Building customer engagement through brand experience: a case study of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A

The raising of web-based technologies represents the beginning of a continuous and progressive change in the various aspects of people’s life. For companies, this means an evolution of the old customer into a more active role in terms of relationship with brands. Nowadays, the commitment to ensure satisfaction and engagement has become a real challenge, and companies must spend all the efforts to stand among competitors: these essential elements are just two of the keys of differentiation to reach an indissoluble customer loyalty. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate and examine the benefits of customer engagement resulting from the use of digital technologies and online communication, by analyzing the role played by some specific treats of the brand, such as image, personality, trust, and experience. By doing so, the research takes into analysis a specific case study, Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A, and two different markets, specifically the Italian and US ones, highlighting differences and similarities between them, with the aim to more deeply understand whether the company’s actions are perceived equally by all the customers in terms of experience and consequent engagement. To this purpose, both a quantitative and a qualitative research have been carried out. Through two online surveys – in English and in Italian for the US and Italian markets respectively- customers were asked to express their opinions about the above mentioned aspects of the brand, in order to assess the specific characteristics that affect the engagement of both Italian and US bikers; moreover, through in-depth interviews to five retailers of the region of Veneto, the study aimed at assessing the role they play in the engagement processes. From the analyses of both data and interviews emerged some interesting results, which allow to increase the current knowledge on the development of successful customer engagement processes, as well as to define managerial implications about what works and what should be improved.