as follows:
3.1 Material progress and improved living standards of consumers
With the development of material progress, people’s living standards and consumer demand are also
constantly upgrading. In an agricultural society, to meet the basic need in food and clothing is what
people pursuit; in industrial society, the material standard of living is measured by the number of
material products. In post-industrial society, people are concerned more about the life quality and their
psychological and spiritual satisfaction degree. The experience is just the representative to meet this
level of the economy. Clearly, it is the result of the social development that people’s consumption
demands transmit from the practical level to the experience level.
3.2 The tendency of homogenization of product and service
The fierce market competition speed up spread of technology, goods and services provided in the
same industry is getting more and more convergent. The tendency of homogenization removes the
personality of the goods and services. It makes experience so valuable because of unique and special
feeling.
3.3 The rapid development of science and technology
Many experiences modern people have exposed, such as Internet games, online chat, virtual
communities, which appear because of the rapid development of science and technology, are all to meet
people’s experience needs. Cyberspace is born to provide a good place for experience. It can be believed
that the space provided for experience will get broader with the continuing integration of computers,
electrical appliances, telecommunication and biotechnology in the future several years. People have full
reasons to expect and demand more experience because of the rapid development of science and
technology.
3.4 Introduction and modeling to people’s consumer concept of advanced enterprises
Many of the consumer experience is firstly guided and modeled by a small number of advanced
enterprises. For example, before the Sony Company produced walkman, consumers never think it so
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easy to listen to the music; consumers did not expect they can use such magic machine until Apple
produced the personal computer.
These advanced enterprises have discovered people’s potential need which they didn’t express so
deeply that consumers preferred the new product they produced.
4 The specific measures enterprises develop experience marketing
4.1 The strategy enterprises carry out experience marketing
4.1.1 Sense marketing strategy
The aim of sense marketing is to build up the sense experience by sight, hearing, touch and smell.
Its main purpose is to create perception experience. Sense marketing can help distinguish the products of
different company, and initiate consumers’ motive in purchasing and increase the added value of the
products. We can take the Tide washing-powder as example, the advertisement highlight the feel of
“fresh land”: the latest spring Tide milk-powder will bring you fresh smell. The advertisement finally
achieves a good effect after much effort on creating the fresh feeling.
4.1.2 Emotional marketing experience
When we talk about the emotional marketing experience, we refer that to touch consumer’s inner
emotion and create emotional experience. The range of emotion is from tender and gentle mood to
strong excitement. We should make a good understanding of different mood are initiated and let the
scene influence the consumer and enter into the spirit naturally in emotional marketing experience. As in
the advertisement of jelly, from it we can see a pure, lovely girl with happiness in the face, leaning
against her boyfriend’s shoulder and tasting the jelly, especially the standby can feel the experience of
“sweet love” from the scene.
4.1.3 Thinking marketing experience
Thinking marketing experience is to illumine people's intellectual, so that consumers can achieve
the experience of understanding and solving problem in a creative way, which use the ways of surprising,
strategy and tempting to draw on customer’s different or uniform ideas. Thinking marketing experience
is widely used in the publicity process of high-tech products. The sales of Apple’s IMAC computer has
reached 27.8 million units since it is on the market six weeks before and was awarded as the best
product in “Business Weekly” in 1998.We can say that the success of IMAC greatly benefited from such
a thinking-marketing program. The program combined the slogan of “let your idea get out of the
common” with “originality genius” in many fields such as Einstein, Gandhi and the champion Ali. We
can see space advertisements of the program from all kinds of guideboards, walls and buses body. The
advertisements stimulate consumer to associate the unique of the computer with himself, and by using it
can help the customer image himself being an originality talent.
4.1.4 Behavioral marketing experience
Behavioral marketing experience is to employ idol, star in film and television circles or famous
athlete as the spokesman of the brand to stimulate the consumer to change their living form so that they
can achieve the sales. Nike may be the classical example of the field. one reason of the company’s
success is the excellent “JUST DO IT” advertisements, the famous basketball athlete, Jordan, is been
described in the advertisement to sublime the value of sports.
4.1.5 Relational marketing experience
Relational marketing experience is the combination including sense, emotion, thinking, behavior
marketing. Relational marketing experience strategy is especially applied to the fields of cosmetic,
dunnage and personal vehicle. We can take the famous brand of “Hally” motor in the American market
as an example. The motor owner often tattoo the mark on their own arms even the whole bodies. They
go in for all kinds of competition riding it every weekend. From the owner’s action, we can see the
extraordinary influence of Hally.
4.2 The concrete methods of marketing experience
4.2.1 Communicate with the customers; focus on customer’s attitude investigation and study
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The analysis of customer’s psychological need and the development of product’s psychological
property must be firstly emphasized in experiential marketing. When people’s substantial life level
reaches a certain degree, their psychological need will be the main factor that influence purchasing
behavior and consuming. Enterprise marketing should focus on the analysis and study on the customer’s
psychological need, find out the valuable marketing chance.
Only communicating with the customers directly, can you develop their inner desire and make the
development of product and service coincide with the psychological need of target customer, otherwise,
any “experiential marketing” enterprises take will be “a tree without roots”, just a conceptual hypothesis
at best.
All this require enterprises learn to analysis and measure the factor combined the customer’s
experience, carry out pointed and practical investigation according to the theory about applied
psychology, journal of Consumer Psychology ,study the customer’s ideas and list the contact main point
as much as possible so that can normalize every communication, and create the experience that arouse
customer’s interest. Meanwhile, enterprises must strengthen the development of product’s psychological
property, pay more attention on the development of the product’s taste, image, personality and sense,
and create a psychological property in accord with the psychological need of target customer. The vice
president of Legend Group, Chen Shaopeng, ever described “client experience” like this When the
client was thirsty, the manufacturers may pass the client a glass of water and don’t care whether the
client would like plain boiled water, mineral spring water or coca-cola in the past. All-round client
experience means not only to meet the customer’s demand of drinking, but also meet their preference.
As a matter of fact, all this require us carry out sufficient investigation on customer’s ideas.
4.2.2 Making sure the location, setting up “experience topic”
The main point is to comprehend what is really attractive and deeply moving. The successful
location must be firstly brief and get the point, it not require all merits of the product included in the
location, but the difference. Secondly, the location should arouse the customer’s echoes. Thirdly, it must
be keenly felt by the customer, if it doesn’t look on the customer as the judge of quality, the location will
be of no value.
After making sure the location, the next step is to develop the novelty experiential elements. To
determine the brief topic is the key step to move towards experience. The company must start with the
analysis of customer’s psychological need and product inner property; carry out the development of
many topics as the following: the first is the incentive topic; it can adapt people’s real feeling. The
second is the topic that enriching location, it will influence people’s experience on space, time and
everything to change their real feeling. The third is the strong topic, it is a real combination of space,
time and everything well coordinated. The fourth point is the multiple-spot arrangement, it will
enlighten the topic. The fifth point is the topic will be coordinated with its characteristic.
We can take the location of the following parks as examples. The characteristic location of
Disneyland a comprehensive theme park where “people can find happiness and knowledge,
The beneficial location of Berry Farm the theme park “where can pursue the magic experience”, the
location on use of Japanese Deer Park it is a park specially giving service for short-time and fast-paced
entertainment, the location on user of Magic Mountain it is a park only for those who want to pursuit
stimulate.
4.2.3 Designing the marketing events according to the local conditions
Customer experience is essentially a continuing process; enterprises can’t let it alone so that
customers experience is formed randomly and spontaneously. What enterprise really need and focus on
should be a well-designed and planned customer experience that is of stability and predictability.
Customers are able to know what kind of experience they can be provided with before the behavior of
purchasing. From the competitive perspective, the customer experience should be unique and be useful
to the customer.
The designing of marketing experience must base on the target customer’s consumption habit of
experience and demand for experiential marketing, never deviate from the “experience theme.”
This require the enterprises firstly to display different experience demands according to different
regional characteristic and customer terminal environment, inspire the customer’s sensitive zone and
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control the whole process of the customer’s thinking and experiencing based on customer’s strengths
and weaknesses. Secondly, the enterprises should make use of frontal clues to coordinate the results of
experience. The enterprises must let the clue that can identify its essence and embody the theme be led
into, and introduce it to the customers. Meanwhile, the enterprise should wash out the negative elements.
Since to shape the whole image, the enterprise should not only display the frontal elements, but also
delete any link that may weaken, contradict and scatter the topic or the theme.
The soul of experiential marketing designing has been embodied in the graphic advertisement of
McDonald’s put on the subway in Guangzhou. We can find its characteristic from a series of message in
the advertisement, besides the door of the subway you can see the message “whether you open your
mouth or shut your mouth, it is the McDonald’s always with you. At the entrance of the subway, it can
be seen “you need to take a more steps if you want to take it”, in the opposite door to the subway, it says,
“it doesn’t matter that there are many people at the station, it will be important more potato crisp, more
happiness. On the windows of the subway, you can see the message “it looks more like fried chicken
wings, you must be hungry.” All these advertisements of McDonald’s designed according to passengers’
experience has created such an atmosphere that customer can keenly feel has tuned into it.
4.2.4 Stimulating the initiative of participation by some experiential tools
Experiential tools include communication, the display of the products, environment, electric media
and etc. We must make full use of the resource of the enterprise, combine and use all kinds of tools
all-round, let the customers exposed to the atmosphere given by the enterprises and participate in the
designed events, the ultimate aim is to let the customer experience the process of producing and
consuming. Because the main purpose of experiential marketing lies in the active participation of the
customers. The secrets of Starbucks coffee’s success are its comfortable and sweet atmosphere, elegant
party and innovative drinking way and process. Starbucks coffee has been changed into an emotional
experience, and it let the common person become coffee appreciator to give full play to the customers’
initiative of participation by all these visible and invisible experiential tools.
All this make customer feel a cup of coffee’s 8 dollars high price reasonable. While it is well
known that McDonald’s chain store attract large number of children and parents by McDonald’s Uncle,
giving presents to children.
4.2.5 Innovation continuously, increasing the additional experience
It is true that the only unchanged in today is change. When many enterprises have paid more
attention to experiential marketing and want to attract more customers by it, enterprises should
consistently be concerned about the new hot spot of consumption, carrying out new experience
continuing is their inevitable choice. Shenzhen Window of the World is a good example. It increase
many new amusement programs continuously according to the customers’ change, such as Amazon
Jungle adventure, the united states’ Grand Canyon drift, Pyramid ,indoor skiing park of Alps, digital
cinema of Fuji Mountain, and good taste entertainment performance at the square. All these largely
strengthen the park’s attraction to the traveler.
5 Conclusion
Experimental economy has come, experimental marketing has appeared home and abroad, but we
must also have a clear recognition that not all enterprises are fit to carry out experimental marketing.
The growing of experimental marketing is based on the mature quality and function of products or the
service, customers has pay less attention on the demand for the feature and benefit. Therefore the
enterprises should be customer-oriented, arrange the events and circumstances and design the special
experimental process to meet the customer’s pursuit for higher self-achievement. By doing this, the
consumers will be absorbed in the process of experience, get the furthest mental satisfaction.
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References
[1] Shao Yiming. Participating in Experiential Marketing [M], Economy Management Press, 2005:25-39
[2] Geng Bin. Prefer Sale Experience to Saling Goods [J], Enterprise Management, 2006(3)
[3] Jiang Qiping. Experimental economy [M], Beijing: Social Science Literature Press, 2006:10-36
[4]Hou Haiqing. Enterprise Marketing Strategy in Experimental Times [J], Business Times, 2006(2)
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