Communicating Brands Through 'Lived' Experiences

Recent themes in brand marketing literature recognise the crucial importance of communicating brand values to both employees and customers alike. The benefits of “living” the brand through experience are well documented, especially given the difficulties commonly associated with the decline in effectiveness of traditional communication channels. This article examines voluntary engagement and interaction with the brand by both customers and employees through innovative event marketing communication, and the theoretical and practical issues that arise from employing this method. This is illustrated via a German university case study, which demonstrates the nature, scope and benefits of this specific communication method for differentiation and enhanced customer experience with brand. This article concludes that event marketing facilitates engagement with the brand through dialogue and interaction between highly targeted participants both internally and externally. This provides valuable feedback and feedforward to ongoing brand development strategies and helps to obtain a mutually beneficial commitment to a shared brand vision, through the co-production of a brand’s added value. Implications for managers are discussed and avenues for further research offered.