What is Product Experience and how do brands use it?

When you buy an iPhone, why do you buy it? Beyond whether or not it is a good phone, what the company with the bitten apple sells us is an experience. Their ads are evocative, they invite us to do and undo with their products and everything from the packaging to the operation of the handset itself is designed to improve the user experience.

For years, Apple has managed to develop something called Product Experience (PX) that has made it a sales leader and its buyers are true believers. Like teenage groupies in a K-pop group, Apple users follow the brand wherever it goes.

This PX concept is, within marketing, a powerful tool for building customer loyalty, increasing your brand reputation and attracting new buyers, as well as being an opportunity to position yourself above your competitors.

What is Product Experience

When we talk about Product Experience we are talking about a set of factors that create the perception that a user has of a brand and its products based on any type of contact and interactions that the buyer has with the brand.  

It is an essential part of the user experience and focuses on the user's journey, not only during the purchase of the product, but also when they are using our product and even when they have an incident with it. This is why it is a concept that is especially used when talking about software as a service (SaaS), or mobile applications, but it is not exclusive to this business sector.

As you have seen with the first Apple example, it is applicable to other companies, regardless of how big or small they are. Whenever you have something to sell you can work the PX, from a modern bakery in Malasaña to a beauty clinic in the Raval. The PX can be applied and worked in any sales environment.

According to experts in the field Hendrik N. J. Schifferstein and Paul Hekkert, PX would be defined as "the perception of the psychological effects of interacting with a product, including the degree to which our senses are stimulated, the meanings and values we attribute to the product, and the feelings and emotions that are elicited by using it".

As it is a concept that not only takes into account the product itself, but all the sensations and emotions that it provokes in the user, by working with PX we will achieve greater benefits in the sale, as well as customer loyalty. And loyal customers are customers who attract other customers, or have you never recommended a series because you liked it? 

If the product focuses on the customer, on what it makes them feel and on their whole experience. If it's satisfying, it's easier for them to talk about it. By focusing the design on the PX, we will be able to increase recruitment, retain our customers and increase sales.

It is clear that the product itself is the main driver for increasing brand equity and influences PX in a vital way. The product is the first reason for the customer to repeat or not with us. 

An example: you buy a laptop. You have spent a month looking and checking on specialised websites which is the best model to invest in and you finally decide. It's this one. You buy it and after a month, it starts to work slower than usual. It crashes, gives you some performance errors and the battery starts to last less than a bad reggaeton song. The brand has not only computers but also smartphones and smartwatches, do you think you would buy one of them? The answer is no. 52% of users do not interact with a company after a bad experience with the product. 

As it is a concept that encompasses the whole process of buying and using the product, PX is something in which all the company's professionals are involved, from the creators and designers of the product to the community managers in charge of transmitting the whole experience to their followers or the customer service department that, with the feedback from buyers, can give clues to improve the whole process.

How brands apply Product Experience

According to a study, experimenting with the product increases the buyer's confidence, and this is possible for example with a virtual tester like the ones that some make-up brands such as NYX Cosmetics, L'Oreal or Lancôme have. By simply using a mobile phone camera or a photo, we can check how a lipstick looks on us, for example. This type of action is a way to increase PX.

In order to implement a strategy that improves PX in any brand, it is essential to carry out a previous analysis, as in any other marketing strategy, as well as having a platform that allows user interaction. This encourages feedback that improves the whole process. For example, after calling Vodafone to resolve an incident with the Wifi at home, the company contacts the customer to assess its performance. With all this data and a good analysis of it, it is possible to improve aspects in the resolution of faults and in the PX of such an everyday service.

Another example of how brands apply PX is Coca-Cola. If there is a company that specialises in selling an experience beyond a product, it is this one. For years now, its adverts have been evocative and encourage you to live (with one of its soft drinks in your hand, of course), as in this recent one for Aquarius.

The same is true of Apple. Take, for example, the announcement of one of its latest launches, the iPhone 13 Pro. An invitation to create stories with the help of your phone, but in which the product is a mere tool. The way to sell it is to sell you everything you could do with it in your hand, including a spectacular film like the one they show you.

Another form of PX that Apple shows us is that of its technical service. You make an appointment so that they can offer you a personalized and exclusive service, focused entirely on your satisfaction. So much so that by the time you get there, a model identical to the one you asked for is already prepared. This way you will leave the appointment with a terminal in perfect condition and without the fault you were looking for.

How we can improve PX in our brand

Now that we know what PX is and how some of the best-known brands apply it, let's give you an idea of how you can apply it in your company, however small it may be. With these five tips you can improve your brand's product experience and achieve better results.

Analyse your whole process: How do users get to your online shop? Is the website comfortable and are you able to cross-sell? Even if you think you have everything in place, check how it works from a typical user's point of view. You can enlist the help of an external team to analyse the UX of your website to tell you if it is intuitive and clear enough, and a creative team to make the message you want to convey more personal and dynamic. 

Include questionnaires to listen to your audience and use that data to improve. Although you can also hear from them through social media, setting up a short questionnaire after a purchase (or after a customer service intervention) can be a great way to find out what happens in that process and how it could be improved. Listen to your customers, they will tell you what they need and how.

Improve your products by thinking about how functional and useful they will be for your customers. Focus on meeting their needs with a quality product that works for your users. For example, if you have a hair product brand that promises voluminous, silky, nourished and frizz-free hair, work on that. When the customer tries it and sees that it solves their problems, they will come back for more.

Always offer interesting content to attract new customers. Although it seems obvious, this is something we can forget about, for example on social networks. Posting a product photo on Instagram every day is a mistake. On the other hand, offering quality content related to your sector (for example, if you have a decoration shop you can offer decoration tips in a weekly reel), is a good idea. It adds value to your brand and offers something that may interest potential buyers.

Involve the whole company. If you want the PX to improve your results, it is essential that your entire company works like a well-oiled cog. Think of ants: each one moves with its partner's work in mind and they all work as a team to achieve the same goal. If yours is to improve the PX of your brand and products, the whole team must be involved.

Because it is such a broad concept that encompasses so many people, you may now feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. But you're in luck. Our team is more than ready, you can write to us here and we'll tell you how we can work together to take your PX to the next level and make it a hallmark of your company. 

Main photo: Ricky Han