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Sure, William Shakespeare said it first, and he probably didn’t mean it in marketing terms, but he was right.

Today’s consumers want more from the service industry than ever before. They call it many different things – better customer service, service that’s customer-focused, etc. – but what they are all hungering for is more than just getting good service. They want an experience.

Experiential marketing has been talked about for years, and some savvy marketers have been delivering it.

For example, women who are going to have their first baby don’t just want to have a baby. They want to have their baby in a luxuriously appointed suite with soft music playing in the background. They want to be able to surround themselves with family and friends and have a comfortable place for Dad to rest. In addition, they want their nurse to be someone nurturing and as excited as they are about their new bundle of joy. When they are ready to leave the hospital, they would like to be handed a high-end diaper bag filled with free goodies and a CD of the music they listened to during labor as a memento of the experience.

So, how do you build this experience for your clientele? According to “The Experience Economy” by B. Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore, you proceed as though you were staging a play. They believe it’s the companies that provide carefully themed and choreographed experiences that will win, and those that don’t will become a commodity and devalued. The caution about this is simple: Don’t let your marketing materials get ahead of you. Never promise what you’re not ready to deliver.

The stage is set … are you ready to step out into the spotlight?

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2007 Drew McLellan </