H ow E x p e r ie n tia l M a rk etin g is u se d in

In d ia n L u xu ry H otels?
Ms. Y ash a V erm a
Sr. Account Manager, CNBC TV 18, India
Dr. V a rsh a J a in
Assistant Professor, MICA, India

A b stra c t: Experiential marketing helps in differentiating the brands as the consumers associate their
memories with the products and brands and is widely used by the luxury sector primarily in India.
This strategy works very well for the hotel in the luxury domain. This paper explains the application o f
experiential marketing by the hotels in India. A total o f five leading luxury hotel chains o f India were
selected and the marketing heads o f these hotels were interviewed in order to comprehend the experiential
marketing practiced by them. We found that the experiential marketing is a part o f all the touch points o f
the consumer such as pre-experience, experience and post-experience. It was vital to understand consumers
needs and requirements to create the most suitable and customized experiences.

K eyw ords: Experiential M arketing, Luxury Hotels, Industry Professionals

1. In tr o d u c tio n
E x p eriential m arketing is one
of th e favourite buzzword in the
b ran d in g world. Most of the m a r
k etin g conscious b rands try to
m ake connections w ith th e con
sum ers by creating experiences
sew n aro u nd th e brand. There
are num erous experiences th a t
are being created and can be
seen in th e day to day activities
around a common m ans world.
All th ese experiences are relevant
to th e b ra n d and it strengthens
its im age. It develops positive
perception about th e b ra n d in
th e consum ers m ind (B ulearca &
T am aijan , 2010).
E x p eriential m ark etin g differs
considerably from th e traditional
m ark etin g techniques, an d tries
to a ttra c t th e consum ers through
creatin g positive and engaging
m em ories about th e brand, re su lt
ing in an em otional attac h m e n t
to th e b ran d , as opposed to the
trad itio n al ways of m arketing,
w here, th e m ark eters a ttra c t the
consum ers th ro u g h th e ra tio n al
reaso n in g of attrib u te s and ben
efits associated w ith th e product
(P etkus J r, 2002).
This shift in m ark etin g has
em erged because of two reasons;
th e first reason is th e m ass com
m oditisation of th e product. W hen
all th e b ran d s in th e m ark e t are
sim ilar, it is difficult to stan d out
as one bran d which is b e tte r th a n
th e re s t of th e identical products
being offered by th e other brands.
For example, th e services offered
by th e mobile operators are very
sim ilar to each other. If one op
e rato r offered any new scheme,
a sim ilar or even m ore cost effec
tive schem e is launched by the
com peting mobile operators in
next few days. In such cases it be
comes, very essential th a t a bran d
is segregated from th e com peti
tors to increase th e b ra n d recall in
th e consum ers m ind. To convert
th is recall into th e top of the m ind
recall, th e brands uses experien
tia l m arketing, so th a t th e con
sum ers rem em ber a b ra n d w ith
positive associations (B ulearca &
T am arjan, 2010).
The second reason is th e
knowledgeable and tech-savvy
consum ers. They do not have
tim e to w atch th e long television
com m ercials or read th e p rin t
ads in new spaper and m agazines
as they get involved in only th a t
inform ation th a t grabs th e a tte n
tion. This can be a ttrib u ted to th e
fast paced lives of the consum ers,
w here they choose to spend tim e
ju s t th e way they spend th e ir
h a rd earn ed money (P etkus J r,
2002). In such a scenario, experi
en tial m ark etin g work very well
as consum ers can feel th e brand.
F urtherm ore, experiential
m ark etin g h as affected th e luxury
b ran d s in India. Luxury cu lture is
very visible in India and h as very
high potential (V adukut, 2011)
as consum ers are having more
disposable income an d are well
versed w ith th e la te st inform a
tion about th e m arket. It is ex
pected th a t In d ian luxury m ark et
will grow by 20% in th e next two
years (Bajpai, 2011) an d by 2025
it will become fifth larg est luxury
m ark e t in th e world (India and
C hina to sp u r Luxury Growth,
2011). The cu rren t luxury m ar
k et is pegged a t US$ 5.8 billion
an d by 2015 it will be US$ 14.7
billion (S harm a, 2012). There are
m any luxurious brands th a t have
entered in th e Indian m ark et in
different sectors such as cars, ap
parels, jew ellery, w atches, acces
sories, yachts, houses, spas and
hotels (B hattacharya, 2011).

2 Yasha Verma, Varsha Jain

 The lu x u ry hotel in d u stry in
Ind ia h a s dom estic and in te rn a
tional b rands. The In d ian popu
la r b ran d s of hotels are Indian
H otels C om pany Lim ited, E a st
Ind ia hotel, ITC Welcome group
an d H otel L eela v en tu re ltd etc
an d th e d o m in an t in tern a tio n al
b ran d s in In d ia are Le M eridien,
F o u r seasons, H ilton etc. T he ho
tel in d u stry h a s in creased its rev
enue from Rs. 108,027.6 (2005)
to Rs. 210,423.9 (2010) (P assport
GMID)), However, th e com peti
tion h a s even increased fu rth e r
as th e re are several established
b ran d s th a t are boom ing in th e
m arket.
The hotels have alw ays fol
lowed a very different approach to
position its b ra n d in th e m arket.
They have segm ented th e ta rg e t
groups an d have trie d to appeal
them in m any innovative ways.
T heir m ajor custom er segm ents
includes dom estic an d in te rn a
tio n al to u r operators and trav el
agents, w edding groups, corpo
ra te an d MNCs, airlines, em bas
sies etc.. H otels focus very rarely
on th e m ass m ark e tin g approach
as th e exclusive im age of th e ho
tel is not m ain tain ed (H annam ,
2004). H otels focus on th e com
p eten t ra te s an d th e bundle of
services th a t can be offered to the
poten tial custom ers according to
th e ir needs. T he services are cus
tom ized according to th e re q u ire
m en t of th e prospective custom er.
F or exam ple, a to u r operator m ay
be offered b re ak fa st a t 50% dis
count, or w edding group m ay be
provided w ith a honeym oon suite
a t reduced ra te s etc.
Being a lu x u ry brand, th ese
hotels h ave to m ake su re th a t cer
ta in stan d ard s such as exclusiv
ity and lim ited access are alw ays
m ain tain ed by them . The onus of
m ain tain in g luxury, is th e m ost
im p o rtan t dim ension w hile fram
ing th e experiences for m ark etin g
th e hotel. These experiences need
to be offered in extrem ely lu x u ri
ous environm ent to th e elite con
sum ers. However, designing, ex
ecuting and providing extrem ely
luxurious experiences is very
R R M - 1/2015
expensive due to its n a tu re of be
ing a luxury. It is even difficult,
as th e prospective clients are u su
ally highly influential an d im por
ta n t m em bers of th e society and
th ey would not like to spare th eir
valuable tim e on th e m ark etin g
gimmick. It is very challenging
for th e luxury hotels to develop
such an am azing experience for
the classy consum ers along w ith
th e tim e co n strain t as th ese con
sum ers do not spend very long
tim e in th e hotel. Therefore, this
pap er focuses on th e process of ex
periential m ark etin g used by the
L uxury hotels.
The lite ra tu re review is re la t
ed to experiential m ark etin g and
luxury branding, followed by the
appropriate methodology, analy
sis of d ata, im plications, lim ita
tion and scope for fu tu re research
and conclusion.
2. L ite r a tu r e R e v ie w
2.1. E x p erie n tia l M a rk etin g
2.1.1. What is experience?
According to Holbrook (1982),
experience is a personal episode
in teg rated w ith em otional realm s
th a t is created by in teractio n w ith
a product or stim ulus of a brand.
The experiences w ere developed
w hen th e consum ers considered
th e services or products, received
or consum ed it. I t is im perative
th a t th e consum er is directly in
volved in th e process of selecting
th e product or th e service in buy
ing or receiving it an d even con
sum ption of th e product plays an
im p o rtan t role in leveraging the
b ra n d experience. .
T here w ere various kinds of
experiences th a t could be devel
oped to m ark e t th e b ra n d such
as product experience, shopping
or service experience an d con
sum er experience (Arnould, Price
& Z inkhan, 2002; B rakus, Schm it
& Zahang, 2008; Holbrook, 2000).
The product experience takes
place w hen th e consum ers or buy
ers or th e prospective consum ers
com m unicate w ith th e products.
It can be a direct interaction,
w hen the consum ers or th e buy
ers are physically p re sen t n ea r
th e product or indirect interaction
w hen th e consum ers or th e buyers
com m unicate about th e product
through online m edia or through
an advertisem ent in a new spaper,
m agazine, television, radio or any
other m edium w hich does not in
volve physical contact w ith the
product. The consum ers evaluate
th e b ra n d w hile reflecting on the
available featu res an d attrib u te s
of th e product and its com pari
sons w ith o ther com petitors.
The shopping an d service ex
perience tak es place w hen th e
consum er or th e buyer is in the
store and th e environm ent, poli
cies of store, a ttitu d e of staff
m em bers am biance and th e set
tin g of th e store are exclusive and
unique to enrich th e feelings. The
experience in th e store is an im
p o rta n t factor as th e m ental fac
ulties are recharged by th e good
environm ent
Moreover, th e consum ption ex
perience occurs w hen a custom er
finally consum es th e product or
th e service and it needs to be ac
cording to th e ir expectations.
W hen th e consum ption is interw o
ven by feelings, fan tasies and fun
of th e consum ers th e n th e experi
ences becomes very m em orable.
2.1.2. What is E xp erien tial
M arketing?
C aru an d Cova (2003) stated
th a t to m ake an occurrence into
experiential m ark etin g th e re su lt
m u st be som ething extrem ely
significant and unforgettable for
th e consum er to be im m ersed
into th e experience. Experience
is crucial in u n d ersta n d in g th e
consum er dem ands. The experi
ences offered to th e consum ers
m ay be analogous to others, bu t
th e em otional feeling of th e expe
rience is en tirely distinctive. The
experiences are m em orable and
engrossing an d th e effect of th e
b ra n d is so deep th a t consum er
develops positive association w ith
th e b ra n d ra th e r th a n considering
it as a m ere m ark etin g gim mick
(S rinivasan & S rivastava, 2010).
3
 In experiential m arketing
personal involvem ent of th e con
sum ers is im p o rtan t as they are
not ju s t provided w ith th e desired
products and services but are
asked to d em onstrate th e ir dor
m a n t em otions. It helps th e m a r
k eters to u n d ersta n d th e consum
ers perspective in th e b e tte r way
(S rinivasan & S rivastava, 2010).
The E x p eriential m ark etin g is
carried out w ith the intention to
engage th e consum er through th e
senses and create an experience
to leave a long lastin g im pres
sion (Iglesias, Singh, & B atista-
Foguet, 2011).
2.1.3. H ow is e x p e r ie n tia l
m a r k e tin g d iffe r e n t from
tr a d itio n a l m ark etin g ?
The trad itio n al m ark etin g em
phasized th a t th e consum ers se
lect th e b ra n d th a t h as good fea
tu re s an d w hich can be utilized
by th em The trad itio n al m ark e t
ing approach considers th e con
sum ers as th e ra tio n a l decision
m ak ers and m ark e ters observe
th e consum ers problem s as logi
cal an d ra tio n a l an d try to solve
them . (Schm itt, 1999).
E xperiential m ark etin g con
cen trates on custom er experienc
es and not on th e functional a ttri
bu tes an d benefits of th e products.
The experiences have em otional,
cognitive, sensory, relational and
behavioral values th a t finally
tra n s la te into functional values.
E x p eriential m ark e ters do not
th in k sham poo, shaving cream ,
blow d ry er an d perfum e. Instead,
th ey th in k groom ing in th e b a th
room an d ask them selves w h at
products fit into th is consum ption
situ atio n and how th ese products,
th e ir packaging, and advertising
p rio r to consum ption can enhance
th e consum ption experience. In
th is m ark etin g approach, th e cus
tom ers are ra tio n a lly as well as
em otionally geared tow ards the
products as th ey have both the
approaches tow ards th e bran d
(Schm itt, 1999).
4 Y a s h a V e rm a , V a rs h a J a in
2.1.4. W hy e x p e r ie n tia l consum er or buyer w ith th e b ran d
m ark etin g? or any other re p resen tatio n of th e
brand), im m ersion (engagem ent
T here w ere prim arily three
of all the senses to m ake su re th a t
reasons for using experiential
th e brand m essage is u n iq u e ), in
m arketing such as tran sfo rm a
ten sity (experience th a t h as very
tion in inform ation technology,
high effect on th e ta rg e t au d i
bran d dom inance and growing
ence so th a t they rem em ber it for
im portance of com m unication
a long tim e and th u s, en su rin g a
and en tertain m e n t industry.
long term relationship w ith the
Inform ation technology h as im
brand), individuality (m ain tain
m ensely affected th e businesses
ing one to one relationship w ith
in every aspect The tran sfo rm a
its consum ers), innovation (cre
tion in m edia h as b rought th e con
ative and distinctive w ays of m a r
sum ers closer tow ards th e brands
keting) and in teg rity (honest in
and products . T here are m any
delivering th e custom er promise).
com puting devices th a t interfaces
and helps the consum ers to in te r
2.2. L u x u ry B r a n d in g
act about th e b rands and thereby
creating a m arvelous consum er 2.2.1. W hat is L uxury?
experience for th e products. These
Luxury h as different m eanings
devices are highly personalized,
for different people as th e im por
easy to access th e inform ation
tance differs from person to p er
and have very less errors. The in
son. The concept of luxury is very
form ation about th e b rands and
subjective an d is com pletely de
products is easily available and is
pendent on th e perception of the
quickly and conveniently used by
individual. The perception of lux
m any consum ers globally Schm itt
ury is also determ ined by individ
(1999).
u als moods, feelings, em otions,
Jackson (2009) sta te d th a t the
atm osphere, location, experiences
highly com petitive m ark etin g en
etc (W iedm ann et al, 2007).
vironm ent obliges th e m arketers
According to Okonkwo (2009)
to identify th e altern ativ es th a t
th e principles on w hich luxury is
pay good re tu rn on th e m ark e t
based can n eith er be ignored, nor
ing efforts. This m akes them myo
compromised. The sole purpose of
pic and they ten d to focus on the
luxury is th a t an individual can
short term re tu rn on investm ent.
indulge in th e opulence which is
The im age of th e b ra n d in a long
not a necessity. It helps in feel
term objective is a t risk. However
ing b e tte r and superior to other
brands th a t u n d ersta n d th e im
consum ers in th e society. In th e
portance of a long term relation
olden days luxury w as used by th e
ship w ith th e consum ers effec
em perors, kings, czars and aristo
tively plan th e ir m ark etin g bud
crats for lavish consum ption of
get accordingly so th a t they can
commodities w hich w ere rarely
m ain tain h ea lth y relationships
available for th e m asses. Today,
w ith th e ir consum ers. Thus, they
luxury is still prevalent in society
have a long term positive effect on
as the sense of superiority and
th e ir financial investm ents. These
dom inance over th e other classes.
m ark eters know th e im portance
Moreover, luxury b ran d s not only
of m ain tain in g a genuine loyal re
create th e superior im age in so
lationship w ith th e ir consum ers.
ciety, b u t also deliver personal
According to Wood and
satisfaction of owning an object of
M asterm an (2007) th ere are sev
beau ty and value.
en attrib u tes, th a t form th e over
all experience such as involve
2.2.2. C h a r a c te r istic s o f
m ent (an em otional participation
L u xu ry B ran d s
of th e consum er w ith th e brand
or th e p ro d u c t), in teractio n (com The luxury bran d im age is
m unication of th e prospective supposed to be outstandingly
prem ium an d th e im portance of
maintaining the finest quality il
lustration is very important for
a luxury brand.. The branding in
case of luxury goods or services re
quire high intangible associations
and must have an image that
would aspire the consumer. This
results in the sense of achieve
ment when a consumer owns the
luxury. When luxury brands are
marketed the focus is on quality
and excellent consumer service
experiences. (Keller, 2009).
The brand names, symbols,
logo, packaging, signs etc related
to the luxury brand are accord
ing to the consumer experience.
Secondary associations with oth
er popular entities also help in
building brand equity for a luxu
ry brand. Celebrities, countries,
events etc. help in creating posi
tive image for the luxury brand,
and thus, helps in developing
close association with the brand
(Keller, 2009).
The service delivery of the
luxury products and services
are through a selective channel,
so that the secluded fineness is
maintained at all the points of the
delivery. Luxury brands usually
have their own stores. The luxu
ry brands have very high pricing
and do not endorse price cuts,
discounts or free gifts etc to lure
the consumers as high prices are
indicative of availability of brand
to the niche consumers, as well as
it is a symbol of good quality and
a promise of excellent services.
The luxury brands have excellent
brand architecture. The compet
ing luxury brands might not have
similar features and attributes,
but if they are able to engage the
luxury consumers in a similar
way then they establish a distinc
tive image in the market (Keller,
2009).
2.2.3. The brand-building
em otions gen erated by
th e consum ption o f luxury
brands
Keller (2009) stated that the
luxury brands evoke six emo
tions/ feelings in a customer who
R R M - 1/2015
consumes the luxury products or
the services such as, warmth, fun,
excitement, security, social ap
proval and self respect. The brand
also gives a feeling of peace and
calm to the consumers. They have
a good feeling about the purchase
as it the sense of fulfillment and
happiness they possess from the
brand. The luxury brand is able
to bring joyfulness, cheerfulness,
brightness and exuberance to the
consumer. The brand brings in a
buoyant feeling after purchasing
it. This excitement is generated
by the consumer after owning the
brand. The luxury brands give
a sense of self sufficiency, and a
feeling of being secure is devel
oped. It is more of an emotional
feeling of security than the physi
cal security. The luxury brands
tend to make a statement in the
society. Therefore, possession of a
luxury brand leads to a social ap
proval that makes the consumer
of luxury brand feel a sense of
superiority as compared to those
consumers who do not possess
it. The consumption of luxury
brands brings in a sense of self re
spect to the consumers as the lux
ury brands are very inspirational.
Fulfillment of those aspirations
gives a sense of achievement and
enhances the self respect of the
consumer.
2.3. L u x u ry a n d E x p e rien ce
Atwal and Williams (2009)
cited that every phase of life in
cluding shopping or any busi
ness or service is an experience.
Organization ensures not only the
good product for its consumers
but also delivers an excellent pre
and post purchase experience. It
is important that the whole expe
rience of shopping is pleasurable
for the consumers. For example,
employees greet the consumers
at the cafes and restaurants and
even provide proper lighting and
arresting ambience to enrich the
consumer experience
Moreover, it is necessary for
the brand to develop comprehen
sive consumer experience around
the brand. The experience starts
from the advertisements and pro
motions to the post purchase . It
is very important for the luxury
brands to engage the consum
ers in a marvelous experience as
they are very niche and affluent
consumers, and expect certain
level of standards from the luxury
brands. The need for an extraor
dinary experience is extremely es
sential for the brand distinctive
ness. The luxury brands are ex
clusive and target elite and niche
segment, therefore, experience
of consumer pertaining to these
brands needs to be unique.
2.4. H o te ls a n d L u x u ry
The hotels in the ancient ava
tar were only used as a nights
basic accommodation for the mer
chants travelling from one city
to another for their businesses
during the early 500 BC. These
hotels offered the very minimal-
istic requirements and were far
away from the concept of luxury
(Rushmore, MAI, & Baum, 2002).
They offered meals at night or
breakfasts in the mornings to
the travelling merchants. The
system of renting rooms was not
commercialized.
The scenario of minimalistic
hotels started to change when the
Roman Empire came into power.
The flourishing of Roman Empire
resulted in good roads and more
affluent men in the society. These
men would spend their free time
in Greece or Europe. Slowly and
gradually there was an increase
in the number of pleasure trav
elers (Rushmore, MAI, & Baum,
2002). However, when the Roman
Empire crumbled, the number of
people taking these pleasure trips
around the world also reduced.
The people stopped travelling but
only religious pilgrims used to
travel (Ingram & Baum, 1997). In
India as the trade and business
expanded, small Musafir-khanas
and Dharamshalas opened and
drastically transformed the ho
tel industry (Rushmore, MAI,
& Baum, 2002). Moreover, the
5
in d u strial revolution around the
world created th e need for good
lodging facilities. These w ealthy
in d u strialists req u ired clean and
agreeable accom m odations u n
like th e hum ble dwellings which
w ere available earlier. (Ingram &
B aum , 1997).
This led to th e professional
beginning of th e hotel industry,
w hen people realized th e im por
tance of a professionally well
m ain tain ed accommodation for
sale. The in ns becam e an im por
ta n t p a rt of all th e m ajor trad e
hubs and th ese w ere th e forerun
ners of th e m odern day hotel in
d u stry (Rushm ore, MAI, & Baum ,
2002). The inn-keepers becam e
m ore sensitive tow ards th e need
of th e trav e lers and provided
th em w ith th e basic food and w a
ter. T here w ere no m ajor b re ak
th ro u g h in hospitality in d u stry
b u t th e nu m ber of such inns rose
d rastically (Ingram & Baum ,
1997).
The first hotel w as opened on
115 B roadw ay in New York. It
w as a 73 room hotel in U nited
S tates an d it sta rte d its business
in 1794. It w as a benchm ark for
m any o th er hotels th a t opened
shortly in an d around the world.
All th e succeeding properties
th a t s ta rte d one after th e other
w ere m ore prolific and luxurious
as com pared to th e earlier hotels
(R ushm ore, MAI, & Baum , 2002).
The hotels sta rte d m ushroom ing
around th e w orld an d thereby in
creased th e com petition. To tackle
th is com petition, th e concept of
h o sp itality an d luxury becam e
significant. It also becam e th e key
crite ria for choosing one hotel over
th e other. This w as th e beginning
of th e inseparable phenom enon
of hotels p articu larly th e luxury
b ran d s (Ingram & B aum , 1997).
It w as even noted th a t luxury
h a s a very im p o rtan t connection
w ith th e experience associated
w ith it,, hotels also have to m ain
ta in certain level of sta n d a rd to
m ake su re th a t th e whole experi
ence of th e custom er in a hotel is
p leasa n t an d it would develop th e
b ra n d loyalty.
6 Y a s h a V e rm a , V a rs h a J a in
3. L ite ra tu r e Gap and
R esea rch o b jectiv e
A fter rigorously review ing th e
research papers p ertaining to ex
p erien tial an d luxury b randing it
w as found th a t these two areas
are distinctive. They w ere studied
separately by th e scholars. There
w ere no studies on Indian luxury
hotels. India h as become a highly
popular touristic destination, for
dom estic as well as in tern atio n al
travelers. Therefore, it w as very
im p o rtan t to u n d ersta n d th e pro
cess of experiential m arketing in
th e luxury segm ent of hospitality
industry.
The objective of th is research
w as to find how experiential
m arketing was carried out in the
Indian luxury hotels. T here are
constant changes in th e Indian
hospitality scenario, th u s, it is
im perative for the com peting ho
tels to create th e experiences for
th e consum ers to m ain tain th e ex
clusive im age of th e brand. . This
paper aim s to find those charac
teristics of experiential m ark e t
ing th a t w ere u n d ertak en by the
Indian luxury hotel.
4. M eth o d o lo g y
Q ualitative study w as con
ducted as th e objective w as to
u n d ersta n d the process of experi
en tial m arketing in th e luxury ho
tels. The study was u n d erta k en in
w estern India in A hm edabad as
th e luxury hotels are m ushroom
ing a t a very high pace in th is city.
A list of all th e leading luxury ho
tels w as developed from th e key
new spapers and m agazines. It in
cluded Taj, Le M eridian, M arriot,
ITC and Pride. S tru ctu red in
depth interview s of th e sales and
m arketing m anagers w ere con
ducted as they w ere th e crucial
stakeholder in developing the
m arketing strategies of th e ho
tel. Moreover, insights of indus
try professionals are captured by
in-depth interview s (M alhotra
and D ash, 2011). The basic focus
w as on the experiential m ark e t
ing, its process, factors and the
benefits. P rior appointm ents
w ere ta k e n from these m anagers
and th en face to face stru ctu red
in-depth interview s were carried
out for 45-60 m inutes. These in
terview s w ere recorded w ith th e
prior perm ission of the respon
dents. Notes were also developed
w hile conducting th e interview s.
T ranscripts w ere prepared w ith
th e help of th e notes and th e audio
recordings. These tran scrip ts and
th e notes w ere th en thoroughly
analyzed to com prehend th e pro
cess of experiential m ark etin g in
th e luxury hotel.
5. R e su lt an d A n a ly sis
The in-depth interview s w ith
th e hoteliers have throw n light
on th e various facets of experien
tial m arketing. It w as in terestin g
to note th a t th e approaches th a t
w ere u n d ertak en by th ese ho
tels to create experiences for the
consum ers w ere a t all the levels
as they m entioned th a t a t all th e
instances consum er experience
can be enhanced. The following
them es em erged from the insights
gath ered from th e interview -
5.1. C ost a n d E xperiences
Experiences are created from
th e very first opportunity when
th e guest is picked up from th e
airp o rt an d brought in th e ho
te l to th e tim e th e person checks
out. However, th ese experiences
are not free for th e guest. Mr.
C haitan y a Jo sh i (M arketing
M anager, Le M eridian) fu rth er
added th a t offering com plimen
ta ry experiences does not serve
th e purpose of m arketing. If the
services are not charged from the
consum er th a n they perceive it to
be of bad quality.
5.2. S ervice cen tric
E xperiences
The differentiator in case of
th is service in d u stry is not ju s t
th e product offered as a hotel
stru ctu re or food and beverage,
b u t it is the service and th e staff
attitu d e which m akes a difference
in the experience created for the
consumers. Mr. Ankit Mathur,
Corporate Sales and Marketing
head of the Pride hotels men
tioned that the services have to
be so personalized that the guest
must feel as if he/ she are at home.
5.3. S ta n d a r d iz a tio n a n d
P e rso n a liza tio n
Some luxury hotels do not be
lieve in customization of the expe
rience for a particular consumer.
The hotel chain firmly believes in
the set standards and would like
to maintain the same standards
for all the consumers. Ms. Trina
Mukherjee from the Marriott
stated that Marriot as a brand
does not let the experiences being
different for various guests. This
helps in maintaining the same
treatment for every consumer.
Moreover, Safety, security and
comfort are the key dimensions
for standardization at the luxury
hotels and customer relationship
is maintained with the continuous
interaction with every consumer.
5.4. Touch p o in ts to C reate
E xperience
The service industry does not
include only the personal inter
actions of the consumer with the
hotel as the opportunities offer
great experiences. Mr. Navin
Khurana, Marketing Manager,
ITC hotel mentioned that every
R R M - 1/2015
possible prospect interaction may
be through reservation call centre
or hotel website or an advertise
ment in a magazine is treated as
an opening to create experience
for the consumer. It also helps in
bringing the consumers closer to
the hotel brand.
5.5. E xperiences con tinu e
a fte r the D ep a rtu re o f the
C onsum er
These Sales and Marketing
personnel interacts with the con
sumer to understand their expe
rience at the hotel. For example,
Marriott sends flowers and gifts
to its selective consumers on their
birthdays or special occasion.
5.6. F eedbacks a n d
S u ggestion s
The feedbacks were used to
tailor made the experiences for
the consumers and helps the ho
tel for the next visit of the same
consumer. Mr. Mehta from The
Taj Group of Hotels stated that
the post stay feedback from the
guests is called Guest Satisfaction
Tracking System (GSTS). It is
used to take the feedback from
the consumer about their experi
ence at the hotel. It helps in im
proving the standards of the hotel
and in customizing the experienc
es of the consumer.
5.7. In tern a l E fficient
C om m u nication
It was found that the guest
history database helps in under
standing the needs and require
ments of the consumer. It was
shared with the other hotels of
the same group. For example, if
the consumer made a special re
quest of the bed due to the back
ache in one hotel then this infor
mation can be shared with the
other hotels of the same group.
Consumer does not have to make
the same request again. This ex
perience delights the consumers
immensely and they start liking
the hotel.
5.8. Wow E xperience
Mr. Joshi from Le Meridian
Group of Hotels mentioned that
the experiences need to exceed
the consumers expectations.
Every hotel tries to create a wow
experience for the consumer so
that they are emotionally associ
ated to the hotel. The experience
should be such that whenever
the consumers visit the city they
should prefer to stay in the same
hotel as some memorable mo
ments and emotions are related
with the hotel.
After analyzing the insights
from the in-depth interviews
following model was developed
(Refer Figure 1)
7
 F ig u r e 1: P r o c e s s o f E x p e r ie n tia l M a r k e tin g u s e d b y th e L u x u r y H o te ls
6. P rocess o f E xperiential
M arketing by Luxury
H otels in India
T his m odel h as segregated th e
consum er experience into th ree
categories such as pre-experience,
experience an d post experience.
6.1. Pre-experience
The pre-experience w as creat
ed for th e consum ers before they
come to th e hotel. It d ealt w ith
th e touch points of th e consum ers
such as th e w ebsite of th e hotel,
8 Y a s h a V e r m a , V a r s h a J a in
(Source: Author)
th e advertisem ents of th e hotel, 6.1.1. P r i m a r y S o u rc e
reservation centre of th e hotels
The p rim ary source consists of
etc. M ost of the hotels use these
th e d atabase available w ith the
touch points for th e experiential
hotels. This datab ase w as gets
m arketing as a t th is stage th e
developed on th e basis of th e pre
m indset of th e consum er gets de
vious guest histories along w ith
veloped for th e hotel. In order to
th e ir special request. It also in
create m ore touch points an d to
cluded th e suggestions m ade by
enhance th e pre-experience stage
th e guests during th e ir stay
of th e consum er two sources of in
form ation w as used by th e hotel
6.1.2. S e c o n d a r y S o u rc e s
such as prim ary and secondary.
There w ere various second
ary sources th a t th e hotels com
prehend to enrich th e consum er
experience. These sources were
generic such as consumer trends,
lifestyles, perceptions of the
consumer. Mr. Joshi from Le
Meridian Group of Hotels m en
tioned th a t services such as
spreading bed-covers during the
day tim e in rooms does not serve
any purpose as most of the con
sum ers are not in their rooms for
the whole day, and by the time
they arrive, the bed covers are
changed. Therefore, hotels do
change their strategies of deliver
ing stunning experiences as the
consumer alter their approach.
Consumer trends, lifestyles
and perceptions make it easier for
the m arketers to formulate pack
ages according to their preferenc
es. The secondary sources of pre
experience help in building expe
riences th a t are personalized on a
m ass scale. Mr. M ehta from Taj,
cited a sim ilar example to cus
tomize an experience on a large
scale. He stated th a t Taj is situ
ated near the airport, most of the
business clients w ant to change,
shower and leave for their work
and they w ant to use the room
only for few hours. In such cases,
when these consumers paid full
day ren t for a room, they were not
completely satisfied as far as the
value for money was concerned.
In this case, Taj has planned to
offer rooms to such travelers for
two hours, a t a lower rent.
6.2. E x p e rien ce
Experience on the other hand
starts when the consumers enter
in the hotel or meets the chauffer
a t the airport for the pick-up. This
is the moment of tru th when the
consumer finally starts using the
services of the hotels. There are
various ways in which the con
sum er experiences ranging from
personalizing the stay to the
employees interaction can be en
hanced further by:
6.2.1. P e r s o n a liz a tio n
The personalization can be
carried out on a consumer request
or with the prior information th a t
R R M - 1/2015
is available in the database of
the hotel. Mr. K hurana from ITC
group of Hotels mentioned th at
a consumer asked for non milk
products as he was allergic to the
dairy products in the first visit.
The information was saved in the
database and in the next visit of
the consumer it was used by the
hotel. The consumer was given
all the food and beverages which
did not had milk as the inter
gradient. This helped in making
stronger bond with the consum
er. Moreover, Mr. Joshi from Le
Meridian Group of Hotels stated
th a t services th a t are personal
ized in most of the cases do not
require any financial investment
but the returns are higher.
6 .2 .2 .
Employees also play a very
im portant role in the experience
offered to the consumers. The
employee attitude and behavior
affects the consumer experience
in the hotel as they make their
experience to be memorable and
stunning.
6.2.3.
Interaction w ith the consum
ers is another crucial dimension
th a t helps in creating experiences
for them. The interaction with the
consumers can be through vari
ous channels. It can be a hum an
(staff) interaction or through the
services offered or through the
food offered or even through the
ambiance of the hotel Thus, the
services and the products are al
ways m aintained a t the highest
standards and the consumers are
always provided with the finest
offerings.
6.3. P o st-e x p e rie n c e
Post- Experience involves the
experiences created for the con
sumers after they have checked-
out of the hotel. These experienc
es can include the feedbacks over
a period of time th a t the hotel
receives.
The feedback is taken from con
sumers in m any ways. The most
popular is offering the consumer a
feedback card, where the consum
ers mention about the stay, rates,
food, staff, safety etc. In this m an
ner, consumer leaves an official
record with the hotel along with
their comments. These comments
can be compliments, suggestions
or complaints. Being a luxury
hotel, it is im portant to analyze
them as they help in improving
the experiences of the consumers
in future. Mr. M ehta stated th a t
in Taj, if the consumer m arks ser
vice as fair or poor, the general
m anager of the hotel considers it
to be the serious issue and tries to
improve the services of the hotel.
It is very im portant for the luxury
hotels to note the request of the
consumer and change it according
to the feasibility.
Some hotels also give the gifts
to the guest while they check out
from the hotel. The gift or souve
nir serves as the memory of the
hotel and stays for a longer period
with the consumer. Lastly, con
sumers also provide their person
al information which is used by
the hotel to enrich the experience.
7. Im plications
Experiential m arketing needs
to be very strategically imple
m ented in the luxury hotels. It
is very im portant for the hotels
to use this concept as the con
sum ers get very delighted and
emotionally associated w ith the
brand. It can be used a t the three
stages pre-experience, experience
and post experience. Firstly, Pre
experience should m ake the con
sumers engrossed with the brand.
It can be carried out by the adver
tisem ents, websites, interaction
with the employees of the hotel
etc. Econdly, Experience stage is
th a t part of the process when the
consumer actually gets m esm er
ized by the experience given by
the hotel. It can be the interaction
with the employees, facilities, fea
tures etc. There are various kinds
of experiences th a t can be incor
porated by the m arketers a t this
stage such as sensory, creative,
9
affective, cognitive etc, This could
help th e m ark eters to increase
th e touch points. However, these
points should be re lev an t to th e
consum ers and should be used
appropriately by th e m arketers.
Thirdly, a t th e post experience
stage long and lastin g relatio n
ship needs to be developed w ith
th e consum ers. Some gifts, flow
ers etc can be send to th e consum
ers so th a t th e individual recalls
th e b ra n d and th e m em ories as
sociated w ith it w hich can m ake
th e person m ore loyal tow ards the
hotel brand.
8. L im ita tio n s a n d S co p e
for F u tu re R esea rch
F irstly, th is study w as q u alita
tive in n a tu re as it was an explor
atory research project. F u rth e r
study can be u n d erta k en to u n
d ersta n d th e key dim ensions of
experiential m ark e tin g in luxury
hotels and its effects of the sales
in th e q u an titativ e way. Secondly,
th is study w as carried out in one
city , sim ilar study can be con
ducted in m etro and sem i-m etro
cities in In dia to have a proper
u n d erstan d in g about th e experi
en tial m ark etin g and its process
which is used by th e luxurious
hotels in India. Thirdly, th is p a
per h as used only luxury hotels,
a com parative study can be u n
d erta k en w here luxury hotels can
be com pared w ith th e non- luxury
hotels. F ourthly, sim ilar stu d
ies can also be conceptualized for
airlines, cruises etc. Fifthly, cross
cu ltu ral studies can be carried be
tw een th e developed nations such
as US and U K an d developing n a
tions such as In d ia and C hina to
u n d ersta n d th e gap th a t exists
in th e process a n d usage of expe
rien tial m ark e tin g in luxury ho
tels. It would help th e developing
nations to create th e strategies
accordingly.
9. C o n c lu sio n
The objectives w ere m et as
th e en tire process of experiential
10
m arketing was thoroughly stud
ied. In hotels, the luxury offered
is not only in term s of finest linen,
air-conditioned rooms and latest
technological security and surveil
lance provided a t the hotel, but it
includes the experience of staying
in the lap of luxury which cannot
be forgotten by the consumer. The
experiences and interaction with
the consumer develops a strong
positive image in their minds.
They get emotionally associated
to the hotel and would prefer to
come back and stay in the same
hotel.
The experiential m arketing
can be used for the prospective
and loyal consumers. The con
sumers of today are in search of
relaxation or rejuvenation. It is
the responsibility of the m arket
ing team of the hotel to under
stand the needs of the consumers
and accordingly create experi
ences th a t will help in building a
stronger relationship between the
hotel and the consumers.
The experiences have to be
extremely unique and personal
ized and yet should not intrude
in the personal life of the con
sumer. The experiences have to
be crafted with utterm ost care to
make sure th at the right objective
is achieved. There are innum er
able opportunities to create ex
periences for the consumers th at
very well serve in the m arketing
of the hotel. The challenge is th a t
these experiences m ust be well
thought and require a good plan
ning and execution for the produc
tive outcome.
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