Abstract

Marketing 'experiences' has become a strategically useful means to enhance one's offering and avoid the commoditization of a firm's product or service. Given the increasing role of 'experiences', no study to date has explored the issue of experience design from a 'bottom up' approach. Existing frameworks in the popular press have been silent on the interface between design and marketing. Moreover, in spite of the expanding literature on 'experiences,' no study has yet explored or documented the state of managerial knowledge and practice. The objective of this thesis is to address this gap and improve our understanding of key issues surrounding experience marketing. In this thesis, marketing and operations managers from three firms, in three different industries, were interviewed and observations were made to understand the process and factors involved in designing experiences. Interviews and observations were designed to explore marketing managers' knowledge and 'know-how' in designing pleasurable customer experiences, as well as to gather information about each firm's operations and structure, physical design and customer interactions. Furthermore, the actual definition of an experience was explored in a systematic manner that produced relevant theoretical and managerial insight. By assessing, directly from renowned practitioners, their own views and definitions of an experience along with the key obstacles in designing and managing such, this research project delivered useful results.