Experiential Marketing for Creating Top-of-the-mind Awareness

Experiential marketing (EM) refers to the involvement of customers through two-way engagement with a brand namely capturing attention and creating an emotional attachment. This research aims to understand the relationship between EM and top-of-mind awareness (TOMA), in the context of top-star hotels in Sri Lankan hotel industry. A qualitative multiple case study approach was adopted in this study and the data was collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with industry professionals and data was analyzed using generic qualitative data analysis method. As per the findings, star hotels practice two main EM strategies: enhancement of service offerings through additional experiences and personalization, and the enrichment of customer touchpoints with consistent experiential initiatives. Moreover, to achieve TOMA star hotels focus on creating memorable experiences and fostering emotional connections.