Experiential Communication:
A New Era of Storytelling & Brand Connection
See below to learn more about my graduate research. Click here to view my full thesis.
About the Thesis
What It Explored: The thesis explored
experiential communication and this new era of storytelling and brand connection. The research established the need for experiential communication and the power it has to create a deep brand connection between an organization and its audiences.
​
How: Using a case study and in-depth
interviews, this research examined the role of storytelling in experiential communication, its
universal nature, and the development of brand connections through experiential communication.
​
Result: As a result of this research, a revised experiential communication definition that focuses on immersive storytelling was developed as well as an experiential communication model that
offers communication professionals guidance on how to effectively utilize experiential
communication.
The Experiment
Qualitative in-depth interviews were utilized to examine the role of brand connection in experiential communication. Specifically, this research invited participants to engage in a virtual reality experience using the game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge followed by in-depth interviews about the experience.
​
The Population: 15 Gen Zers ages 18-25
​
Pre-Screening Survey: Used to determine initial brand connection with Star Wars.
​
Virtual Reality: 10 minutes exploring the world of Star Wars.
​
In-Depth Interviews: To determine brand connection through the virtual reality experience.
The Results
Experiential communication fostered a deeper connection with participants towards the Star Wars universe. Initial knowledge of Star Wars did not hinder the participants' ability to connect with the brand through the experience.
​
4 key themes emerged from in-depth interview during coding. This informed the experiential communication definition and model. These themes are: Wonder, Perspective, Immersion, Further Engagement & Sharing
