Build-a-Bear : a model for experiential marketing.

A picture of a Build-a-Bear shop situated in Paris, in the Galeries Lafayettes Departement Store.

The american company Build-a-Bear is in my opinion one of the most innovative in the toy area. The founders have understood the special relationship that can exist between a child (or even an adult) and a stuffed animal. In the Build-a-Bear stores, you can “construct” your own teddybear: you choose one of the 30 animals existing, then you choose a sound to be put in the animal, then you assist to all the steps of its “birth”, from the stuffing to the dressing.
Build-a-Bear’s philosophy is articulated around 4 of the Strategic Experiential Modules that are described in the article “A framework for managing customer experience”. For each of these modules, one or several Experience Providers are used.

Sense.
All the Build-a-Bear spatial environment universe is built for the senses: the stores have very bright colors, there is a happy childish music. The product is at the core of the strategy: for example, when you build your stuffed animal, you have to give him a sound. It can be an animal noise, but you can also tape your own voice. You have to touch it during the whole process. Feel.
The company creates a very strong affectional link between the customer and his “new friend”. First, when you “build” your stuffed animal, a key step is to give it a “heart”: you have to rub it in your hands and then it is put inside the animal. At the end of the process, you go online and you create a birth certificate, as if it was really alive.

Act.
Of course, the Act SEM is essential in the Build-a-Bear experience, as you are the conceiver of the product. People are an important ExPro because they are here to help the customer in the building process.

Relate.
Enventually, Build-a-Bear has created a real universe around strong values: above all is the importance of fun. People of the company call themselves “Bear-Builders”. On the internet website, you can see that a lot of events are organized: for instance, you can participate to a “online Bearism contest” or you can schedule a party at the store. New animals are created for special occasions, like Valentine’s Day. They also build partnerships with other brands: a special “Hello Kitty” stuffed animal was created.

This whole marketing strategy illustrates to trend of experiential marketing. It is the same will than in the Texas grocery store “Central market”, as it is explained in article from FastCompany: the purpose of the store is to provide people a real “trip”, so that they forget that they’re just here to purchase. At the end of the visit to the Central market, people can say: “I have taken a cook lesson and brought my child to a birthday party there” and not “I have bought food for tonight”. That is the same for Build-a-Bear: I have been to the store in Paris and created a teddybear as a present for a friend. I had the feeling to experiment something special, as if I was creating myself the present, wich makes it more personal. I didn’t have the feeling to have wasted time looking for a present, but I really had fun. In my opinion, this is a very successful marketing strategy that more retailers should follow. It is for me one of the most important preoccupations of customers: they want to escape from everyday life, and shopping can be an especially boring activity. I don’t see any lack in the marketing mix of Build-a-Bear, unless maybe the choice of the size: you can have one size for your teddybear, so you can’t customize very small or very big stuffed animals. It would be a good idea to reach all the wallets.

It was quite easy for me to describe this experiment as I already went to the store and have been through the whole process as a customer, not as an observer (and before knowing that I would talk about it in a marketing class). In the experiential marketing area, I think it is difficult to evaluate without experiencing.