A Vida é Bela : selling dreams with experience marketing

Abstract

In 2002 the experience world was changing in Portugal, when António Quina founded the company A Vida É Bela. Not only Quina found a business opportunity but also a chance to change his own life. Unemployed and without resources, but with a strong vision and belief, he launched the first experience gift company in Portugal. Today, A Vida É Bela is leader in the Iberian market and is looking for growth in Brazil. Quina’s company was a special driver to the tourism and leisure industry, creating a new paradigm. Moreover, it potentiated the promotion of new business, revolutionized the tourism and leisure selling way, introduced a new gift form, segmented the offer and materialized experiences making them accessible to the regular customer. Besides the case study of A Vida É Bela, the following thesis makes an analysis of the experience marketing concept, a basic concept of the company. Furthermore, the case describes how A Vida É Bela was born and the path ran towards the current success. The final objective was to develop, based on the information provided, conclusions about the future of A Vida É Bela: ways to enlarge the customer retention and satisfaction, internationalization options and suggestions of new ideas. The thesis was based on the knowledge of the concepts behind A Vida É Bela and on information provided by contact with the company. The case is a real Portuguese entrepreneurship example with several particularities; it can be used as a tool to understand the strategic decisions of a company from zero to the success and consequent internationalization.