Beyond Customer Service And Merchandise: Experience Economy.

For this assignment I had the opportunity to interview Darcy Page and Brittney Stobbie on what exactly leisure means to them. Both Brittney and Darcy are juniors here at the University of Florida pursuing a degree in Recreation Tourism Event Management. When it comes to leisure, Darcy defines leisure as the time she spends doing things that help to relieve her stress. One of her biggest stress relievers is the gym because she loves the way she feels after a hard workout. Brittney describes leisure as free time to do the activities she enjoys. Both girls find leisure an important part of their lives and affiliate it with the feeling of happiness and being healthy. When it comes to leisurely activities Darcy enjoys reading, exercising, doing

Are Disney theme parks truly the happiest place on earth? According to Carmine Gallo, a contributor to Forbes, it is not the rides or attractions that continuously bring people to the theme park, but the “over the top” customer service. Disney provides an atmosphere in which establishes a relationship with customers, giving them the experience of a life time. From the cleanliness of the park, to the friendliness of the staff, Disney holds high expectations on service, keeping customers talking to others (word of mouth) as well as revisiting the park. Everyone is important when they walk into the theme park, and the staff accommodates to every need possible, making Disney’s standards for service above the rest. Why do more businesses not use service as a way to change people’s lives, establishing a lifetime relationship or partnership? We will examine what Disney does to truly give people the ultimate theme park experience, and the expectations of their business.

"customer experience is the next competitive battleground. it's where business is going to be won or lost." - Tom Knighton.

Though we typically think of leisure as relaxation, entertainment, or other non-career related activities, Pieper says the essence of leisure is an attitude of the mind, a capacity for silence, and the ability to steep oneself in the whole of creation. We have leisure “[w]hen we really let our minds rest contemplatively on a rose in bud, on a child at play, on a divine mystery,”

Zappos’ success is largely attributable to its unique focus on customer service; however, Tony Hsieh’s primary focus and top priority is company culture. (King, 2011) It is Hsieh’s philosophy that if they “got the culture right, then building our brand to be about the best customer service would happen naturally on its own.” (Hsieh, 2010) On the topic of customer service, Hsieh believes that “customer service shouldn’t be just a department. It should be the entire company.” (King, 2011)

The Walt Disney Company has been successfully creating and capturing value for their customers for over nine decades. With a net worth of 74.9 billion dollars, Disney has claimed the title as of one of the most profitable companies in the world. Their product line is extensive, as they currently own and run a successful media network, several theme parks and resorts worldwide, an extensive merchandise line, a studio entertainment sector, as well as Disney Interactive. Disney’s brand’s success hinders on several points of difference that have allowed the company to flourish. Firstly, Disney creates an undeniably unique experience for its customers. The theme parks have a “magical” feel to them, which keeps families coming back for decades. Their customer retention rate is high, and going to visit Disney world had been incorporated into the American identity. Additionally, their business strategy is innovative and strategic. The company delineates that their purpose is to “create happiness.” This evokes the naturalistic needs of humans, and also pulls at customer’s wallet strings. Furthermore, Disney has published that, “The Company’s primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital towards growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value.” In order for Disney to live up to this financial mission statement and in order for them to continue to be successful, they must continue to create value for their customers in order to

Walt Disney transformed a small private company into a blooming public company surrounded by success. The case study presents his strategic process of success starting from the ground-potential he encompassed as a young boy. Today, Disney is still a famous company seen throughout everyday life in a wide variety of presentations. Disney is represented through movies, short films, cartoons, television networks, theme parks, hotels, and characters. In accordance to the case study, the most important quote obtained from Disney is “you’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway” (3). Through this quote, Walt set the success for Disney as aimed towards families, creating a fun environment and opportunity for pre-teens and adults to forever enjoy.

Throughout the course of one’s life, there are many life events and transitions, both normative and unexpected that influence and shape the course of one’s life and what leisure choices they make. This can be applied to my own life timeline, as there are many events and leisure activities I can think back on that shaped me into the person I am today. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on my past and present lifestyle and experiences, and then analyze them using theories and models existing in leisure studies.

This economy is unique. It is built on the perception that the customer is the dynamic participant in the search of experiences that will personally amaze and engage them. (Schmitt, 1999). For a business to be successful, goods alone are not enough (B J Pine II & J H Gilmore 1999). Consumers are tired of standardized products and services – they are seeking those that have been specifically designed for them, based on their perceptions. In the context of this economy, the authors propose to abandon the traditional relationship between the company and customers. Instead, the company should be a “director of impressions" and clients: "spectators" or “guests". The Experience Economy” is the playbook from which managers can direct and control performance, based on the concept: The foundation for economic growth stems

Walt Disney, the man behind the name, envisioned on building a corporate image of exceeding customer expectations for decades to come, which in turn has resulted in the organisation focusing on two main customer service element strategies, Disney’s Four Keys and Disney’s Seven Service Points, generated from the Quality Service Compass (The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies – Parks and Resorts Press, 2013). Ensuring these two strategies are correctly implemented and followed by all cast members is crucial in creating magical experiences for guests. Firstly, to understand these strategies and correctly analyse them it is important to understand that customer experience is a compilation of interactions and perceptions between a person and a company, as perceived by the conscious and subconscious of a customer, with the blend of rational organisational performance, stimulated senses and evoked emotions, both which are measured across all moments of contact against customer expectations (Shaw, Dibeehi & Walden, 2010). Therefore, it is crucial that the organisation takes a customer-centred approach of quality service as the number one driving force for business operations (Omachonu, Ross & Swift, 2004). Disney focuses to go above and beyond to exceed these standards and expectations with their two previously mentioned strategies (The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies – Parks and Resorts Press, 2013), however, it is important to analyse whether the strategies

I believe that leisure is extremely important for human well-being. Through research, I found that “The quality of life is determined by objective factors and with the subjective perception of factors which influence human life. Leisure activities play a very important role in subjective well-being because they provide opportunities to meet life values and needs.” Therefore, if you want to have a life of quality and happiness you must try to make time to gain or further enhance your activities that you chose to participate in during your leisure time. There are a few concepts in leisure which helps to support my stance on this topic. In chapter 2 of our textbook, it asked, why is leisure vital? It then stated a plethora of values of

Executive Summary ..................................................... 1 What Is Customer Experience Management? ............. 2 How Important Are Experiences to Your Customer? ... 6 Emotions Make Experiences Memorable .................. 10 Getting It Right at “Moments of Truth” ....................... 13 Living Your Brand

For businesses it is becoming more and more difficult to find or define USPs to create competitive advantage. Experience is fast becoming the key point of differentiation as it is the one area that can be truly unique – it communicates not only the brand but the culture within, reinforcing the reasons why in the minds of consumers.

In a 2016 Marketing Week survey, 83% of marketers said they “believe customer experience is now more central to their role than it was five years ago.” Translation: Customers want to enjoy more than just products and services.

Experiences were usually associated with the entertainment business, such as Disney World. However, today, the concept of selling experiences is spreading beyond theaters and theme parks; companies stage an experience whenever they engage customers in a personal, memorable way.