The Customer Experience over and over again
For the brand which is about to launch into the market or the marketing strategy which is being brainstormed think customer experience every step of the way.
Marketing Directors often believe that customer experience comes later down the line when consumers get to know a product or they view the experience as a one off activity.
Consumer experience is not to be regarded and/or implemented as a frivolous activity rather as a cornerstone of a brands relationship with its end-user. A consumer experience allows your brand to tell its story and different aspects of its character, time and time again and it doesn’t have to be expensive!
Let me present a scenario…
Imagine you’re sitting in the office and you get a call from the receptionist informing you somebody is downstairs with a gift package for you….you get excited, you blush, you are curious, you feel happy that somebody wants to surprise you, your heart possibly skips a beat and your mind starts racing thinking who could it be from? What is it? eeeiii what is it? Who can it be from? Is the person there? Do I look ok?
As you make your way to the reception you have forgotten what work you were doing and you can’t wait to catch a glimpse of who has delivered you a gift and the gift package. As you exit the lift or descend from the stairs you see a beautifully dressed lady, with a red robe and a pretty flower crown smiling waiting for you…
You smile, you’re even more curious and slightly confused, wondering what is going on? Who is this lady? is she for me?
As the lady starts to speak to you, she informs you that she has a special gift for you from a well-respected brand which she wants you to receive.
Your mind moves away from all personal relations yet your curiosity deepens as you cannot wait to see what brand and what is inside the box. You know you haven’t entered a competition, you know you haven’t received any promotional notification…there is a mixture of excitement and curiosity rushing through your veins.
You accept the gift, take a picture and run upstairs, shaking the package as you go and notify your colleagues that you have a gift. A group of your colleagues gather around as you open the box. Once opened a sweet aroma fills the room and you see a bouquet of beautiful red flowers followed by a touching message and sample product. Everybody is intrigued, smelling the roses, taking pics with the gift, smelling the product and taking their time to read the letter.
After some fuss in the office, you settle down, look at the box and the letter on your table, pass a few comments to your colleagues nearby and gently smile. You reflect upon the fact that you have never had such an experience. You think of the product and realize that you never paid much attention to it before, to know it had such lovely scents and variables. When you get home you tell one or two members of your family about the experience and share the pictures on social media.
By the weekend you are doing your household shopping and see the product on the shelf with the full range of scents, you’re compelled to try one or if you’ve tried one, you’re compelled to try a new fragrance. All the other brands are blind to you, you have your heart, eyes and mind set on that one brand which made you feel special, the one brand which gave you a delightful experience, the one brand which spoke to you, the one brand who took its time out to reach out to you when no other brand was bothered to.
A customer experience should be intentionally scheduled into a brands marketing strategy at least 4 times a year. With each occasion providing the brand an opportunity to tell a different part of its story or deliver more its brand personality.
With the birth of the digital world and global integration consumers are moving away from the traditional buy and sell model quite rapidly. As consumers are pushed to be more savvy, critical and innovative so is their demand of brands which they engage with. They desire to be paired with brands which understand their day to day needs and aspiration and seeks to compliment them.
With a combination of both individual and group consumer experiences your brand is defining a group of loyal customers and inevitably increasing its market share unbeknown your competitor.
The success of delivering consumer experiences is not to overthink the process and make it too technical and sales focused but to fundamentally communicate the brand essence and engage strong touch points utilized by your audience.
Deliver your customer experience over and over again.