Whether you are a marketeer or innovation manager, or logistics manager or production manager, one thing is for certain: you are all working on solving issues in order to contribute to the growth objectives of your company. But what if you have a very complex (industrial) product or perhaps there is only a latent need in the market? With a normal sales presentation it becomes a lot more difficult to explain your products and services. But how do you tell the story of your wonderful solutions? The good news is that the techniques and tools to answer that question are in abundance. In this blog I would like to tell you more about the way in which an experience center offers a unique opportunity to let your customers get acquainted with your products and services in an interactive way.
Magic both inside and out
An experience center is the place where you can showcase your brand, service or product to inform and inspire your customer as well as possible. Here, storytelling, technology and customer experience come together in an effective way. You choose what is important for you to highlight. Whether it concerns a good demonstration of a (future) functionality, an unambiguous story, or training facility, with an experience center you make an indelible impression on your visitor. When you see that the eyes of your visitors start to twinkle, then your story becomes their experience.
Higher involvement and loyalty
The experience in an experience center often ensures that you can explain much better to a customer what the added value of your solution is and why he should choose you. This way, they can make an informed choice. A good experience center, therefore, ensures high involvement, loyalty, and ultimately new internal and external brand ambassadors. In short: with an experience center you help your stakeholders to discover what you stand for in an interactive and informative way.
Different forms of experience
It should be clear by now that you can surprise your customers in an experience center. Thanks to the enormous speed of technological developments, nowadays, the possibilities are endless. A good example of this is the multi-sensory experience at Tricorp. Tricorp is a workwear manufacturer, and they were looking for a way to showcase their huge collection of workwear to customers without using thousands of square feet. The solution was a sustainable experience center where they make use of various technical applications. An important element in this experience center is the touch table, where the complete collection of Tricorp can be found. You can easily search for the different articles, and as soon as you have found one in which you are interested, you will find information about the various versions, sizes and colors. With such a touch table it is not necessary to have different versions of the same work trousers on the rack. This makes sure the products can be showcased in a lifelike way.
In addition to the touch table, Tricorp has added scent and sound to their brand experience. By stimulating these senses, you are activated to absorb the products in different ways. Consider, for example, the location where the leather work shoes are located. By slightly accentuating the smell of leather, the customer receives more information about the shoes than is initially visible.
Personalization in industry 4.0
Siemens Digital Industries opted for a tour that is personalized per segment.
The content is tailored to the vertical market in which the customer is active, which ensures that the customer can easily recognize himself in the displayed content. This helps you in holding the attention of (potential) customers for a longer period and in the long term, it will help you ensure more loyalty. Siemens chose an experience center because of the complicated technical aspects and looked for a way to make the products more tangible. Moreover, it helps them to tell an unambiguous story to their customers and to visualize the product. But the biggest wow factor in this experience is the use of a hologram. As they themselves say in this interview, the experience center shows the added value of digitization.
Extra dimension with phygital experiences
Phygital stands for a combination of physical and digital. In this manner, you can inform, inspire and of course, activate different target groups at the same time. An example of a phygital experience can be found in the inspiration center of orchid nursery Ter Laak Orchids. A flower pot with an RFID tag serves as a tour operator: the display is activated at every station where the flower pot is placed. This provides an interactive opportunity to learn more about the story behind the different orchids, but also about Ter Laak‘s philosophy.
Every story is unique
An experience center offers the ultimate opportunity to let the customer experience the essence of your brand, product or service. Creating an experience of your products helps to bind customers to you. And that experience is different for every company. You determine the set-up, the story, the content, and the layout yourself.
Do you have no idea how to approach this or what best suits your brand? Feel free to contact us or visit our own experience center for inspiration.
