The ‘Brand Experience' is what happens each time a customer is exposed to a company's efforts to communicate or fulfill its brand promise. It can also be thought of as the sum total of all the customer's interactions with the brand.

Brand experience can involve everything from watching a television commercial or receiving a direct mailer, to calling a customer hotline, hearing or reading news about the company, or even observing someone else using the product. It also involves, of course, direct contact with the product or service, itself.

Four key areas involved are:

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  Products: The most important factor in creating a brand experience is the product, itself. What it costs, what it looks like, what it feels like, and what benefit it delivers. All these qualities will influence the way customers experience the brand.

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  Environment: The physical surroundings that customers experience during the purchase process are a very important part of the brand experience. Even though the sale has been completed, the brand experience during the service delivery will have a strong influence on future purchase decisions.

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  Information: What is communicated about a product or services, and how that communication takes place, leaves a deep impression about the brand at every step of the marketing process. A brochure that emphasizes a product's distinctive design can create very different perceptions about the brand, depending on whether it is printed on slick paper in full-color or in black & white on thin sheets.

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  Behavior: The brand experience for almost every product inevitably includes a personal interaction between the customer and a person who represents the brand in some way.

  This interaction might take place over a sales counter, on the telephone or via email. When this interaction occurs, the attitudes and behavior of the brand representative will have a powerful
  influence on how the customer perceives the brand.

  The interaction must be polite and respectful. The brand representative must be knowledgeable. The customers questions must be answered accurately and efficiently. If the interaction is face-to-face, the brand representative must be clean and well-groomed.

  And most importantly, the interaction must end with the customer feeling satisfied that business has been successfully concluded.

Brand communication must be consistent, both in form and content. And all personnel should be trained to behave consistently towards the customer in every interaction. This consistency must be maintained over time, or customers will become confused or feel uncomfortable.