Architecting branded 'experiences' is the 21st century way of brand marketing
I guess I have a little quiet time this morning and I've been able catch up on some posts that I started, but never finished! Here's an interesting article from Hotel Benchmark and although it is specifically speaking about the hotel industry, it certainly has relevance to many other industries as well.
We are all looking for the same thing: to provide quality guest or employee experiences in the hospitality area, whether that be a guest room, at check-in, in an employee cafeteria, a hotel restaurant or bar, inside a casino, a travel destination or within a university. People have so many opportunities these days to be wowed. We can no longer expect them to be wowed by just food or a wine list or the quality of service or the room in which they stay, or with a meal that is served.
This generation of post-baby boom consumers - Gen X, Gen Y and Gen D - are interested in unique and memorable experiences. This is a tough concept for a lot of business owners (operators) to buy. You know how to create a brand image, but have no idea of how to architect a total branded experience. Our goal is to control and orchestrate the total experience surrounding a product or service. How it's perceived from start to finish - from the time someone logs onto a company's website for information, through actual purchase and ongoing customer service.
Without a branded experience, the whole process is too superficial. This is an industry-changing phenomenon and knowing how to manage and create effective branded experiences from start to finish is an art.
What does the consumer want? They want and need a branded, feel-good experience. It’s essential to building brand loyalty. We need to sell them on the experience, not just the product. And smart operators who have addressed this experience mentality are reaping greater profits and repeat business.
When all is said and done, this is the key point. It's not about creating experiences for the sake of doing them. It's about creating a real point of differentiation in a very crowded marketplace so you can excel as a business.
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