The module aims to:

Enable students to define experiential marketing and critically evaluate its place within other related fields such as relationship marketing and customer relationship marketing;

Develop students' ability to critically appraise experiential marketing in B2C, B2B organisations;

Develop students' ability to critique the relationship marketing strategies of organisations, both offline and online;

Enable students to understand the main psychological and sociological theories underpinning experiential marketing.

(LO1) Students will be able to define experiential marketing and critically evaluate its place within other related fields such as relationship marketing and customer relationship marketing.

(LO2) Students will be able to critically appraise experiential marketing in B2C, B2B organisations.

(LO3) Students will be able to critique the relationship marketing strategies of organisations, both offline and online.

(LO4) Students will have a critical understanding of the main psychological and sociological theories underpinning experiential marketing.

(S1) Adaptability
Students will be asked to meet deadlines and work as part of a team.

(S2) Teamwork
Students will develop teamwork skills in preparing for the group assessment.

(S3) Communication skills
Students will need to communicate the experiential marketing strategies and be asked to discuss these in tutorials. In the exam students will be expected to communicate the ideas of experiential marketing.

(S4) Leadership
Throughout the module students will be working together but also need to be able to show leadership within the team, in order to complete the group assessment on time.

(S5) International awareness
International case studies will be used on the module and students will be discussing cultural aspects of experiential marketing.

(S6) Ethical awareness
Case studies that include an ethical dimension will be used on the module and students will be able to consider the role of ethics in experiential marketing.

2 hour lecture x 5 weeks
2 hour seminar x 5 weeks
1 hour asynchronous learning x 5 weeks
125 hours self-directed learning

Week 1: Introduction to customer experiences, experiential marketing and customer experience management.

During this week, the topic will be introduced to students and experiential marketing placed within the broader context of related topics such as relationship marketing.

Week 2: Experience design and production, including customer journeys and touchpoints.

This week considers how organisations design experiences, considering the range of touchpoints that consumers have with the organisation across the customer journey. This content will be the basis for the group assignment for the module.

Week 3: Psychological, e.g. flow, and sociological, e.g. social consumption, theories underpinning customer experiences.

The theoretical underpinnings of experiential marketing will be presented that build on some of the key tenets of consumer behaviour.

Week 4: Experiences in B2C offline contexts.

This week considers the primary context of cons umer experiences, namely offline B2C environments. The topic is explored through addressing how a range of businesses create experiences.

Week 5: Experiences in B2C online contexts.

This week will address how experiences are created in online B2C environments. The rapid increase in online commerce means that this is a critical aspect of the experiential marketing, covering websites and social media platforms.

Week 6: Experiences in B2B contexts.

Experiences in B2B contexts are an emerging topic and this week will consider how organisations might create experiences that may need to encompass a range of actors, e.g. customers, distributors, suppliers, operating in a network.