Experience Manifesto

Never Forget The User Experience!

Wish they ran this comic when I was speaking at the Newspaper Association of America earlier this year!

Grappling with Progress

The character of a destination. How can a community define itself, maintain its integrity, traits, history and essence, yet meet the expectations of the tourism engine that drives its commerce and livelihood?

Ogunquit, Maine is the latest destination to fight for independence, waging a campaign against what many of its citizens are describing as a formula chain-restaurant scourge. This battle is not new, with towns like Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., Bristol, R.I., and even the neighboring town of York, Me., enacting strong preservation measures. Northern New England states, with their cachets, particularly tend to challenge the chain mentality. The debates are visceral, alliances are fragile, and emotional discourse abounds as these New England communities address progress and retail commercialism. It starts out with that demon Dunkin Doughnuts or McDonalds and then accelerates with villainous Starbucks and Chili's. Lock the doors, bar the windows, hide the children, secure the women -- the Huns are coming!

Link: Grappling with Progress.

CUSTOMER-MADE| An emerging consumer trend and related new business ideas

Some great examples from Trendwatching of the "Customer Made" trend that they have been tracking.

Marketing has finally become a conversation. Not, in most cases, as was intended, BETWEEN corporations and consumers (that would make too much sense), but rather a global conversation involving millions of consumers ABOUT corporations. On sites like Planetfeedback.com, thecomplaintstation.com, Epinions, About.com, on hundreds of thousands of blogs, community sites, forums, viral emails, bulletin boards, and what have you, consumers relentlessly exchange views, complaints, opinions and comments about products and services, about brands, about companies, about YOUR company.

Why now? Because they finally can. For decades, consumers have been saving up their insights and rants about the stuff they consume, simply because there were no adequate means to interact with companies, or with other consumers for that matter. No longer. These fickle, wired, empowered, informed, opinionated and experienced holders of a MC (Master in Consumerism) are getting used to 'having it their way', in ANY way imaginable, which includes wanting to have a direct influence on what companies develop and produce for them.

It certainly helps that these same consumers are also part of GENERATION C: they're creative and increasingly have access to professional hardware, software, and online distribution channels to show (and dictate) companies what it is they expect from them, using text, sound, picture and video in ever more powerful ways.

Sure, some companies ARE now engaging creative customers in new ways. Recently, brands like Coors Light and Mercedes Benz invited customers to co-create advertising campaigns, with Mercedes encouraging proud owners of a Benz to submit snapshots of themselves next to their automotive objects of desire. And Mazda and Conde Nast have just partnered to create a similar contest whereby contestants can submit photos representative of their interpretation of Mazda's "Zoom-Zoom" slogan. (Thanks, Adrants.com!)

These companies are clearly aware that tapping into the collective intellectual capital of their customers yields great creative and 'real' content. However, let's not make the mistake to think that in the end these conversations will all be about communications and branding: how about extending this cooperation with consumers to virtually everything a corporation does, by making the customer an integral part of ALL creative and creational processes?

TRENDWATCHING.COM has dubbed the latter "CUSTOMER-MADE": the phenomenon of corporations creating goods, services and experiences in close cooperation with consumers, tapping into their intellectual capital, and in exchange giving them a direct say in what actually gets produced, manufactured, developed, designed, serviced, or processed. The CUSTOMER-MADE trend has been slowly building over the last five years, but with the current onslaught of consumer activism and the rapid rise of GENERATION C, it finally seems ready for its big moment in the limelight, where TRENDWATCHING.COM expects it to stay for many years to come. It doesn't hurt that Management Guru C.K. Prahalad recently published 'The Future of Competition' an insightful and highly recommended book on co-creation, which prompted us to move CUSTOMER-MADE to the top of our emerging trends list!

Mind you, CUSTOMER-MADE is NOT plain feedback, it's not Do-It-Yourself, it's not customization, it's not even personalization, as all of these happen after companies have decided what the basics are, which products and services and experiences they're willing to hand over to consumers, who can then (at best) modify certain elements, change a color, replace a cover. That's still pretty much a one-way conversation, business as usual.

So what DOES qualify as CUSTOMER-MADE? Check out the hands-on examples below; a random yet varied overview of CUSTOMER-MADE initiatives, both 'corporate' initiatives and grassroots movements, which should get you going.

Link: CUSTOMER-MADE| An emerging consumer trend and related new business ideas.

MARKETING TO THE AFFLUENT NEW QUALITY SEEKERS

Excellent piece by Jonah Bloom of Ad Age. And boy, oh boy, are we suddenly hearing a great deal about storytelling these days! This has really been at the heart of our message for years. Tell a good story, deliver a great product and experience and stop competing on pricing. People will pay more for a great story with a great delivery!

The recent launch of Budweiser Select was partly designed to take advantage of the (very "last year") carb craze, but in name, image, packaging and taste claims it clearly also has some aspirations to premium status. So, you might think the marketing folks at Anheuser-Busch would see this as an opportunity to test a higher price point, right? Wrong. Bud Select is priced “at parity” with regular Bud.

Lost faith
It’s a sad but familiar marketing tale. A-B is just one of a host of marketing powers that seem to have lost faith in their brand-building ability, preferring to pile it high and keep it cheap. In the obsessive quest for share, even the biggest names -- Miller, Kraft, General Mills and Coke -- have become so addicted to low prices that some of their great brands are now little more than commodities.

Now, with their core products maxed out in the mass market, they have to strain every muscle to get incremental sales. Worse still, their margins have been squeezed by these low-pricing policies -- some imposed by Wal-Mart -- making it tougher to find funds to invest in the innovation and brand-building needed to reverse the commoditization trend.

Investing in quality
They are in a deep, steep hole, and it would be foolish to suggest there’s an easy route out. It will require real guts for these marketers to take the vital steps: reconstructing their core brands to add value for the consumer and reflecting those efforts in higher prices (even at the expense of share); and investing big bucks in higher quality, pricier products, (even if it means taking money from core products).

To steel their nerves, or force their hands, perhaps they should visit a Starbucks. The coffee giant is, boringly, often celebrated for its customer-centricity, but it takes guts, as well as a good customer experience, to charge $3.59 for a large latte.

The new quality seekers
Even more significantly for mass marketers, Starbucks’ success speaks to the existence of millions of people willing to pay higher prices for a better product married to a better story. Starbucks has 33 million regulars, like me, who are not only willing to spend several dollars on a dose of caffeine, but also shell out $6.75 (before tax and soda) on a Chipotle Grill burrito, $12 on a vodka-based cocktail, or $150 on a pair of jeans. Millions of affluent consumers who seek quality not quantity -- they already feel they have too much stuff -- and will pay a premium for it.

Link: MARKETING TO THE AFFLUENT NEW QUALITY SEEKERS.

Viral Marketing Discussion

Recently, Asa Baily posted this question on the Adrants board:

Do consumers now define brands, not marketers - with the arrival of the consumer created ad and the blog and the failing efectivness of trad ads, is the future of a brand in the hands of the consumer and if so how do we guide it when people are more and more switched off to trad advertising- I say guide as I think control is impossible given that media has fallen into the hands of the consumer - I think the brand that will flourish in the next 10 years will be the one that can guide consumer opinion to uphold and promote a positive brand image over and above the opposite negative one.

And, yes, hypergarrulous as I am, here was my response:

I think that the challenge with viral advertising is that it's frequently seen as the end product. Something that can be created on purpose and directed by the brand. The problem is, that's not what viral and/or word of mouth are really all about. Sure, you can create something that people will pass along, but that's not necessarily creating a conversation about your product. It's creating a conversation about the ad. There's a big difference between the two.

The brand that will flourish in the next 10 years is one that creates a meaningful brand experience across ALL of its touch points. It shouldn't be about guiding consumer opinion and promoting a positive brand image. It should be about creating an actual product, service or experience that the consumer really wants and desires. Not throwing something together to catch a fad or ride a short wave. And, yes, advertising still works. A few weeks back, I needed a new car battery. Of course I bought a Die Hard, is there another battery? But, I eat Ragu because that's the spaghetti sauce I grew up with. Advertising and experience both play huge roles in our decision-making process.

But, they only work when they are authentic, relevant, and compelling. Authentic to who the brand is; relevant to the audience and, well, you all know what compelling is!

You can certainly use all of the advertising tools that exist today to create great buzz. Hell, just look at how much attention the Volkswagen brand got because of the Lee and Dan ad? That was an excellent viral program, even without Volkswagen being involved. But, do we really believe it drove people to the dealership (yes, pun intended)?

What companies really need to do is completely align their brand experience so that it tells one consistent story and, most importantly, delivers it well. Forget trying to harness the power of the latest fad (be it, viral marketing, branded entertainment, advergaming, etc.) and create a great story WITH the product, not around the product. That's how you create a sustainable brand and a sustainable business.

Here's something from a new book I've been reading called Brand Hijack:

Buzz is authentic opinion from consumers. According to David Lewis, 'It is the infectious chatter that spreads from consumer to consumer about something of genuine interest to them.' Because it is genuine, buzz is trusted.

'Companies will become story owners rather than product owners.' Rolf Jensen, The Dream Society.

We agree, it all comes down to great storytelling. As we say, there are three components of a great story:
* People want to hear it.
* People want to tell it.
* People want to participate in it.

Tell a great story (and, of course, back it up by actually delivering with the product/service) and you'll have a great brand.

Companies looking to be around for the long run should be looking to tell great stories all the time, not create a fake story just for the buzz! Hopefully, more companies will learn that lesson!

Link: Adrants Viral Marketing Thread.

Hotel Rwanda

When you have a 3 1/2 year old, if you get to see a movie, it's usually something like Racing Stripes or Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Not that they are always bad, but they're not heady movies that make you think. But, this weekend, my wife and I finally got a date night and had the chance to see Hotel Rwanda. This is the kind of movie that everyone should see. It should probably be shown in high schools as well. It was an incredibly powerful movie that moved us both greatly.

With everything still happening in the world today, what will it take us to learn from our past and stop our incredible inhumanity to one another. Given the current debate going on right now in the UN about what constitutes genocide, this is an extremely timely movie. And the fact that with all of our history here on this planet, we still need to hear this message, is extremely sad. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you do.

Link: United Artists: Hotel Rwanda.

Link: The New York Times > Movies > HOTEL RWANDA > Review, Cast and Synopsis.

Link: "Hotel Rwanda" Portrays Hero Who Fought Genocide.

Link: Hotel Rwanda.

Link: Hotel Rwanda :: Intervention Magazine :: War, Politics, Culture.

Television Malfunction

'Nuff said!

"The best way to tell consumers about the benefits of a brand isn't TV ads, where you just say it ... It's giving them a way to feel it for themselves," says Chrysler's Julie Roehm, as quoted by Suzanne Vranica in The Wall Street Journal (1/24/05). " That's why Chrysler apparently won't be spending $2.4 million for a 30-second spot to reach about 90 million viewers during Super Bowl XXXIX. Instead, the carmaker is diverting its dollars to a live event a few days later at the Chicago Auto Show -- a "56,000-square foot exhibit," including "1,100 cubic yards of topsoil, boulders, gravel, concrete and coarse timbers" -- where consumers will get a sense of what it's like to off-road in a Jeep. When Chrysler "tested a smaller version of the racetrack at the New York Auto Show last year, it "found that the average time consumers spent at its display area soared to 22 minutes from an average of seven minutes a year earlier."

Motorola won't be buying any Super Bowl spots, either. Instead, "at a park across the river from the stadium, people can participate in a Motorola-sponsored football obstacle course. In addition, several six-member street teams, dressed like chefs, office executives and people in other occupations, will roam the city sporting Motorola Bluetooth wireless headsets that connect to cellphones," and invite consumer to "try out the new gadget." Comments Motorola's Kathleen Finato: "This is not about saving money -- it's about being smart with how we spend our money ... It's more about having consumers experience the brand, something you can't always get with a TV ad." Joining that party is Campbell Soup, which, for the second year in a row, will hand out samples of "hot Chunky soup and chili" to Super-Bowl goers.

Cadillac, meanwhile, will be running a spot on the Super Bowl, but it will also "have 400 vehicles ... shuttling Super Bowl attendees to restaurants and ... top hotels. GM also plans to take over an entire city block for a celebrity go-cart race." Says Cadillac's Jay Spenchian: "There is less and less network viewing by our target, and event marketing is one way to give customers firsthand experience with our products." In 2004, Cadillac spent some 10 percent of its marketing budget on events, up from 5 percent the year before. The carmaker would seem to be on-trend: "U.S. spending on event marketing grew 15 percent, to $152 billion in 2003, according to the Promotion Marketing Association, www.pmalink.org. While total spending isn't available for 2004, the group says it expects there was an increase of more than 15 percent."

Link: reveries - marketing insights and ideas.

Live from NRF: Getting Emotional About Branding

Your customer’s conception of your brand is formed from his first experience or “imprint” with your company, or more generally, with the products you sell. Pointing to an example from his own childhood in World War II France, Rapaille said that he associates the U.S. with the GIs on tanks who stopped to give him candy. The reason he remembers that first contact with the “brand” of America is because that initial introduction was an emotional one. Without emotion, he said, there is not enough neural transmission to garner a strong memory.

Link: Live from NRF: Getting Emotional About Branding.

Components of Brand Experience

Lots of conversations about what makes up brand experiences, so I thought that I would post a slide from our presentation that we use to talk about all of the various activities that make up the brand experience. It is not meant to be a complete list, just the conversation starter. Any thoughts or additions?

Download ExpComponents.pdf

Experience Counts- Pool Winter 2005

An excellent piece from our friends at Pool Online about the critical role of experience in the future of brand marketing. Follow the link below to read the full article or download the PDF. The role of experience in the future of branding is one of the hottest conversations that we're seeing today. And trying to define experiential marketing is even hotter. In fact, the International Experiential Marketing Association collected over 200 definitions for experiential marketing.

Like Joe Pine, Martin at Pool Online and many others, that’s why we tend to speak more about experience marketing instead of experiential marketing. Experiential marketing tends to be used more as a tactic and, unfortunately, tactics come and go in popularity. In the last 12 months, just look at all of the hype around branded content, advergaming, blogs and even social networks and their role in the advertising mix. Using experience, on the other hand, is a constant since the beginning of business. We have always used a better experience as a business tool and we believe that it will only become more important in the future.

How would you rate your brand experience? If you can’t even describe it, you might want to start getting your resume together. It’s a good chance your brand won’t survive in the long run!

They've done excellent research for this article and there's a lot of excellent information in the piece, so make sure you spend some time reading the whole thing! I'm sure it's an article that you'll want to pass along as well!

Brand Experience appears to be one of marketing’s latest buzz phrases. As companies look for new ways to communicate their brands, Brand Experience is frequently mentioned as a possible solution and way forward. A need or desire to build experiential elements into the brand communications, indeed into the whole brand proposition, results from a number of crucial factors. Taken together, these mean that the marketer has to find new ways to connect with the target audience.

These factors are widely seen to include the following.

Traditional channels of marketing communications are seen to be less effective. This results from issues such as media fragmentation, ease of changing channels, “zapping”, etc.

Furthermore, the sheer volume of marketing communications means a lot of noise but very little opportunity for a message to reach its target.

Some traditional media channels have become increasingly expensive without a corresponding rise in perceived effectiveness.

Consumers have become more sophisticated. They are often tuning out of marketing communications.

Through the Loop analysed the subject of Brand Experience some time ago (Are You Experienced - Pool, Autumn 1999) and came to a number of conclusions. It seemed that one of the key issues was that Brand Experience could not be treated as additional marketing communications channel like advertising, field marketing or direct marketing. Brand Experience appeared to exist on a number of levels, indeed it was about how the brand was experienced across all the consumer touchpoints. This about moving beyond what we can call traditional branding to enable the consumer to become immersed in the brand and, therefore, develop a stronger association or relationship. Consumers start to live the brand. This is increasingly important as markets have become more competitive but products, services and brands have become more similar. Genuine and sustained differentiation is one of the keys to success today and tomorrow. Associating products and services with traditional brand image attributes is no longer sufficient. Even brand imagery has become generic in many cases, reducing the effective of this as a differentiator. Just think how often a product shots could be interchanged in some advertising, for example, with the consumer none-the-wiser.

Consequently, the development of Brand Experience can be viewed as the next logical step for branding. It provides the additional attributes and consumer engagement that enable a brand to stand out in a crowded market-place where differentiation is the key to success.

Link: Experience Counts- Pool Winter 2005.