The Land Rover “Guest experience” marketing concept

Purpose An experience marketing case: Land Rover Ltd. transformed the test drive into a personal learning and loyalty experience for their customers and potential customer “Guests” at a global network of Land Rover Experience Centres. Design/methodology/approach The Land Rover Experience platform, in the marketing role it has today, started to take shape in the late 1990s when the author and his associates began to craft it into a viable business strategy. As a case study, it offers executives a how-to guide to “marketing experiences.” Findings Land Rover enthusiasts and owners consider themselves Land Rover people but many need off-road training to familiarize themselves with all the car’s features used in rough terrain driving. Practical implications Two decades after pioneering the program, when the author retired in 2019, there were over 65 experience operations in place with more than one million Guests a year actively participating in Jaguar and Land Rover experience programs around the world. Originality/value The question for corporate executives should not be “How do we build Guest experiences into our marketing plan?” In many businesses the question needs to be “How do we build our marketing plan around rich and memorable Guest experiences?” Contribution to Impact