What is experiential marketing and what are its characteristics?

Experiential marketing is a new marketing method that has gradually penetrated into every corner of the sales market. This article introduces the development history, related theories and future development trends of our experiential marketing. The following is what I have compiled about what experiential marketing is. I hope you like it!

Characteristics of experiential marketing

Focus on customers

Focus on customer experience< /p>

Experience is the result of a person encountering, experiencing, or living some situations. Companies should focus on communication with customers, explore their inner desires, and examine their products and services from the perspective of customer experience. Build experiential services based on customers’ true feelings.

Design, produce and sell your products with experience in mind

When coffee was sold as “Commodities”, one pound could be sold for three hundred yuan; When packaged as "goods", a cup can be sold for one to twenty yuan; when it is added with "services" (services) and sold in a coffee shop, a cup costs at least dozens to a hundred yuan; but If you can make coffee a fragrant and beautiful experience, a cup can be sold for hundreds or even hundreds of dollars. Increasing the "experience" content of products can bring considerable economic benefits to enterprises.

Scenario inspection

Inspection of consumption scenarios

Marketers no longer think about a product (quality, packaging, function, etc.) in isolation, but must use various means and channels (entertainment, stores, personnel, etc.) to create a comprehensive effect to increase the consumption experience; not only that, but also follow the sociocultural consumption vector (SCCV) and think about the inherent values ??expressed by consumption , consumer culture and the meaning of life. Examining consumption situations enables us to think about marketing by comprehensively considering all aspects to expand its extension and enhance its connotation in a broader social and cultural context. Customer experience before, during and after shopping has become a key determinant in increasing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Customers are both rational and emotional

Generally speaking, customers often make rational choices when consuming, but they also pursue fantasy, emotion, and joy. . Enterprises must not only carry out marketing activities from the rational perspective of customers, but also consider the emotional needs of consumers.

The experience must have a theme.

The experience must first set a theme. It can also be said: experiential marketing starts from a theme and all services are Around this theme, or it should at least have a "themed prop" (such as some theme museums, theme parks, amusement areas, or a theme-oriented design-oriented event, etc.). And these "experiences" and "themes" do not appear randomly, but are carefully designed by experiential marketers. If it is formed by "accidental collision", it should not be said to be an experiential marketing behavior. The experiential marketing I am talking about here requires a series of management processes such as strict planning, implementation and control, and It's not just a formal conformity.

Methods and tools come from many sources

Experience is diverse, and there are also many types of experiential marketing methods and tools, and these are very different from traditional marketing. Enterprises must be good at finding and developing marketing methods and tools that suit them, and constantly introduce new ones.

Experiential marketing pays more attention to the customer’s experience during the consumption process

Experiential marketing considers the customer’s consumption situation, that is, the customer’s experience and feelings during the consumption process. Customer experience comes from the impact of certain experiences on feelings, hearts and thoughts. It connects companies, brands and customers' lifestyles, and gives customers individual actions and purchase opportunities broader psychological feelings and social significance.

Experiential marketers not only consider the functions and characteristics of the product, but more importantly, consider the needs of customers and the personal experience they gain from consuming products and services. Consider the customer’s feelings about the product. The feeling of the entire lifestyle is really what experiential marketers really care about.

The strategic basis of experiential marketing

The strategic basis of experiential marketing: strategic experiential module (strategic experiential module) Experience is complex and diverse, but it can be divided into different form, and each has its own inherent and unique structure and process. These experience forms are created through specific experience media and can achieve effective marketing purposes. Bernd H.Schmitt called these different experience forms strategic experiential modules (SEMs) to form the framework of experiential marketing. Five different strategic experience modules will be introduced below:

Sense (Sense)

The appeal goal of sensory marketing is to create the feeling of perceptual experience, which is through vision, hearing, touch, and taste. with the sense of smell. Sensory marketing can be divided into company and product (identification), triggering customer purchase motivation and increasing the added value of the product, etc. The chocolate made by Richart Company was called "the most beautiful chocolate in the world" by British Vogue magazine. Richart positioned itself first as a design company, then as a chocolate company. Its trademark is completed in Art Deco font, with "A" specially made into italics to distinguish the two words "rich" (rich) and "art" (art).

Richard's chocolates are sold in what resembles a fine jeweler's showroom. The chocolates are packaged in glass boxes and displayed in a vast, bright sales store. Product lighting photography looks like an exquisite piece of art or jewelry in the product’s promotional materials. The promotional items are made of smooth, thick paper, and their packaging is also very elegant. The chocolate box is glossy white with gold and silver embossed words.

A red ribbon seals the box. The box lining is divided into grids, so each chocolate artwork is displayed in its own compartment. For the visual sense, chocolate is a feast in itself. They have beautiful shapes and are decorated with different patterns and decorations (some special collections display a charming set of children's paintings). Special chocolate badges can be manufactured according to customer requirements. The chocolates are so valuable that Richart even sells sheet chocolate storage cabinets with temperature and humidity gauges that function as cigar humidors for $650.

Schmidt once gave an example of a small practice in the Hilton hotel chain, which is to place a very cute little duck in the bathroom. Most of the guests couldn't put it down and took it home as a souvenir for their families, so this is no longer the case. The gifts sold on the market have become the driving force for customers to particularly like Hilton Hotel (of course other facilities and services of Hilton Hotel are also first-class), which has created a good reputation. This is the application of "experiential marketing" (visual and tactile). In addition, when shopping in supermarkets, you often smell the aroma of baked bread specially generated by the supermarket. This is also a sensory marketing method (smell).

Feel

Emotional marketing appeals to customers’ inner feelings and emotions, with the goal of creating an emotional experience, which can range from a gentle and tender positive mood to joy and pride. Even intense emotions of passion. The operation of emotional marketing requires a true understanding of what stimuli can cause a certain emotion and make consumers naturally infected and integrated into this situation. With the theme of bringing happiness to passengers, Singapore Airlines creates a new take-off experience. The company set strict standards, requiring flight attendants to smile, and created a happiness manual, which required what kind of music and what kind of situations to create happiness. By providing excellent customer service, Singapore Airlines has become one of the top ten airlines in the world and one of the most profitable airlines. On the other hand, domestic companies have not yet established practices in experiential marketing, but there are some relatively successful cases of marketing practices that focus on emotions.

The sentence "Confucius's wine makes people homesick", arouses the infinite longing of the wanderers for their parents and hometown. This allows customers to feel homesick while consuming. (Family Love)

As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the easier your journey will be, and the friendship will last forever.

?Drink a glass of green wine and make friends? This advertising slogan for aged Guizhou green wine will give you an extra experience of ?friendliness (friendship) when entertaining guests and friends.

A pure, cute girl with happiness written on her face, nestled on her boyfriend’s shoulder, tasting the "Crystal Love" jelly he gave her, even onlookers will feel it To experience that kind of "beautiful love". (Love)

Think (Think)

Thinking marketing appeals to intelligence (Intelligence), using creative ways to arouse customers' surprise, interest, and focused or dispersed thinking on problems. Create awareness and problem-solving experiences for customers. For high-tech products, the thinking activity scheme is commonly used. In many other industries, marketing thinking has also been used to design products, promote products, and communicate with customers.

In 1998, Apple Computer's iMac computer was launched for only six weeks and sold 278,000 units. Business Week even rated iMac as the best product of 1998. The company's chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Jobs said: "Apple has returned to its roots and started innovating again." iMac designer Jonathan Ive also pointed out: "Being different is the DNA of this company." The iMac's innovation comes on the heels of a thought-provoking marketing campaign. The plan was conceived by advertising man Lee Clow and combines the slogan "Think Different" with many "creative geniuses" in different fields, including Einstein, Gandhi, and Muhammad Ali. , Richard Branson (Richard Branson), John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among others. Print advertisements of this program can be seen everywhere on various large advertising signs, wall advertisements and bus bodies. When this advertisement stimulates consumers to think about the difference of Apple computers, it also prompts people to think about their own differences and that by using Apple computers, they become creative geniuses. Jobs said: "Thinking differently represents the spirit of the Apple brand, because people who are passionate about creativity can make the world a better place." Apple decided to make the best tools in the world for creative people everywhere. ?

Act

The goal of action marketing is to influence the physical experience, lifestyle and interaction. Mobile marketing enriches customers' lives by increasing their physical experience and pointing out alternative ways of doing things, alternative lifestyles, and interactions. Changes in customers' lifestyles are inspired or spontaneous, and may also be caused by idol characters (for example, film, television, singers or famous athletes, etc.).

Nike sells more than 160 million pairs of shoes every year. In the United States, almost one of every two pairs of shoes sold is Nike. One of the main reasons for the company's success is its excellent Just Do It advertising. Often describing the famous basketball player Michael Jordan in sports, sublimating the experience of physical movement, it is a classic of mobile marketing.

Relate

Relevant marketing includes sensory, emotional, thinking, and action marketing. Relevant marketing transcends personal feelings, personality, personality, plus "personal experience", and is related to individuals' ideal self, others, or culture. The appeal of related activities is a personal desire for self-improvement (for example, wanting to be related to the future "ideal self"), and asking others (for example, one's relatives, friends, colleagues, lovers, or spouse and family) to Feel good about yourself. Let people associate with a broader social system (a subculture, a group, etc.), thereby establishing a personal preference for a certain brand, and at the same time allowing people who use the brand to form a group. Affiliate marketing is already used in many different industries, ranging from cosmetics, daily necessities, personal transportation, and more. American Harley-Davidson motorcycles are an outstanding related brand. Harley is a lifestyle. From the motorcycle itself, Harley-related merchandise, to the Harley tattoos on the bodies of enthusiasts, consumers regard Harley as part of their own identity.

Bird Schmidt also specifically mentioned a small card attached to a Swiss watch as an example: the watch store attached a small card to one of the Swiss watches, stating that he would come back in 400 years. The store adjusts the year; the meaning is to illustrate the long life and high quality of this Swiss watch, even if it is regarded as a "family heirloom", it is not an exaggeration. Unlike ordinary electronic watches, although they have the function of automatically adjusting the year after 400 years, who would think that electronic watches can be stored for that long? The watch store uses the meaning of "association" to convey the value of the product.

Main strategic planning tools for experiential marketing

Experience matrix

What is mentioned above is just an introduction to the basic concepts and tools of experiential marketing. How can enterprises How about choosing an experience model based on your own situation and implementing your own experiential marketing strategy? Bernd H.Schmitt provides a complete set of concepts, tools and techniques.

To implement an experiential marketing strategy, you must first analyze the internal and external situations of your company. Consider your target customers, including their preferences, behaviors, values, and the social culture or social subcultures that influence them. Consider your product, including product quality and functionality, brand awareness and reputation, and product sales. Also consider your partners, competitors, and the industry as a whole. Why experiential marketers use the Experience Matrix (Experiential Grid) to use strategic experience modules and experience media to plan an experiential marketing strategy.

Experience Mixed Types

We divide experience into five types, but in actual situations there are rarely single-experience marketing activities. It is usually a combination of several experiences, Shi Mi They are specifically called Experiential Hybrids. Furthermore, if the experience provided by the company to customers involves all five types of experiences, it will be called Holistic Experiences. Generally speaking, strategic experience modules (SEMs) are divided into two categories: one is consumers' unique psychological and physiological experience, that is, personal experience, such as: sense (Sense), emotion (Feel), thinking ( Think); the other is an experience that must be generated by the interaction of related groups, that is, a shared experience, such as: Action (Act), Relate (Relate). Experiential Hybrids and Holistic Experiences are not a simple superposition of two or more strategic experience modules (SEMs), but they interact and influence each other to produce a brand new experience. . Of course, establishing an experiential hybrid requires its own proprietary tool─Experiential Wheel

Experiential Wheel

Traditional marketing will mention the level of effectiveness. (hierarchy of effect), that is, customers purchase a product in stages.

The Wheel of Experience also follows a similar principle, allowing the five strategic experience modules (SEMs) to be used in a natural order: Senses - Emotion - Thinking - Action - Relation. ?Sensory? draws people's attention; ?Emotion? personalizes the experience; ?Thinking? enhances awareness of the experience; ?Action? evokes investment in the experience; ?Related? significance. In addition, strategic experience modules (SEMs) must also consider the use of experience media (experience providers), so we must use the experience matrix (Experiential Grid)

Experience strategy matching table

Generally speaking, the use of people is essential for emotional and relational marketing creativity. The simultaneous establishment of brands and the use of electronic media and websites provide favorable conditions for thinking about marketing. In addition, communication is crucial to implement a good sensory or emotional marketing.