Designing Servicescape and Experience with Art: Learnings from The d’Arenberg Cube, Australia

This case discusses the design principles and the role of servicescape in experience management by drawing on the example of the d’Arenberg Cube, an iconic cellar door that set new industry standards and competitively positioned its wine brand and wine region on the world tourism map. The case also explains the use of art for business purposes by showing how the Cube has embedded art into its servicescape and experience design. The case highlights that by synergising art, wine and tourism, the d’Arenberg Cube has managed to create the living culture and experiences of its servicescape that are hard to be replicated by competitors. In this vein, the case highlights that the technical/architectural features of iconic buildings and brandhomes can provide a comparative advantage, but it is the lived and living experiences enabled within and afforded by their servicescapes that provide them a competitive and inimitable advantage. The case also provides evidence of the impact of servicescape elements and design on the customers’ engagement and well-being (psychological, social, behavioural, emotional and spiritual/transformational). As the competition intensifies, the customers’ profile, needs and expectations change and the tourism industry reforms, the case study challenges and requires the students to think how the Cube needs to update and upgrade its servicescape design and experiences to face but also re-shape the next new normal.