《How experiential marketing can be used to build brands》.pdf

Innovative Marketing, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2008 Rajesh Kumar Srivastava (India) How experiential marketing can be used to build brands – a case study of two specialty stores Abstract Study was conducted basically on how experiential marketing (EM) can be useful in building a brand. The study also covered the impact of EM on repeat visit by customers; its acceptance based on gender the reasons for repeat visits when compared to stores not using EM. Research was carried out at four specialty stores dealing in music and books in Mumbai, a financial capital of India. Of these, two were using EM. Questionnaire using one to one interview technique was used. Of 850 interviewed, 400 (EM) and 313 (NEM) were selected for study on two sets specialty stores, one set had experiential marketing in prac- tice other two were not using EM (NEM). Experiential marketing impact was studied on parameters like feel good, friendly people and ambience. The study confirms the hypothesis that experiential marketing can be used to build brand better. Word of mouth is equally important for EM and NEM stores. PR role is more important for EM than NEM stores. EM stores have 31% repeat customers compared to 1% with NEM stores. This is significant comparative study on EM and NEM usage. Customers are spending more time at these stores due to EM approach. Ambience of both stores played im- portant role. Females visited less compared to male but repeat visit of females was on the higher side as they were more influenced by EM. Keywords: experiential marketing, brand building, customer experience. Introduction1 becoming part of the every day life experiences of the shopper. The experiential approach seeks to Bernd H. Schmitt (1999, 2003) has coined the new