OPINION | How to create crave-worthy experiences

The Power of Experiences in Consumer Brands

Consumer brand experiences are no longer a nice-to-have; they’re a must-have for brands wanting to stay relevant. At the height of the pandemic, many of us craved experiences we never thought we’d miss — even something as simple as airline food.

In 2020, Singapore Airlines proved the point when it launched dining on grounded planes. Seats sold out in just 30 minutes. For those staying home, meals were delivered with first-class tableware, bringing the airline experience directly into living rooms. These moments highlight the power of designing crave-worthy experiences that connect on a deeper level than products alone.

Why Experiences Drive Loyalty and Value
Creating memorable brand experiences builds lasting loyalty and tangible financial value. Today’s biggest brands are shifting from global sameness to local connection, offering personalisation and cultural relevance.

Dining in Unexpected Places (Singapore Airlines)
Singapore Airlines’ “Restaurant A380” transformed grounded planes into fine dining venues, proving that consumer brand experiences can reinvent even the most routine interactions. Seats sold out in minutes, showing the power of scarcity and novelty. Beyond just dining, the experience tapped into nostalgia, national pride, and a collective longing for travel during lockdown. By later delivering first-class meals and tableware to homes, Singapore Airlines extended the moment into people’s kitchens — a masterclass in designing crave-worthy experiences that combined theatre, emotion, and convenience.

Personalisation at Scale (Nike by You)
Nike’s Nike by You service embodies experiential branding strategies that blur the line between product and experience. By letting sneaker enthusiasts customise everything from colours to materials, Nike created a brand experience design guide in practice: engaging consumers through creativity and identity. Personalisation delivers more than a pair of shoes — it provides a sense of ownership and storytelling. This scalable approach allows Nike to strengthen loyalty while collecting insights into consumer preferences, making it one of the best examples of creating memorable brand experiences at both global and local levels.

Elevating Everyday Moments (Starbucks Reserve)
Starbucks Reserve reimagines a simple cup of coffee into a premium lifestyle experience. By roasting small-batch beans in flagship stores, Starbucks adds drama, storytelling, and exclusivity. Customers are invited behind the scenes, turning everyday routines into memorable brand experiences worth sharing. Starbucks’ Reserve Roasteries also function as cultural destinations, blending consumer brand experiences with retail theatre. This positioning not only drives higher margins but also strengthens Starbucks’ differentiation in a crowded café market, proving that experiential branding strategies can elevate even the most ordinary categories.

PPD in Practice: Lego Stores as Experience Hubs
Lego stores represent the future of brand experience design, where Place, People, and Device (PPD) work seamlessly together. The Place is the vibrant, playful retail environment; the Device is the digital integration, from QR codes to augmented reality demos; and the People are knowledgeable staff who engage, inspire, and educate. This three-dimensional model turns a shopping trip into an immersive consumer brand experience. By creating hands-on play areas and digital touchpoints, Lego ensures that designing crave-worthy experiences becomes part of their retail DNA — and a proven way to build lifelong loyalty.

From Global Scale to Local Connection
Johnnie Walker Houses exemplify experiential branding strategies that blend global brand equity with local culture. These whisky spaces — part art gallery, part museum, and part bar — immerse visitors in the heritage and storytelling of the brand, while adapting to each location. They show how creating memorable brand experiences can move beyond sales to inspire conversations, deepen cultural connection, and reinforce brand equity on a global scale.

Covid-19: The World’s First Shared Experience
Covid-19 can be seen as the world’s first shared experience in decades. Every geography faced lockdowns, uncertainty, and isolation. Online shopping surged, while physical retail was challenged. But rather than signalling the end of stores, it reminded consumers how much they value physical, in-person connections.

Forward-looking brands reframed the crisis as an opportunity to innovate. They created hybrid, omnichannel experiences that gave people both the safety of digital and the crave-worthy impact of in-person engagement.

How Consumer Experiences Create Brand Differentiation
Powerful consumer brand experiences allow companies to shape how they are seen and chosen. By connecting emotionally and practically, brands offer compelling reasons for consumers to choose them over competitors.

In uncertain times, empathy-driven experiences provide reassurance and strengthen brand preference. Designing crave-worthy experiences shows commitment, builds trust, and ensures relevance.

A Collision of Senses and Technology (Place, People, Device)
Retail is no longer just about transactions. Stores create awareness, trigger consideration, and extend engagement long after the purchase. The most effective experiential branding strategies seamlessly combine sensory impact with technology.

Today’s journeys span Place (store environments), People (service interactions), and Device (digital layers). Lego illustrates this brilliantly: the physical store is the Place, the QR code interaction is the Device, and expert staff provide the People dimension. Together, they form a holistic brand experience design guide in action.

Looking Ahead: Designing Experiences That Last
The future of consumer brand experiences lies in designing crave-worthy interactions that merge physical and digital, global and local, emotional and practical. Brands that invest in experiential branding strategies now will differentiate themselves, build loyalty, and create value that lasts.

The challenge — and opportunity — is clear: those who design experiences that resonate across touchpoints will shape the future of consumer branding.

References