Let me tell you three stories to explain “What is an experience?”
What “product experience”, “service experience” and “brand experience” are and how are these different from “life experiences”?.
Story1:
In the year 2015, I was in dire need of a PC because my earlier PC broke down. I was very concerned about which brand to go for because buying this PC was more like an investment for me. I wanted it to last long and withstand my abrasive use of its processing power. I went for this brand, and paid a premium price for it. Apart from the laptop they gave me a swanky backpack which had the same visual brand language as the laptop (great brand experiences thread all their offerings together into a coherent whole to project consistency in interaction and touch points).There was a minor touchpad issue in the third month of purchase which was a setback for me and got me thinking that this brand is crap ( a bad product experience). But this issue was resolved immediately and I didn’t have to step out of my house (a great service experience may help the user forget about minor hiccups in product experience). After 6 years today I am writing this article on the same PC, getting almost similar processing power and never encountered any issue other than changing its battery once. This PC is like the most trustworthy team member who would never let you down. I sometimes wish for this PC to have some issues so that I can purchase a new one. This I would call an amazing product experience because it exceeded my expectations (I had the perception from personal experience and social conditioning that PCs last maximum for 3–4 years, at maximum for 5 years after rigorous use). Yes, great product experience should always exceed user/customer expectations. I’m so happy with this brand that today if I had to buy another PC, I would buy that brand in a heartbeat (building a positive perception of a brand from the lens of its positive product experience). I would not even bother looking at any other brand unless there is a huge disparity in price of its products and has outdated features compared to other brand products (Luckily this brand is still making top of the class PCs). I am forever loyal to this brand so much so that I would even excuse minor bad experiences if they occur to me in future. This brand is almost like an honest and empathetic human to me.
“An example of how a great product and service experience translated into a great brand experience, perception and loyalty. Great product, service experiences make users happy and elated.”
Story2:
In the same year I bought a top of the line TV from one of the largest retailers in India. It was important for that TV to be wall mounted because I didn’t have enough footprint on my table. I was assured that the service person would arrive with gears within 2 days and finish the job. That service person never arrived and I forgot the count of phone calls made to them. After 6 years I am still waiting for them to mount that TV on my wall ( a terrible service experience). Also this TV was one of the best in class for that time and usually I have great love and respect for good electronic products but I never really cared much for this TV, in spite of it working just fine even today. Probably because a great product experience came bundled with a terrible service experience. Today if I was dying and the only way to survive was to mount a TV on a wall and that retailer was the only entity with resources to make it happen, I would doubt calling them for the job. Till date I’ve never stepped back into their store and never will.
“An example of bad service experience resulting in negative brand experience and perception and also downplaying the value of a good product and product experience.”
Story3:
In the famous experiment at Georgetown University where researchers induced a mild shock to caterpillars along with a particular odor, it was found that the moth/butterflies even after complete metamorphosis, remembered the odor relating to shock it received as a caterpillar and tried to avoid it1. This experiment proved that the experiences are so strong that it could persist metamorphosis. Even for humans the “experience” is primordial as we start experiencing while we are still in the womb but we don’t remember those early experiences because the brain is underdeveloped to retain those memories. However it is proven that “life experiences” that occur as a child or as adults exerts a long-lasting and important influence on future adulthood 2. This brings me to my third story.
Several years back I was working for a company, which I found to have a very toxic culture and work ethics. Being new to the professional field, I never spoke but dreaded going to the office until one day I decided to quit. That experience left a deep scar on my perceptions about myself, about work culture, colleagues and my confidence. I can still remember when I stepped out the campus after resigning, I felt like a lucky bird who just escaped out of a cage even though the doors were not completely open. I didn’t care whether I had another job or not, I just wanted to get out of that place (life experiences have a profound impact). But there were several other employees who had remained unaffected by such culture which I found to be terrible (life experiences are hyper-personal and open to individual interpretations). Few months later, I joined another company only to find a completely opposite work culture. It respected me as an individual, always treated me with empathy and cared for me as an employee. While working for this company, I felt a very deep sense of fulfilment even though everything was not perfect. This I would call two completely opposite life experiences.
“Positive life experiences give a strong sense of fulfilment and negative life experiences leave a deep scar but both are profound.”
Based on these stories I express a few points of views.
“Life experiences” are a heightened state of awareness / consciousness that occurs organically, resulting in visible/hidden emotions for the person experiencing it, which may be positive or negative. Such experiences are hyper-personalized and impact at a profound level but they are not staged or orchestrated. They just happen to be or occur.
Product, Service and Brand experience on the other hand are orchestrated/staged and designed to provide a good experience to the user by providing an easy pathway to accomplish his/her goals. A great designed experience intends to surprise and delight the user. However the result of the experience depends on whether the brand and its touch points are able to satisfy the expectations of the user (which builds over a period of time through experiencing other brands, products and services). It also depends on whether the modes of interactions are easy to understand and help users achieve their goals. When results are low compared to user expectations the experience is terrible and results in negative brand perception, if it’s at par the experience is neutral and doesn’t intrigue the user and if it exceeds the expectations then the experiences are great and results in a positive brand perception.
Similar to “life experiences” any kind of experience (Product, Service, or Brand) can have a lasting impact and get embedded in our memories like the ones experienced in the first two stories.
Product experience and Service experience contribute in building a brand experience. So interactions related to artifacts, people and other touch points such as websites and retail become extremely important in building a “brand experience”.
A negative or positive perception about a brand related to negative or positive product and service experience can build immediately or with time based on how intense and consistent the experience with the touch points are for the user..
A great product, service and brand experience provides happiness to the user whereas positive life experiences provide a sense of fulfillment.
An experience for the users can be orchestrated but to impact users profoundly the product, service and brand experience have to transcend the chasm of happiness and provide fulfillment to the users. That’s how iconic brands are born.
