Brands must deliver what they promise

Once again Seth nails it.

He highlights the mistake some brands make when promising one thing in their glossy ads but not delivering. I go on about this all the time.

Check out Seth's recent post:

"..ads like this (that make a bold promise) actually decrease user satisfaction. If the ad leads to expect one thing and we don't get it, we're more disappointed than if we had gone in with no real expectations at all."

Why is this becoming more of a problem than in the 'old days'?

As I have posted before, and as Seth highlights:

"if word of mouth is the real advertising, then what you've done is use old-school ad techniques to actually undercut any chance you have to generate new-school results."

Marketer beware. Social media makes news about broken promises travel fast. [See old Dominoes story]

Marketing people should be focusing greater time and resource on delivering and delighting their consumers. That is how successful brand organisations achieve loyalty, advocacy and business success.

Mary Portas Golden Rules for Retailers - Smile Speak Serve

Mary Portas is on a mission to transform the appalling service culture of high fashion retailers in the UK.

She has a brilliant programme (on CH4), excellent experience and a no nonsense approach.

It covers loads of themes that are very close to my heart:

• Retailers must not drive short term profitability by cutting back on service. [Amazon]
• Leadership, culture and training are key to motivating employees. [De Vivre]
• Great customer service will feed stand-out and create a sustainable competitive advantage. [John Lewis]
• Happy customers will feel good and shop again. [Zappos]

If you are a retailer then watch it as there is plenty of actionable lessons. I strongly recommend that you watch it.

In my view, as I have said before, service is the new brand.

Tesco's neat scan to van app

There is a great new ad from Tesco [click here for link]

Trust Tesco to come up with this neat app.

It will deliver a win win for Tesco and their customers.

Customer's win: It will make buying easier which will delight their customers.

Tesco wins: It will increase the size of some customers shopping baskets.

It is no wonder that Tesco continue to be the most dominate retailer in the UK.

Spanair converts passengers into fans

I love this.

• A Spanair lands in Las Palmas at around midnight when everyone else is celebrating.
• The airline wanted to do something special for their 190 passengers.
• The answer...a gift rapped present for each on the luggage carousel.

Did they need to do this...of course not.

Is it a good idea...definitely.

It is exactly the type of brand experience that I love.

On face value it is an expensive activity. However, it is clearly designed to delight consumers with the aim of driving loyalty and advocacy. Moreover, when you take into account that this story will get talked through social media it will more than likely make good commercial sense.

Good one.

If you work for a brand organisation then think about how you can WOW consumers in a way that only your brand can do. That is a great way to build a competitive and sales.

Here are some other examples.

• Wheat Thins
• SW Airlines
• Hotel
• Zappos

My top ten posts from the last decade

As we enter into a new decade I've decided to post what I think are the top ten posts from Brand Experience Matters in the last decade.

1. “Never, in the history of the consumer, have so many known so little about so much” [link]
2. Actions (of a brand) speak louder than words [link]
3. CEOs take note (80% of CEOs believes their business offers a superior customer experience – 8% of their customers agree!) [link]
4. Is it possible for high street stores to win against on-line stores? [link]
5. Brand organisations must resist pressures from the demands of short-sighted share holders [link]
6. Winning brands understand the power of emotion [link]
7. Advocacy must be the focus for the whole brand organisation, not just marketing [link]
8. Customer experience is the new brand [link]
9. Importance of culture [link]
10. Deliver customer service brand experiences that build sales [link]

Enjoy