Beer brand mischief

This is a great idea.

Picture the scene.

You are in the bar with your mates.

Your mobile rings..it is your girlfriend, wife, partner...

What do you do?

You step into an sound proof 'excuses booth' that provides a range of background sound effects (hospital, traffic jam, gym, etc) that you can play as you answer the phone - this enables you to create the impression that you are not in a bar with your mates..

This tactic is fun is harmless fun that will get a brand noticed in a bar (a key moment of truth) and talked about.

A brand's actions speak louder than their (advertising) words

Most parents out there will recognise the phase:"Actions speak louder than words." It is something we might say when the kids promise they will behave..but then don’t!

It reminds me of the way too many brands behave.

You know the drill...

...you see see a nice glossy TV ad with a message promising that brand blah cares about their customers... then experience first-hand the misery of trying to speak with an overseas outsourced call centre.

...you are dealing with a brand organisation that states on their website, internal posters, etc, that customer service excellence is one of their corporate values - but their front desk staff behave like they don’t give a damn.

This is business suicide because when a brand says one thing and does another, consumers get hacked-off.

For me it is simple.

Brand organisations must consider the brand experiences they deliver at every consumer touchpoint (maybe using the path to advocacy framework), and break-down silos to ensure they promise, deliver and delight consumers - because that's how to drive loyalty and maybe even advocacy (two success drivers)

“Actions speak louder than words” should be the mantra of every brand organisations.

Do you need Superman to build a winning brand experience?

I think Seth Rocks, which is why I read and reference his blog a fair bit.

He recently talked about a book that pointed out that comics work because the readers’ imagination fills the gaps in-between the frames.

He then suggests that marketing works in exactly the same way.

He is absolutely right. (Of course.)

He says:

“Marketing is what happens in between the overt acts of the marketer. Yes you made a package and yes you designed a uniform and yes you ran an ad... but the consumer's take on what you did is driven by what happened out of the corner of her eye, in the dead spaces, in the moments when you let your guard down.”

That is why it is vital to ensure you are delivering a consistent brand experience at every stage of the consumers’ path to advocacy.

To do that every part of the brand organisation has to be involved.

Get it wrong (via poor customer service, a rubbish web-site, etc) and you’ll turn-off consumers...they stop buying and tell their mates about how crap your brand is.

Get it right...and ideally WOW them...and they may buy again and recommend you to their mates.

It may require some superhuman time and effort to build winning brand experiences but it is worth it.

I suggest you get the right people in a room....think about the brand experiences consumers are currently having (use the path to advocacy framework)...and make them better.

This is a proven way to build your business.

Coke delivers a memorable brand experience to students

This is a brilliant idea. [Found it at AdPulp]

It's a really clever and memorable way to deliver a brand experience to students that will delight...be remembered for a long time...and, most importantly, get talked about.

This film will also get passed-on, thus delivering this positive brand experience message to a wider audience.

I love it.

[I don't always love everything Coke do.]

'Delivering Happiness' provides another key to success

Zappos - Tony Robbins - Business Mastery - 01-16-10

View more presentations from zappos.

Zappos is an awesome company.

I have posted before about how Tony Hsieh (CEO) leads a brand organisation that, in my view, is a 'black belt' in delivering winning Brand Experiences; fuelled by their commitment to 'WOWing every customer.'

The above was presented by Hsieh at a recent Tony Robbins - Business Mastery.

Powerful stuff.

It is definitely worth a read. It has so much great stuff in it. Two key points for me:

• Zappos absolute focus on vision, culture and customer service.
• How this focus drives word of mouth and repeat customers (check-out the compelling reveue numbers on page 7).

Look-out for his book 'Delivering Happiness' being published in June 2010. It will almost certainly become a must-read for anyone serious about building a brand organisation that recognises the importance of delivering consumer Brand Experiences that WOW consumers and drive advocacy.

Why don't more airlines WOW their passengers?

I talk about airlines quite a lot.

Airlines should be masters of delivering brand experiences that delight consumers.

I regular fly BA and they are pretty good.

I have moaned about Ryan Air.

I have enthused about SW airlines.

I want to enthuse about SW again because, although I have never travelled with them, I read a lot of positive stories about them.

And no wonder....a quick look at their mission statement says it all:

"The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit."

They obviously walk the talk.

This video is a great example of how employees look for ways to WOW the consumer... so they have a great brand experience...probably choose SW again...and may be even tell their friends/advocate SW airlines.

Other airlines - particularly low cost airlines - should take note

Circuit City cost cutting madness

I was disappointed to read in Retail Customer Experience about the demise of Circuit City in US last year.

I was also surprised.

I first come across Circuit City in the book Good to Great "Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't" [I’m based in UK so never visited one of their stores]. In the book Circuit City are hailed as a successful organisation because they followed a number of 'success principles' identified by Jim Collins (an American ‘business guru’).

So, what was the reason for their demise?

They neglected the in-store brand experience.

In the Customer Experience article there is a quote from Jason Goldberg, VP marketing for MTI, who was on the team that designed the in-store experience for Circuit City in the 1990s:

“They made the dramatic step of cutting their most expensive salaries and in the process, eliminated what remained of their most loyal high quality sales staff,"

..."They were left with a store that required great sales staff, and no experienced sales staff to support it."

In an age when brand experience is a key differentiator Circuit City’s decision was crazy.

If you don’t deliver a great brand experience when consumers are buying then they will either not buy or not come again. On the other hand, if you deliver an experience that WOWs then they are much more likely to buy, buy again and may be even tell their friends. The power of word-of-mouth/advocacy is well understood.

Staff are the clearly the main drivers of a good in-store experience so cutting best staff is always likely to create a problem.

This is an important lesson for any retailer considering cutting staff cost in these difficult times.