This month saw the publication of the first-ever collaborative Huffington Post article written by a team of Schulich MBA students.

A team of Professor Markus Giesler’s Customer Experience Design students have kicked off an exciting series of articles to be published by the Huffington Post in the coming months. 
MBA students Rohan Bhaumik, Jessica Chee, Taylor Harris, Yusuf Kothari and Steve Lorini explore the changing game of competitive experience-based marketing in their recent Huff Post piece.

They note the increasing need for innovation and personalization in creating product experiences for consumers, citing an interesting new trend in marketing:

In an effort to command customers’ attention, consumer brands are moving away from retail stores and into other living spaces. The goal is to engage customers and have them interact with the product in innovative, low-barrier ways.

The result? Brands are occupying interior real estate in spaces such as hotels and vacation rentals. Think: an electronics company strategically placing its wireless speakers in your Airbnb rental, or a hotel promoting a line of luxury furniture in your weekend suite. (click for source).

There are lots of reasons why this approach has proven effective as a means of competing in today’s immersive and demanding consumer marketing industry. To learn more about personalized product placement, be sure to check out the article, in which this team outlines several principles and strategies of this unique trend.