Page 41 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

Marketing as a corporate Function 33
Since the 1970s we have seen a dramatic shift to a services economy. According to the government statistics in the last decade the US/Canadian services sector now employs three out of four North Americans and generates two-thirds of its gross domestic product. In North America there are effectively no new net manufacturing jobs being created. We are now in the midst of the next broad shift, however it is less obvious and subtler than the transformation from manufacturing to services. It is easy to say whether you are in manufacturing or services. Being firmly in the experience economy means that you are also part of the services economy. It is a change of attitude and outlook that differentiates an experience-focused firm from a services firm. The thing which has forcibly struck us in the last year or two is that this is for almost every firm, not just for the top tier.
Staying at a Four Seasons Hotel, visiting Disneyland with the children, shopping at Tokyo’s chic Takashimaya department store. Inarguably, all great experiences. But are they in a class by them- selves? That is the lesson which we think has not fully sunk in for many marketers. Our belief is that virtually every firm must begin to think about how it will offer a substantial portion of its customer set an improved experience. Note, at this point, that only a portion will view your offering this way.
What we see in North America, Western Europe and Japan is a bifurcating of consumer behaviour. The same consumer is shopping at both Wal-Mart and Nordstrom’s. Partly, they want the cheap and cheerful offer of Wal-Mart for a substantial portion of their spending. Contrary to the past they also want to go as upscale as they can for some selected items. We live more demanding, stressful, and Blackberry-, cell phone- and email-interrupted lives. We want to be financially sensible in some lower involvement items but we also deserve some spoiling – we’ve earned it! This appears to be true across the board, not just in the upper or middle income but also in lower income levels. For the ‘I-am, owed-it’ category of shoppers, experience is absolutely paramount. However, the fascinating thing is that it is also creeping into the other, more mundane categories as well. Of course, which category your product fits into depends not so much on your product as on the individual shopper’s view of it.