A man without a smiling face must not open a shop

What a great Chinese proverb.


It is spot on and a key part of delivering a great brand experience at the buy stage of the path to purchase. The first moment of truth.


We all know shops we have visited when we had a poor brand experience with the sales person (rude, poor advice, no smile, etc). As a result we may have been put off buying or at least felt less inclined to rush back to buy again.


On the other hand, we have also all had a great interaction with a salesperson. A smile was probably a key part that left you with the feeling of a good buying experience.


It does not take much but can make a big difference.


Retailers know this but don't always have clear values or training in place.


Sure, it takes time and money but if you look at the loyalty and potential advocacy it is worth it [check-out advocacy drives growth paper from LSE].

ZMOT should be a priority for all brands

I talk a lot about the first and second moments of truth, however, when it comes to choosing a brand 84% of consumers in US look on-line first - according to Google. They are calling this the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT).

The ZMOT concept is simple. The internet has significantly changed consumer shopping habits. Now they typically start the process of choosing by checking out blogs, consumers opinion websites, social network, competitor sites, etc, before they visit the store

Delivering winning brand experience at the ZMOT is something all brand organisations need to be focusing on.

Kevin Roberts has posted the some excellent nuggets that Lecinski (Google US Sales) has suggested. These are key:

1. Put Someone in Charge. If it’s nobody’s job, it’s not going to get done. You need a ZMOT evangelist, in on every meeting and empowered to do the job.

2. Find Your Zero Moments: Find out exactly how people search for your product. Where do they go? Who do they trust to give them information?

3. Answer the Questions People Are Asking: There’s no point meeting people at ZMOT if you’re not giving them the kind of information they want, as and when they want it.

4. Optimize for ZMOT: Show up more when it counts by making your content super-relevant, and being where you need to be (Lecinski makes the point that having a great mobile presence is a big part of this).

5. Be Fast: Know when something’s making people search for your product, and do something quick to capitalise on it. Speed beats perfection.

In my view there is another thing missing from this list. That is to ensure you WOW existing consumers so they become advocates. This is a vital component because positive social commentary and conversations from delighted consumers will fuel your brand's on-line reputation.

Powerful stuff.

Three Top Packaging Tips

Brand organisations know that delivering a fabulous in-store brand experience is critical to ensure consumers buy their brand.

Packaging is clearly one of the most important components, given the role it plays at the first moment of truth. I have written about this before.

Retail Customer Experience have just written a useful article covering three ways packaging can improve, impact the retail experience.

Whilst every category and brand has different strategy there are three common packaging considerations that are becoming more essential to ensure the brand deliver a positive in-store experience for consumers.

Here are the article highlights. (These tips seem obvious but I find it surprising that many brands get it wrong.)

1. It needs to stand-out and differentiate

It has to get attention and convey what the brand is all about.

2. It's secure but possible to open with too much hassle

It needs to keep the content secure but not be a nightmare to open.

3. It's sustainable

Consumers care about the environment and don't like it when brands are wasteful.

If consumers notice and like what they see there is a far greater chance they will buy. When a consumer buys a brand and it delivers - and ideally delights - them then the brand will succeed. Packaging is an important part of that equation.

Brand experience at the first moment of truth that grabs attention

I am not a designer but enjoyed this collection of top 40 beverage package designs posted by the dieline.

It is vital to get great looking packaging that delivers a brand experience at the 'first moment of truth' (the first time a consumer has to part with their money for your brand).

Here are my (rather obvious) guidelines:

• Make it beautiful
• Make it appealing
• Make it stand-outs vs competitors
• Make it informative
• Make it consistent with what your brand is all about
• Make sure you don't change it too often

Oh yes, one last thing... make it easy to use.

Packaging problems for make-up brands

It is well understood that a key role for packaging is to successfully deliver a compelling brand experience in-store (at the first moment of truth), where it needs to standout, appeal to the consumer and clearly communicate the brand proposition and values.

The other critical role for packaging is to continue to deliver great brand experiences during the usage stage (the second moment of truth), when it is unpack and used.

In most categories this is fairly straightforward.

However, with make-up it isn’t.

I read a great post on the Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog by Marina Natanova that highlights the challenges most make-up brands have.

Marina explains: “A lot of premium or even luxury brands don’t have a package which keeps them looking good during usage.”

And why don’t they stay looking good?

…because of the handbag.

I’m not in the habit of rummaging around in ladies handbags – in fact what goes into them has always been a bit of a mystery to me – but what I do know is that they are generally full of stuff…loads of stuff…stuff that tends to get shoved in and shaken around.

This makes it really tough for most make-up items to continue to look good.

I talked before about how one of the most powerful ways to drive advocacy is to deliver compelling brand experiences every time a consumer encounters a brand.

It isn’t easy but in the Make-up category brands that can pass the ‘handbag test’ should get talked about more than their less robust competitors.

I think this is a competitive advantage worth investing in.

[read previous post about other packaging challenges]

Packaging is a brand experience that is often overlooked

Good packaging is vital.  It is frequently measured to be one of the most influential touchpoints.

Good packaging should make it easier for the consumer as they go through the process of selecting a brand in store – sometimes referred to as ‘the first ‘moment of truth.’

It should communicates clearly -the proposition and values.

It should help differentiation and stand-out on shelf.

That’s why brands organisations spend a lot of time and resource on trying to get it right.

Why is it then that they often get it wrong and use plastic moulding packaging that makes it impossible to open?

Brands should consider ‘the second moment of truth’ - the moment when consumers get home and try and open it- and reflect on what kind of brand experience their packaging is delivering. 

Beauty Care, DIY and Electrical should take particular care as they often get it wrong.

Microsoft takes some control of the ‘first moment of truth’

I was interested to hear that Microsoft is planning to open its own branded stores.

A spokeswoman has said that the company is targeting "a small number of high-profile experience stores in a few major cities around the world."

They say “they want to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy,"

This is a good plan.

No doubt mindful of Apple’s retail successful this indicates to me that Microsoft recognise the power of brand experience and the benefits of taking control of brand delivery at the first moment of truth.

They will have some challenges, given a weak economy and the fact they don’t make PCs, however, they have recently been building their expertise in this space. They set-up a store-within-a-store concept in various major store groups and created "Microsoft Gurus” borrowing from Nordstrom's personal-shopper concept, to help people select specific products to suit their needs.

It is a bold move but one that I hope they can make work.

All brands should look at whether they are achieving winning brand experiences at the delivery stage of the Brand PDD framework. If they are not they should fix it as it’s a vital step on the consumers path to advocacy.