Every Day as Cinema Experience

According to industrial expert Joseph Pine we have reached a new period of economic evolution. Consumers are no longer interested in quality wares or good service, but want memorable adventures. In this experience economy companies will have to pander to the need for total experiences; more and more American shopping malls look like amusement parks where there are all kinds of things to do as well as shop. And in restaurants like Planet Hollywood, it is not so much the taste of the food that counts, but the feeling that the customer plays the leading role in a film. Various media – architecture, film, fashion, graphic design – are used to evoke this so fiercely desired total experience. Cinematographic and theatrical means are especially loved. The Every Day as Cinema Experience investigates the role of film and the merging of media in the world of ‘experiences’.
Joseph Pine
Joseph Pine II founded with James H. Gilmore the company Strategic Horizons LLP, that teaches firms to put the desires of the customers first. Together they wrote the book The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage (Harvard Business School Press, 1999), describing the importance of theatrical ‘experiences’. Companies will have to look increasingly at the entertainment industry to understand what the consumer wants in the twenty-first century. In this way the work floor is developing into the stage for ‘performances’ by the employees.
Karen Daroff
With her bureau Daroff Design Inc., Karen Daroff has for years been all the rage in what is known as entertainment architecture. Daroff Design builds theme restaurants and furnishes them for customers like Disney, Sony and Hilton. One of the last projects was the construction of the space restaurant Mars 2112 in Manhattan, near Times Square. Visitors receive at the entrance a visa for Mars, where they are taken on a virtual journey in a Space Shuttle. In the restaurant are craters and lava fountains and friendly Martians greet the guests. Such a night out for all the family is known as `Event Dining’. Daroff explains how the ‘cinematographic’ element will acquire increasing importance in everyday life.