When Does a Product Transition to an 'Experience'...?

After the last class discussion about hair color and the brand personality created by both L'Oreal and Clairol, I began to think about the different experiences woman had when using those products. For instance, some women probably colored their hair as an act of defiance, for others it was self-impowering, like a stamp of independence. Others transformed themselves into bombshells to attract men or compete with other women, and for some women it was simply part of their cosmetic regime, like applying their morning make up. What struck me was how a simple product was branded into becoming an experience for women, supplying them with positive emotional support and extending the branded concept onto the individual women...women could become Cybil Shepherd or Heather Locklear when they used the product.

In today's world, when pretty much every product out there is standardized to the same level of supreme quality, and there's almost no level of quantifiable quality differentiation, this drive toward experiential products and services has almost taken over marketing. Consumers have developed relationships with certain products and services, and because of the personality the brands take on, it is almost as if consumers don't want to 'hurt the brands feelings' by trying something new or going to a new place.

Take for instance, Starbucks coffee drinkers. Every time I get a Starbucks, I go to the coffee shop on 24th and San Antonio, because I'm comfortable there, they are usually extremely efficient, I know a lot of my friends go there, and it is what I always do. Often when I want a bagel from Einstein Brothers, I'll go there first, get my bagel, and then go across the street (adding at least 15 extra minutes to my routine), and get a Starbucks coffee, even though Einstein Brothers probably has just as good of coffee as Starbucks. I do this because I like the experience I have at "my" Starbucks.

Starbucks is probably a pretty typical 'experiential marketing' example. But there are millions out there, and even more that are popping up every day...ipod and itunes with the artistic/quirky/hip users--mastercard and the priceless slogan--marc jacobs using men models in women clothing--freebirds burritos--redbull--budweiser, all these products that are simply goods, for the most part completely undifferentialable in a brand-free test---have created a brand personality that consumers assume when they use the brand. "I'm an Apple user, He's a PC"...these products are beginning to define who members of society are.

But now it has become a competition, I think, for any and every product out there to create this experiential brand personality, and for many low involvement products it seems almost ridiculous to try and imbude them with some sort of emotional or sentimental attributes. Lately I've been seeing a lot of commercials featuring moms and kids cuddling and safe and laughing, and they will have this slogan like "Now you can know everyday your child has the safest/best/most loving experience in the world"...and then the product is diapers or socks or something that really isn't that emotionally compelling.

Of course I understand that as marketers, our job is to try and make our products as complete and desireable as possible, and often that means looking at low involvement/boring products and finding the deeper, underlying meaning. Like mastercard, it's not just a credit card, but it's a way to give your family the most unforgettable vacation ever, or whatever. But I think that marketers need to realize that the experiential product/service has been a trend that is hugely successful, but that will have to peak and decline at some point. And only those products that can truly back up and substantiate the experience or personality they are trying to assume will survive.

So I think it's an interesting challenge for our generation of marketers to try and look beyond the experiential product and try to see what branding strategies could be popular in the future. Or maybe even just try and find a new take on creating the experience or personality of products. In today's world, everything is evolving at a faster pace, and the world loses interest almost immediately. So I think that to be competitive, marketers must always be doing whatever works at the moment, but searching and looking for the innovation that will be the future.