INTERVIEW
BRAVE NEW WORLD Of course, the world has moved on rapidly since the original publication of The Experience Economy, and now social media is responsible for creat- ing a whole other layer of consumer experience. Pine explains: “You learn about a place much more readily from other people now. Your fi rst impression may not come from discovering it your- self, but from friends or strangers. “Online ratings can fl avour your expe- rience before you even get there. Social media can really be used to improve the experience but companies have to pay attention and respond to it.” Pine cites the now-celebrated exam- ple of musician and plane passenger Dave Carroll, who had no offer of compensation from United Airlines when luggage handlers broke his gui- tar. So instead he took to YouTube with a song of complaint entitled United Breaks Guitars. “The song went viral within hours and attracted over 12 million hits on YouTube. It’s estimated that United’s stock price dropped 15 per cent as a result. That’s the power of social media” says Pine. Interestingly, while Pine is clearly passionate about new technolo- gies (he more recently co-authored a book with Kim Korn entitled Infi nite Possibility – Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier), Gilmore confesses
Pine and Gilmore have been working together since 1992
to being averse to such “anti-social” pursuits as Twitter and doesn’t even own a mobile phone. Perhaps like many successful busi- ness partnerships, Pine and Gilmore’s personalities and skill sets appear to be complementary rather than similar. “He likes cigars, I don’t. He would spend leisure time at Disney, I wouldn’t,” jokes Gilmore. Of the two, Pine is the one who naturally keeps abreast of what’s hap- pening in the marketplace, with “a keen set of antennae to spot things of signifi cance,” as Gilmore puts it. He, on the other hand, is the more inven- tive, creative type, coming up with fresh ideas for business exercises and workshops and facilitating group dynamics. “I’m more playful and highly
get real – get virtual
In his most recent book, Infi nite Possibility – Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier, Pine identifi es the problem of “the migration of virtuality”. He says: “People bring all this technology with them and they’re just a click away from leaving
your experience. How do you get them to engage with their
technology so they are more fully immersed in your experience?” He cites the Kim Possible World
Showcase Adventure
that played at Disney’s Epcot centre last year. “For teens and tweens, Epcot is the most boring part, but this exhibit used digital technology to allow them to go on an adventure within Epcot that had nothing to do with the park.”
Kids were given special
mobile phones and used the technology to fi nd clues around the park as if they were in an episode with the Kim Possible tv character, leading to a special area where they got to save the day from Dr Evil.
strung, he’s calmer and more aca- demic,” Gilmore adds. Despite Gilmore’s light-hearted protestations over the proliferation of technology (he takes note of how many people today live “three screens deep”, little noticing their immediate surroundings) – the pair know only too well that the experience economy must contend with digital realities.
QUEST FOR AUTHENTICITY Pine says: “It’s increasingly diffi cult to get people’s attention as they spend more time online or in virtual worlds. In the future we’ll see more of the fusing of the real and virtual or we could lose customers to technology altogether.” Conversely, as the push into virtual- ity marches on, Pine and Gilmore also recognise that customers still want to feel they are experiencing authentic- ity. In Authenticity – What Consumers Really Want they wrote: “In an increas- ingly unreal world, consumers choose to buy or not to buy based on how real they perceive an offering. Business today is all about being real, original, genuine, sincere and authentic.” According to Pine, this brings us to the “fi nal offering” of the progres- sion of economic value, which is when experiences start guiding life transfor- mations. “Places like fi tness clubs are one step ahead in that they’re already in the business of transformation – people don’t go for the workout, they go for the transformation it will bring. “I remind leisure businesses, you used to own the experience economy – until everyone else started getting into your business. Operators must fi nd ways of enhancing their experiences if they are to continue to compete.” ●
38 Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital ISSUE 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013
PHOTO: FLICKR/PETER E LEE
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