"It's getting harder and harder to distinguish between products and services because they all seem the same," said Richard Watson, a leading consultant in the design industry.

"Companies are looking at new ways of turning their brands into a complete experience and giving them a real 'wow' factor."

Car maker Volkswagen opened Autostadt - Europe's first automotive theme park - in June. Situated in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, it features displays, events, a motor museum, interactive areas for kids, wind and vibration chambers and a computer section where you can design your own car.

But the main aim of the $424.4 million complex is to persuade consumers to buy a VW car.

In Japan, Toyota runs Mega Web where consumers can test drive Toyota models, visit the Toyota museum and watch car restorers at work on classic cars.And in Britain, Ford is planning to open a studio in central London where visitors can watch designers at work while enjoying a coffee in the Ford cafe.

Other ideas
But it's not just big ticket items which are being turned into experiences.The tea company Brooke Bond, which is part of Unilever, is rolling out a National chain of tea bars called Ch'a which are designed to compete with Britain's ubiquitous coffee bars and attract young consumers to drink more tea.

"We have launched Ch'a to start a revolution and make people fall in love with tea again," said a Brooke Bond spokeswoman.

Nike has also followed the "experience" route with its flagship London and New York Nike Town stores.

Consumers "undergo the whole holistic Nike brand rather than just buying a pair of trainers," said Watson. The design consultancy Imagination is working on a brand experience for Guinness, the stout brand of drinks major Diageo Plc, in Dublin.

"Rather than a corporate cathedral it will be about cultural citizenship," said Ralph Ardill, Imagination's marketing director. He added that the Guinness experience, which opens this year, will not just be a tourist attraction.

"It will be multi-faceted and people will come and enjoy it for different reasons," he said.

Paul Edwards, chairman of the Henley Centre - the consumer trend forecasting arm of the WPP Group Plc, the world's biggest marketing communications organisation - said that more and more companies will take this kind of approach.

"We are going to see the separation of buying and shopping,"Edwards said."Increasingly, we'll order essentials which aren't much fun - dog food, toothpaste etc, online or via digital television and get them delivered. Shopping time will then be a leisure activity and retailers will have to provide some kind of added value 'experience' if they are to tempt us onto the high street."

However, Watson said that while some brands are genuinely trying to create an experience for their brands to connect with consumers in new ways, it won't work for all products and services.

"I'm not sure how much of a cat food experience you can really have, for example," he said.

Watson, whose company GDR acts as matchmaker between clients and design agencies, said that there are other things which companies can do to ensure that their brands stand out from the crowd."It's no longer enough to just think about what your brand looks like on a supermarket shelf - you have to think what it looks like in other media, or sounds like in a TV advertisement."

Branding consultancy Enterprise IG, which works with companies including Walt Disney Co and holiday company JMC, an arm of the Thomas Cook travel group, on brand experience projects, said that appealing to all the five senses is becoming increasingly important.

"We are investigating areas such as sounds - we have to work out what a brand should sound like on the web for example and also what a company's identity looks like when it is animated," said creative director Shane Greeves.

Ardill of Imagination agrees. "Companies have to look at all aspects of the brand - what does it smell like, what does it feel like and sound like ?"The British insurance company Direct Line has its own corporate sound - a bugle cavalry tune from the days of black and white western movies, which is used whenever its red telephone logo appears in its advertising. Computer giant Intel uses a distinctive three-note musical signal to accompany the brand in all its advertising.

-- Reuters