PHOTO: COURTESY OF ZIBA DESIGN
Shop 'til You Feel It's A Full-Blown Experience
Companies used to focus on making new, better, or cheaper products and services--and then selling them in the marketplace. Now, the game is to create wonderful and emotional experiences for consumers around whatever is being sold. It’s the experience that counts, not the product. While that business model has long been the preserve of cult-like brands such as Starbucks and Apple, it’s fast becoming the norm in all industries. The goal: to build communities of passionate and loyal consumers.
Think of the emphasis on a consumer’s individual experience as a final blow to the notion of mass marketing. It’s the next step beyond customization of what you make--to shaping people’s emotions with what you make. And there’s good reason to take the leap. Profit margins are much higher on “experiences” than actual products or services. After all, customers aren’t just paying for a cup of coffee at Starbucks or, say, simply doing transactions at Umpqua Bank. They’re paying admission to a club--one that delivers something to satisfy the soul. What management thinkers B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore first identified as The Experience Economy several years ago has finally come to pass.