Experience Manifesto

7-Eleven may be on the verge of a big transformation - Sep. 29, 2004

The Dallas-based convenient store chain has quietly been testing a more "upscale" format in a few dozen stores in Austin, Texas, industry analysts say, adding that the new format, if rolled out nationwide, could change the "King of the Slurpee" forever.

One 7-Eleven (SE: Research, Estimates) store on Lamar Boulevard in Austin has been selling fresh fruits -- apples, oranges and bananas, grilled-pressed sandwiches, bakery goods and a variety of salads to customers, a store employee said.

Some industry watchers say CEO Jim Keyes is pushing a "fresh food" strategy that borrows a page from 7-Eleven Japan, the company's more successful overseas affiliate.

Fresh food accounts for about 40 to 45 percent of 7-Eleven Japan's sales compared to just 10 percent of the sales in its 5,800 stores in the United States and Canada, according to estimates from industry analyst Kit Case at Southwest Securities.

7-Eleven may be on the verge of a big transformation - Sep. 29, 2004

And Now, a Few Words From the Urinal

OK, is it just me or have we reached the limits of ubiquitous advertising when we use an "interactive urinal communicator" to reach men while they're peeing? Seriously, if you’re in the advertising biz, ask yourself when a friend or family member actually came up to you and said “Gee, if you could only create something that would deliver ads while I peed, boy, that would make me happy.” And why, for heaven’s sake, would someone want to use something that requires a person to pee to activate your message? Outside of maybe some toilet paper or soap companies, what company could possible view this as good for their brand experience? Please folks, step away from the crazy advertising tools. Sadly, I’m sure this guy will make a fortune and sell his company in 3 years for tens of millions of dollars. That’s where the real insanity lies!

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > And Now, a Few Words From the Urinal

NRF SmartBrief Special Report -- RFID

For those of your wondering about RFID (radio frequency ID) and what it means to you, here's a great primer done by the National Retail Federation. It's coming, so you may as well learn about it now!

NRF SmartBrief Special Report

MDN: WaiWai

As PT Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." Just when you think we might finally be growing beyond that adage, well, here you go! What else needs to be said?

Hideto Tomabechi -- who first made headlines in Japan almost a decade ago after he cured brainwashed members of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult that unleashed deadly sarin gas on the Tokyo subway system -- claims to have developed a tune for ring tones that promises to increase the breast measurements of those who listen to it.

And Tomabechi's brainchild for better busts has boomed, with chest challenged chicks swarming to transfer data to their own phones.

MDN: WaiWai

Why AT&T Should be out of business period

My Mom lives in Leesburg, Florida in Lake County and twice this year, her neck of the woods was in the flight path for a major hurricane. During hurricane Jeanne this week, she lost power, but her phones were working until yesterday morning. So, after several hours of getting busy signals, I did what used to be a very simple task. I called the operator to see if the phone was off the hook or if there was a problem with the phone lines.

At least, I tried to do this once simple task. It seems that it can't be done any more; at least that was my experience. But more frustrating then the rest of the experience was my interaction with the fine folks at AT&T long distance.

Now, to be fair, it seems that the initial operator transferred me to the wrong place, but I thought that had pressed through the millions of choices to get to someone who could help me check the line. But then I entered AT&T hell. I told the nice sounding man who answered that I was worried about my Mom and wanted to see if he could check the line. Well, he couldn't really help me, but he did keep me on the line to make sure that I used AT&T long distance and ask me several times if I wanted to add additional AT&T services! Actually, I think he asked me about 10 times in this several minute phone call.

Yea, I'm worried about whether or not my Mom is OK and her house is still standing, but heck, I'll take the sales pitch. Was he thinking that in my vulnerable state, I would just say yes to whatever he offered? And I gotta’ tell you, I say yes to phones sales much more then I should, but this was just over the line for me. And by the way, didn't AT&T just announce they were leaving the residential business? Well, isn't this maybe not the right time to try and sell me additional residential services even if I wasn't calling because I wanted to make sure my Mom was OK?

And this isn’t the first time I’ve had this kind of experience with AT&T. My all-time worst AT&T experience? Being told by Jim Keating, a Customer Service Supervisor at AT&T Wireless that “it’s not our responsibility to meet your customer service expectations!” Yes, that’s an actual quote. I try to share this story with as many people as I can! I’m not with AT&T Wireless any more. Well, AT&T isn’t actually with AT&T Wireless any more, but you know what I mean!

They went from being a business that was able to sell because of the service they provided to becoming a company whose only service was selling. Increased business value used to be a byproduct of good customer service. Today customer service is a byproduct of trying to increase the business value.

I wrote many years ago "CRM is often used as a tool to help the company touch the customer... customer service is all about the customer touching the company." AT&T stopped trying to help me and just became an organization about selling me whatever their service du jour was. They turned themselves into a commodity. The industry didn’t do, their competitors didn’t do it, their customers didn’t do it. In their drive to create short-term shareholder value, they forgot that real value comes from creating value for their customers. And, in the long run, that will create much better shareholder value.

And so you can rest easy, yep, the phones were down. Although she had some leaks, Mom weathered the storm OK. I’m going to head down in a few weeks to visit and make sure that we find a new long distance company for her.

Amex's John Hayes discusses brand marketing

The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with John Hayes, the CMO for American Express about the future of advertising and what American Express is doing. Sure, I picked out the important quotes that talk about experience, but when John Hayes says that brands are built on experiences, that's big news for the experience world!

Hayes: Absolutely. There's one other trend I think is worth noting -- a few weeks ago, I asked a group to tell me about their favorite Starbucks commercial.
THR: The point being, there are none.
Hayes: Somebody said, "Well, they're on every corner, they don't need one." But 10 years ago, they weren't on any corner. Brands are not being built on advertising. You're seeing this with more and more companies. If you fly Jet Blue, you talk about the experience. That's how you build brands today, through experiences.
THR: Ten years from now, how do you think marketing will have changed?
Hayes: I don't think it'll settle. It'll change and be much more robust, smarter and savvy than it is today. The fragmentation of the population is going to continue to grow, so we're going to see more selective ways of creating dialogues and engaging people, but I think the basic themes are going to stay the same. People are going to look for what entertains (them). Ultimately, it's going to be about creating experiences for people.

Amex's John Hayes discusses brand marketing

The Womb as Photo Studio

If you want to know why Toys R Us is thinking about moving out of the toy business and moving to the baby business, this will give you a hint. You see, when people are having a baby, money seems to be no object. That's why people will buy things like $700 strollers or spend several hundred dollars to do an "in womb" photo shoot. Once the kids get older, that's when we parents become cheap!

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > The Womb as Photo Studio

Samsung Ramps Up Advertising

Yet another example of a company creating a retail experience to help better showcase their products. And a great example of the need to create a relevant experience for people to become engaged with the brand. I understand that the team at Imagination created this experience -- kudos to them!

"For more than three years, we've been trying to break through the clutter of competition," said Peter Weedfald, a senior vice president of Samsung Electronics America. "The salesmen in the stores are using Motorola and Nokia cellphones themselves, so how can we get them to push Samsung?"

Samsung's ad slogan - Samsung DigitAll: Everyone's Invited - didn't do the trick. Nor, apparently, did its pavilion at the Athens Olympics, nor the many charity fund-raisers that it has sponsored in cooperation with sports figures like Joe Torre, Magic Johnson and Arnold Palmer, and with retailers like Circuit City, CompUSA and Sears.

So now Samsung is trying something a lot splashier. On Thursday it will formally unveil "The Samsung Experience," an interactive funhouse of virtual reality experiences, product displays, video clips and other techie things, all featuring Samsung cellphones, flat-panel televisions, laptops and other products.

The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising > Advertising: Samsung Ramps Up Advertising

Where's Your Passion?

During mass today, the sermon asked "Where is your passion?" It made me start to think about passion and it’s role in business.

Passion is one of those words that people use so often, that it often loses its meaning completely. There are countless business books and articles discussing the need to have passion for our businesses and what we do. It's certainly easier to passionate when it's your business, but are you creating an environment of passion, where your employees can be passionate as well?

Last weekend, my family went into NYC to watch an afternoon and evening program of dance, presented in Battery Park to help revitalize the downtown after the tragedy of 9/11. In the evening, we saw five different ballet companies, each presenting a different piece and usually a different style. Now, we're talking some of the best ballet companies in the country, including American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, New York City Ballet and the BalletMet Columbus. It was quite an enjoyable evening but one performance stood head and shoulders above the rest. It was a piece that the Boston Ballet did, a pas de deux from Don Quixote.

Now, all of the performances were well danced. But this pas de deux had the crowd on their feet at the end from the sheer joy and passion that they had for dancing. They were excellent dancers with great technique. All of the dancers were. But boy, you could see their absolute joy for dancing every single moment of the dance. With the passion that they had, they could have simply walked across the stage and I think we would have enjoyed it!

But, when you combine an incredible passion and love for what you do, with the skills to actually do it well, that is a magical and unforgettable combination! Usually, the bar is so low, that we’re content with a basic knowledge from people, forget really knowing something! And passion, hey, leave that to day time soaps! But, I can still see the look on those dancers faces while they danced and you can be certain that I will look to see the Boston Ballet again.

Are you passionate about what you do or is it just the job? Have you created an environment for everyone who works there to be passionate? Can you see a difference in the success of your business on days that you’re truly feeling a love for what you do? Are there people that you deal with who’s passion is so contagious that you just can’t help but become passionate yourself? I know that every time I get a post from Erik Hauser, the founder of the IXMA, I can’t help but become reenergized about the work I do!

Have any passion experiences of your own? If so, send them along and we’ll include them in our newsletter in the future!

Sony's answer to the Apple Store (July 16, 2004)

More and more, we're seeing this kind of retail environment being created. The retail trend seems to be moving in two different directions. One is large stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart, with lots of products, sometimes good prices but very little experience. The other is small retail, with lots of experience with better and more knowledgeable help. Both types of retail will certainly have their place, but we believe that more and more brands should be creating some environments that they own, to speak to their customers directly.

Forget Circuit City and Best Buy, Sony's arrival solidifies the latest trend in electronics retail: high-end electronic boutiques that let buyers sample the gadgets in comfortable, well-staffed settings. Following in the footsteps of Apple Computer's high-end showroom that opened in Palo Alto three years ago, Sony is hoping to transform the electronics shopper's experience.

"Our major goal is to provide a strong, interactive environment," said Dennis Syracuse, vice president of Sony Style Retail. "Going in should be fun, it shouldn't drain you. And when you leave, we hope you love the product you bought."

Sony's answer to the Apple Store