Erik Hauser over at the Experiential Marketing Forum posted these facts from Ryan over at the Gigunda Group about the Charmin Experience in Times Square. Talk about engaging your audience, just look at the average visit time -- 22 minutes! This is what happens when you create an authentic, relevant and compelling brand experience. Hopefully this will help other companies get off their butts and start looking for ways to actually engage their audience, rather then just speak at them! Great job Gigunda!
Virtually any time over the weekends and after 5:00 on the weekdays it is absolutely packed in there ... we're averaging 10,400 people per day with some days going over 12,000. (And I was told that it was set up for a 9,000 person/day throughput, so they must really be getting people to go fast!)
some other key points ...
191,000,000 media impressions in the first 24 hours
358,000,000 media impressions in the first 10 days
432,000,000 media impressions as of yesterday (19 days open)
minimum family visit: 12 minutes
average family visit: 22 minutes
95% of all people take 3 or more photos INSIDE the space
over 20 postings on youtube.com
over 70,000 results on google for 'charmin times square' (and our blog makes the top 10!)
NY Times Sunday Editorial: 'The Disneyland of Restrooms!'
Talk about your alternative distribution coups, this is great! And getting the Pope to sign off on your movie will make lots of folks want to go see this movie. Doesn’t say if New Line made any donation to the Catholic Church, but if they did, it was money well spent.
Time Warner's New Line Cinema scored a coup by winning an agreement to show its Christian holiday film, "The Nativity Story," a week before its release to U.S. theaters at an unusual venue: the Vatican. Some 7,000 people -- including Pope Benedict XVI -- were expected to attend, along with members of the movie's cast and crew.
It's not often you hear people remark That's exciting while leaving a bathroom, but that seems to be the guest reaction so far to the new Charmin bathroom in Times Square. And, as you might have read at Experience Manifesto: Customer Experience Crossroads: It's all happening at the loo, bathrooms are no longer something in the back room that no one talks about!
Charmin has been running Pottypalooza for many years and they finally decided to create a more permanent version of their touring attraction. The Charmin restrooms opened last week on 46th Street, right in the heart of Times Square. And right now, the only negative I’ve heard about the experience is that it’s going to end in early January!
I had a chance to sit down and talk to Tim Collins from the gigunda group and Kathryn Holl from Manning Selvage & Lee Public Relations about the project and was given a backstage tour as well. Tim told me that Pottypalooza is often called the Red Cross of bathrooms and it’s been a huge success where ever its been. The set-up here is quite impressive and you can see a little of the infrastructure in the picture below. Tim called it Disney-like in its set-up, with everything designed to be “refreshed” from backstage. They had almost 2,500 visitors in their first evening and it’s designed to accommodate 9,000/day.
I asked Kathryn about the ROI measurement of the experience and she said that it was based on a combination of things, including:
Media impressions
Traffic through the location and consumer feedback
An increase in sales (One of the articles about Pottypalooza showed a 14% sales increase!)
She also talked about the ability to give people the product and letting them have a firsthand experience with Charmin. One of the most exciting things they told me was that this project was the second largest expenditure outside of advertising that P&G has put against a brand. That’s a pretty big deal when you consider it’s P&G! They both talked about how important it was to attack it from all angles in order to create the right ROI. That the opportunity with something like this was the ability to deliver on an experiential level, drive PR (as evidenced by the links below) and get people to use the product. And certainly, if you’ve ever had the experience of trying to find a clean bathroom in Times Square — or in most of NYC — you know what a positive impression an experience like this can leave on people. Lastly, they both talked about the need to give to something new to the consumers, especially in the media fragmented world that we’re living in today.
And I have to say, it was one heck of a bathroom experience. They were playing the Charmin song, which might have made me crazy if I had to listen to it all day, but it was fun in the short period of time I was there. All of the staff seemed to know the Charmin Cha Cha and they seemed to be really enjoying the gig. This is one of the strengths of the space and is something frequently overlooked when people create experiences. They’re having a great time and you can’t help but have fun with them too.
At the end of the day, they are creating a compelling, authentic and relevant brand experience. They’re giving people something new, a way to experience the Charmin brands in a very engaging way. Plus they’re delivering a very-much needed service to people visiting Times Square. It hits on every level. They face the challenge of making sure that it continues to maintain a very high level of service, but from what I know of the gigunda group, I’m pretty confident that they’ll achieve that. It’ll be interesting to see how P&G reviews this when it’s all over and whether or not they’ll keep it in Manhattan after January.
Many years ago, my first job out of college was working on Main Street at Walt Disney World in Orlando. For the first summer, I worked in one of the retail shops on Main Street and learned a whole lot about creating a great guest experience. Later, I became what they called a cross U, meaning that I worked a half-shift in the merchandising group and then I got to head off to the entertainment division and perform for the rest of my shift. My first show there was with the Tencennial Parade, where I was a part of the Main Street Trolley team and we did a routine to The Trolley Song, from Meet Me in St. Louis. It was a hoot, although wearing a three piece, wool suit in Orlando in August for a 30 minute parade while dancin' around was kind of a pain in the ass!
My second parade at Disney was the Main Street Electrical Parade, which used a seriously cool song called Baroque Hoedown as its main theme. Interestingly, They Might Be Giants recorded a version of this song too.
I don't know what made me start down this memory lane, but thanks to youtube, I was able to find video of the parade, although this is the newer version from Disneyland. Since it's someone's home video, there's lots of talking and stuff, but you don't really have to watch the whole thing. Just listen to the first minute or so. The anticipation as the lights dim. The synthesized-voice introduction. The cheers, the clapping. You can't imagine the energy that we would feel as performers when that music started and the audience came to life! It was incredibly powerful.
And although it's been 25 years or so since I did the parade, just hearing that music and the crowd brought all of those feelings back to me again. Sitting on my couch in West Orange, NJ, I felt the energy that I used to feel waiting to go out the gate at step-off. That performers high you get when you know you're about to bring something special to the audience that's been lining up for probably an hour just to see you. That my friends, is the hallmark of a great experience.
So, take a look at the experiences you're delivering right now and ask yourself this. 25 years from now, will one of your employees see something that brings back those memories and feel elated and excited knowing that they were part of it? Or will they be thinking I can't believe I used to do that. What a waste. We spend so much time trying to figure out how to create great experiences for our guests, but many times we don't even think about the employees. And if they're not feeling the elated and excited first, your guests never will!
UPDATE:
Just found this video of the Tencennial Parade, back at Disney World in 1981! I'm on the wrong side of the trolley (I think), but yep, I did this for a full year!
Max Lenderman over at Experience the Message has this great story about a promotion for a push to talk phone product in Canada.
It's a national stunt/promotion for Solo's Walkie Talkie phones. At bus stops in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary, we've connected bus stops with actual walkie talkies phones. People just push the button and are connected live to another bus stop in another city. Should make for some fun, awkward interactions.
To quote Max, "How awesome is that! He's got some picture on his posting as well, so make sure you check it out!
Now this is a great example of an excellent brand experience. Bring people right into the stores and give then your product. Create a positive experience and feeling right there in your retail space. Plus, you get a free ice cream cone for heaven's sake! So, make sure that you visit your local Ben & Jerry's tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 25th is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's, and you know what that means... free ice cream for you!
As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 28 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry's scoop shops are giving it away!
Around the world, scoop shops are opening their doors from noon to 8:00 pm, to serve up a free scoop of your favorite flavor (or better yet, a new one you've been wanting to try, like Turtle Soup™, Peanut Butter Swirl or Lemonade Sorbet).
So grab a pal and come on down to have some 'scream on us!
I mentioned this to my wife and she said she didn't understand why it took so long! But this is a great idea!
Oreos have been orange, they've been chocolate-covered, they've even been Shrek Green. Now they're going to be something other than round.
Dunk design
In a bid to capitalize on the dunk portion of the longtime "Twist, Lick, Dunk" theme for its Nabisco sandwich cookie, Kraft Foods this June will introduce a six-week limited-edition version of the typically O-shaped treat that is oblong and marked with messages including "soaked," "soggy," and "dry" lines for fun and easy dunking.
OK, I've embraced my inner geek and I've just made my first purchase from SCOTTEVEST [SeV] - Technology Enabled Clothing. If you don't know them, they're the people who make jackets with 30 - 40 pockets with all kinds of ways to hold all of your tech gear. And, they also have this great spoof of the iPod ads. My jacket arrives on Friday, so I'll let you know how it works!
So, I was shopping at Harrods while in London last week and I picked up a catalogue for Red Letter Days, a company that provides experience gift certificates. I mean, this was some cool stuff! How's this for some examples:
Give your car fanatic the ultimate adrenaline rush with one of these thrilling driving experiences. From motor racing to rally driving, from Ferraris to MINI Coopers to Range Rovers, our huge range of highly original high-speed gifts are as much fun to give as to receive.
Whether your kids dream of being a pop star or a secret agent, you can make their wishes come true. Our junior range is specially designed for the younger generation and includes junior rally driving, fame school, scuba diving and aerobatic flying with The Arrows.
If you know someone who wants to explore a new direction, fulfill a lifelong ambition or simply perfect their skills under the guidance of an expert, why not give them a little inspiration with one of these unique experiences? They can record their own CD, learn how to walk a tightrope, bloom into a successful gardener or get a grounding in the music business.
If you are looking for a truly unique gift of a lifetime, you will find it in our VIP collection. These are remarkable experiences for very special people: flying to the edge of space in a MiG fighter jet; driving a real Formula 1 car around a motor racing circuit; dog sledding across the arctic wilderness to the extraordinary ice hotel; a romantic escape at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park; or, only for the most adventurous, an unforgettable trip to Nepal to climb Mount Everest.
There wasn't a single thing in this catalogue that I didn't want myself or want to give to friends and family. You can drive a tank for heaven's sake! And what a great gift idea for our over stimulated world. The idea of giving people experiences rather then gifts is clearly very powerful today. Most people have all the stuff they need, but a once-in-a-lifetime experience is a gift that keeps on giving. So, with Christmas almost a year away, you can start your planning now. And, in case you're wondering, I'd be very excited if someone wanted to give me the Military Activities Experience!
Gotta' say, I wish I had come up with this idea, especially since Doug will be speaking at the Lab in early December! So, hop on over to the Business Innovation 2005 blog and send your thoughts along!
The FORTUNE Business Innovation blog is pleased to announce the third of its "Get Back in the Box" contests. Douglas Rushkoff, a globally-recognized thought leader on media, marketing and Internet culture, has created a third reader contest based around the open source model of innovation as described in his forthcoming book Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out:
"The companies most threatened by the open source model of innovation are the ones that see their greatest innovations as behind them. If you've already invented your best cell phone, mop, marketing methodology, or catcher's mitt, you will spend more time guarding your secrets than coming up with new ones. Even if you enjoy a competitive advantage today, you carry on with the lingering knowledge that it's only a matter of time before someone else figures out a better way to do what you do. To stave off this inevitability, you lock down your advantage and processes as much as possible and maintain a closed source enterprise -- even to yourself."
Based on that excerpt from Rushkoff, "What examples can you give of a non-computer-related business that has, nonetheless, opened itself up to collaborative innovation?" For example, did you know Procter and Gamble has an entire division now dedicated to collaborating with other companies on new technologies? That's how they got Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!
Submit your selections over the next few days for your favorite example of an open source innovation model and you could win a free, autographed copy of Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out by Douglas Rushkoff. The most innovative entry, as judged by Douglas, is the winner. That%u2019s all you need to know -- so start submitting today (either by adding comments to this blog entry or sending email responses with "CONTEST" in the subject line to: [email protected]).
