Who are today’s brand experience leaders?
8th March 2006 by Anders Gronstedt
Walt Disney had it right: the customer experience is a “stage,” where customers are “guests” and service employees are “cast members.” Armed with this critical insight into the customer relationship, Disney and other service leaders avoid the commodity death spiral by recognizing that they’re in the business of creating rich, compelling experiences.In the vernacular of the former C.E.O. of the Scandinavian Airline Systems, Jan Carlzon, it’s the “moments of truth” that make or break a brand. He argued that the SAS brand is a product of the 50 million moments of truth his customers experience every year. Carlzon sent all of his front-line personnel to training, gave them more decision-making power, and designed new uniforms for them. He inspired, taught and empowered employees to send customers a consistently positive message about the brand. He recognized that every moment of truth is a microcosm of the brand. It’s like a hologram. No matter how many small parts the hologram is divided into, each piece still contains the whole picture. Every contact with a company represents the entire company to the customer.
Who are today’s brand experience leaders? With the American Customer Satisfaction index stuck at a lower level than in 1994, there hasn’t been much progress. Starbucks comes to mind as a great exception. While all Starbucks stores aren’t identical, there’s the same unmistakable smell, look, feel, and irresistible service from frontline employees who are pampered with good training and completive compensations and health benefit packages. What other examples do you have of consistent brand experiences?
March 8th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
How about Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, IKEA, Target, Best Buy, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic? There is a certain sameness to the experience and a consistent look and feel. And I do feel somewhat (and sometimes) like a guest.
O.K., maybe I shudder when I see figs priced at $9 a basket at Whole Foods. But my look of horror captures the attention of the produce guy who rushes over to point out the fruit that is on sale.
Like Starbucks, they all offer a quality product/service, a good process and space for conducting business and great customer service. They also offer a specific brand value: Whole Foods — premium organic food, IKEA — affordable furniture, British Airways — luxury travel, etc.
From my perspective as a consumer, I always notice when employees have a sense of pride in their job. It reflects back on the level of service and desire to please me, the customer. My experience is first with the employee and then with the product itself. Both experiences have to be good, even outstanding, for me to want to come back. Most of the time there are just too many choices out there to put up with mediocrity. That would be the bright side of a market economy.