Biztainment is a practice by which entertainment is added to a bundle of goods and services in order to gain competitive advantage. The achievement of this goal is illustrated herein using economic examples of increased revenue, repeat business, and profits, and by extending the product lifecycle, thus ensuring survival of the firm. The general premise is that biztainment is an increasingly popular business strategy, applicable to all industries. For example, consider the goods and services provided by Build-A-Bear stores: children can select the fabric, eyes, and buttons to create a unique tangible good, while the memorable process of building it (employing self-service, too) with family or friends adds extraordinary value to the purchase. Build-A-Bear's use of biztainment has resulted in 370 stores worldwide on five continents, expanding at a rate of 25 locations per year, and earned revenue of $474 million in 2007 (Build-A-Bear, 2008). This article concludes by offering examples of ways in which managers can evaluate their current product-service strategies against the environmental drivers of biztainment.
Why would people pay to pick their own strawberries, crush grapes with their feet, or make their own cosmetics? Might it be that the process of doing these things is as valuable to the customer as the outcome itself? Adding entertainment content to a bundle of goods and services in order to increase the value perceived by the customer is nothing new (Chase & Garvin, 1989; Collier, 1994; Collier and Meyer, 1998 and Collier and Meyer, 2000; Grönroos, 1990; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982; Pine & Gilmore, 1998). Nevertheless, the addition of entertainment to the organization's bundles of goods and services is part of a broad competitive trend across many industries which provides unique opportunities for companies to grow revenue by designing new, and enhancing existing, products (Holbrook, 2000; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982).
Biztainment is the practice of adding entertainment content to a bundle of goods and services in order to gain competitive advantage. Biztainment initiatives must be thoughtfully designed and executed using service management concepts and methods (Collier & Evans, 2007). Entertainment can be defined as the act of providing hospitality, escapism, fun, excitement, and/or relaxation to people as they go about their daily work and personal activities. For example, a BMW automobile dealership in Fort Myers, Florida recently opened a new 52,000 square foot facility that offers a putting green, private work areas, a movie theater, wireless Internet access, massage chairs, a golf simulator, and a café, so that customers have multiple entertainment options during their visits (Diaz, 2008). The old business model of just selling and servicing a physical vehicle is gone. Today, how a firm bundles entertainment, information, and service to goods and services is often the marketplace order winner.
The three objectives of this article are as follows:
1.
To document and define the phenomenon of using entertainment in a wide variety of businesses to gain competitive advantage (i.e., biztainment);
2.
To show how biztainment is a viable economic strategy that generates additional revenue and profits; and
3.
To help practicing managers learn about biztainment and apply their knowledge, so that they can recognize opportunities to use biztainment in their product-service strategy.
Modern economies are becoming more dependent on the integration of entertainment, service, and information. Tours of all types, for example, educate and entertain the customer in effort to sell more goods and services. Restaurants satisfy the customer's appetite and need for social interaction and fun by utilizing biztainment. Corn mazes occupy and delight families as they search for a way out of the labyrinth, families which ultimately leave with farm goodies in the trunks of their cars. Build-A-Bear, friends 2B made®, and Club Libby Lu offer customized tangible goods while the process to produce them using customer labor adds tremendous customer value and options to increase revenue. The cell phone and its hybrids are rapidly changing how we do business and interact with one another. For example, MySpace.com, a social networking website, is providing a new venue for human interaction.
What customers get (technical quality) is not as valued as how they get it (process quality). Almost two decades ago, Grönroos (1990) identified technical and process quality as key drivers of performance and value. In most service situations, process quality is the order winner, and deficiencies in process quality can negate excellent technical (outcome) quality. As noted by Collier (1994, p. 61), “How well you integrate service-, entertainment-, and information-content into your consumer and employee benefit package(s) are keys to competitive advantage—perfect physical goods are not enough anymore.” If, by chance, your organization has not noted recent increases in the entertainment content of products and services, or you have not analyzed your product-service strategy with respect to biztainment drivers, begin today by using this article as a resource for references, examples, ideas, and possible initiatives
