Philip Kotler write about ‘making the invisible visible’ through his concept of ‘ingredient branding‘. One of the features of intimate innovation in business, product development and the uses of technology is that ‘my experience of the brand becomes the central ingredient’. My interactions with the brand are what adds the value for me – as if the brand was itself another person with whom I was having an inter-subjective experience.
Aesthetic variation in products & services is a source of innovation. Many of the changes which resulted from this lead to the customer having a different experience – of the product or the service.
This has interesting implications – as if ‘aesthetics’ and ‘experience’ were synonyms. This lends real, intimate force to the interest in ‘user-experience’, ‘user inter-face’, ‘brand values’ and ‘brand experience’. My experience of ‘your’ service, or product, or care pathway creates value for me if it is felt to be ‘my’ experience.
Indeed, the whole notion of ‘brand experience’ suggests that beyond subsistence levels of meeting need, many many organisations are designed to provide ‘experiences’ to their customers and employees. By this, I do not mean that all organisations are species of the entertainments’ industry (although I sometimes which this were more so), but that every organisation is defined to a significant degree by the experience of intimate interaction with it.
Slingshot