Cosuming Experience

This book position itself within Experiential Marketing. It differs from its competitors by the way it examines the phenomenon of consumer experience. US competitors consider any consumption experience as necessarily dependent on the acquisition of products and services from the market, this book acknowledges that everyday life is largely comprised of experiences based on elements acquired in other ways (the family, friends, the state). Where its US competitors suggest to companies that they have to build a long series of strong emotions and unforgettable and extraordinary experiences for the consumers, this book highlights the need of letting the consumers construct their experience themselves, instead of pre-planning extraordinary experience for them. This book is less of a 'how to do' text and more comprehensive that its competitors. Experiential marketing is a topic that encapsulates several previous lectures or courses such as 'Store Design', 'Brand Management' (see the notion of Brand Experience) and 'E-marketing' (see the notion of Virtual Experience). We expect this topic to become on a par with Relationship Marketing. Already, CEM (Customer Experience Management) is challenging CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Thus, the number of Experiential Marketing courses could increase in the near future especially as one of the Advanced Marketing Courses. Comprehensive and accessibly written, this text takes an international, although predominantly European approach. Its unique contribution to this emerging subject will be invaluable to all students engaged with customer experience management, relationship marketing and brand management.