Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act, Relate (Hardcover)

~ Bernd H. Schmitt (Author) "We are in the middle of a revolution..." (more)
Key Phrases: experiential hybrids, experiential marketing approach, strategic experiential modules, New York, United States, Martha Stewart (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Experiential marketing, a decidedly turn-of-the-millennium form of corporate persuasion that strives to elicit a powerful sensory or cognitive consumer response, is rapidly superseding the stodgy features-and-benefits approach generally in vogue since the gray-flannel '50s. In fact, says Bernd H. Schmitt, a professor of marketing and director of the Center on Global Brand Management at Columbia Business School, leading enterprises ranging from Gillette and Martha Stewart to Amtrak and Oprah Winfrey are already using such emotionally loaded techniques successfully to develop new products, communicate with customers, create business partnerships, build innovative cyberspace and brick-and-mortar sales outlets, and boost profits. Experiential Marketing presents Schmitt's insightful and thought-provoking examination of this growing trend, along with a series of suggestions (for example, how to create an "us vs. them" atmosphere) for implementing similar efforts. By dissecting a series of relevant campaigns undertaken at the leading-edge firms mentioned above, along with those at other major players such as Harley-Davidson, Volkswagen, Celestial Seasonings, and Taster's Choice, Schmitt demonstrates its effectiveness while deftly pointing out salient techniques that readers might adopt. --Howard Rothman

Review

Ronald A. GalottiPresident and Publisher, Talk Media, Inc.Schmitt is a marketing guru....He makes sense on every level -- from the intellectual to the emotional.

Hayes RothSenior Executive Director, Landor AssociatesA fresh, new voice in the wilderness of so-called marketing experts -- one who speaks with unusual perception, clarity, and common sense. Bernd Schmitt will have a profound influence for years to come on how we all think about brands and the marketing that sells them.

Gerald ZaltmanJoseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business SchoolA lucid, provocative account of total experience engineering. This is a well thought out, well documented description of...what it means to truly understand customers.

Mary OlsonPresident and CEO, Transition NetworksE-commerce and marketing strategists take note! Experiential Marketing aims at the heart of e-customer relations. Schmitt is an extraordinary thinker and writer.

Rob WallaceManaging Partner, Wallace Church Associates, Strategic Brand Identity ConsultantsWith Experiential Marketing, branding now has a bible!

Alan SiegelChairman and CEO, Siegel & GaleA refreshingly lucid, insightful, and original book...Provides clear direction for marketers who want to build successful brands in the new millennium.

Rod SwansonSenior Director, Film & Video Production, Electronic ArtsCharts the way in a future where customers are drowning in a sea of information. My recommendation: get it, read it, live it.

Billy PittardCEO/President, Pittard SullivanA compelling argument for a powerful new approach to marketing that looks at how consumers relate to brands in today's marketing environment.

Earl N. PowellPresident, The Design Management InstituteA pioneering work....Provides the essential concepts and structure for a powerful framework to shape marketing.

Cleve S. LangtonCorporate Executive Vice President, DDB Needham Worldwide, Inc.Presents a cutting-edge approach to managing any type of business-customer relationship. A must-read for marketing directors, communication managers, and business strategists.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (August 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684854236
• ISBN-13: 978-0684854236
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #294,473 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A New Model", February 2, 2000

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In Marketing Aesthetics, Schmitt & Simonson argue that "most of marketing is limited because of its focus on features and benefits." They then presented what they characterized as "a framework" for managing those experiences. In Experiential Marketing, Schmitt provides a much more detailed exposition of the limitations of traditional features-and-benefits marketing. Moreover, he moves beyond the sensory "framework" into several new dimensions, introducing what he calls "a new model" which will enable marketers to manage "all types of experiences, integrating them into holistic experiences" while "addressing key structural, strategic, and organizational challenges." The key word is "holistic"; the key process is Issues

Epilogue

In his Preface, Schmitt introduces his reader to someone he identifies as "Laura Brown." At the end of each of the 11 chapters, Laura Brown reacts to the material presented. Often, she responds with questions which the reader may be tempted to ask. For products but what if a company is an industrial firm? What if it is a consulting firm or a medical practice? How does experiential marketing come into play for these kinds of companies?" Or at the end of Chapter via a brand? What kind of communities are the 'brand communities'? What about communities of real people?"

Obviously Schmitt is a clever fellow. He includes Laura Brown (who turns out to be a real person) to respond to his material with questions such as these so that, in effect, he can say "I am so glad that you asked me about that!" Of course, he then answers the questions. This interaction is playful, adding humor; it is also a brilliant device by which to expand and enrich the flow of Schmitt's ideas.

They are very important ideas indeed. Simultaneously, Schmitt establishes a rock-solid conceptual infrastructure while examining a number of different companies (eg Nokia, Procter & Gamble, Apple Computer, Volkswagen, Siemens, Martha Stewart Living, and SONY) which demonstrate the fundamental principles of Experiential Marketing. One of the book's most valuable contributions is provided in Part Two as Schmitt focuses on what he calls Strategic Experiential Modules (SEMs), each of which has its own distinct structures and principles which must be understood by each manager. SEMs include sensory experiences (SENSE), affective experiences (FEEL), creative cognitive experiences (THINK), physical experiences and entire lifestyles (ACT), and social-identity experiences (RELATE). Schmitt examines each, explains how to achieve the effective integration of all four.

In the Epilogue, he reveals Laura Brown's identity (no surprise there), suggesting that the experience-oriented organization is a "Dionysian organization and focuses on creativity and innovation...it takes a broad, helicopter view focusing on long-term trends, pays attention to its physical environment, and views its employees as human capital." Indeed, he hastens to add, "the experience-oriented organization is keenly interested in promoting its employees' experiential growth." Schmitt thus offers an alternative to the traditional organization which is oriented toward order, structure, analysis, and short term.

If you read Experiential Marketing and then share my high regard for it, I urge you to read also (if you have not already done so) The Experience Economy and The Entertainment Economy.

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Old & Obvious News, May 9, 2002

By A Customer

From the perspective of someone who works intimately with major consumer brands, this book was a huge disappointment. There is absolutely nothing new here, as should be evident when most of the approaches held up as paragons of experiential marketing are 5-15 years old. Schmitt acts as though moving past "features and benefits" advertising is a new and controversial idea, when in fact marketing to people's emotions and aspirations has been accepted practice for at least 15 years. Is academia (Schmitt being a professor, not a practicioner) that far behind what has actually been going on in marketing departments and advertising agencies for so long?

Not to mention that every possible brand tactic under the sun can fall under the wide umbrella of "experiential marketing" -- and Schmitt attempts to make examples from virtually any good marketing idea of the last decade in a cluttered and undisciplined format.

I guess I wouldn't be so peeved if I were brand new to the world of mass marketing, and maybe this book wouldn't be such old news. But even for the neophyte, it's nothing more than a collection of neat marketing ideas with little of a distinct theme to hold them together.

If you want to read about accepted marketing tactics of top brands, it's an OK read, but those examples are all around us anyway. If you want to learn how these ideas originated or how you can think about your brand in a new way, it's of no help.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Marketing Paradigm for the New Millenium!, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This book is definitely an eye-opener for everyone in business of all types. Experiential Marketing is a cutting-edge yet a fundamental approach to marketing, which should be taught in all business schools. Via "experiential marketing," Schmitt presents a revolutionary framework for getting in-touch with one's customers while at the same time differentiating oneself from rest of the competition. I especially liked Chapter 9 where Schmitt lucidly illustrates the "Experiential Hierarchy" concept using Volkswagen Beetle examples. A well-written, easy-to-read format, which makes it a great reading even on planes.