Branding through everyday experience

Products and services, they observed, were easily copied. The only way to deliver unique value was to tap into emotions and sensations. Business therefore needed to reinvent itself as a kind of theatrical performance. The underlying goods and services would become little more than props: what a business would essentially be putting a price tag on is the feeling that customers derive from engaging with a certain product or service, rather than the actual product or service itself.

Starbucks is a good example of the “Experience Economy” theory in action. The brand has successfully transformed the humble cup of coffee into a tall skinny mocha fudge latte with wings, served up in a comfortable home-from-home environment that facilitates live music and coffee tasting events, and supports sustainable farming.

Since then, the theory has generated a lot of excitement, but also extensive scepticism, as “another over-hyped business philosophy”. But was it really?

Who knows what’s real?

Eight years on, consumers remain inundated with more choice than ever before, and with it, copious information about products, brands, companies and the environment in which they operate.

Bombarded with noise, they are increasingly in need of some sincere and self evident means of evaluating brands with a view to forming relationships. Put simply: in a world saturated by messages and promises, how do you evaluate what’s real? How do you determine the relative value of one sneaker brand over another? Or one bank, for that matter?

Experience delivers a tangible answer.

It does not have to be an event, nor does it have to be contrived. It does not have to be an underground party, a mall installation or a pop-up appearance of some kind. Theatrics are not an imperative.

What is critical however, is the way the customer feels when dealing with the brand. Call it Brand EQ.

In theory, experience is holistic, encompassing every aspect of the customer’s interaction with the brand. From the intrinsics of the offering itself, to the way one interacts with it. From the attitude of the staff to the nuances of the service experience. From the ambience of the operational environment to the visual projection of the brand. From communication tone to messages and media use. Not to mention interaction with other brand users, auxiliary experiences and members only benefits. A myriad factors that contribute to what it’s like to deal with a given brand; that govern the customer’s experience.

“Too much,” I hear you say. “Give me a good old TV/radio/print campaign and a price promotion. We’ll make lots of noise, and failing that, undercut the competition!”

But delivering a coherent, differentiating experience is really not as hard as it seems, if you follow two key principles:

1. Work from the brand essence; and
   
2. Identify specific opportunities for magic.
   

1. Working from the brand essence:

The brand essence, or consumer promise, is the founding principle of any given offering. If you base every decision regarding customer touchpoints and delivery on this promise, the outcome will be a fulfilling, consistent experience, creating a single minded message.

One sizable local organisation who is striving to get this right is FNB. Shortly after it launched the new pay-off line, “How can we help you?”, I remember walking into a branch and having a staff member ask me this very question. New product development has focused distinctly on offerings designed to “help” the customer, leading to innovations such as traffic fine payments at ATMs.

More recently, the organisation has taken to campaigning for the rights of consumers (eg via the latest Saswitch fees debacle), and even daring to stick its neck out on the issue of crime in South Africa. Some of these moves have attracted criticism (perhaps rightly so), but they nonetheless attest to an organisation that is sincerely and vigorously striving to find ways to help the individual, in everything they say and do.

2. Identifying specific opportunities for magic

You don’t have to deliver magic at every turn. Overwhelm the consumer and they will forget. Rather be smart by identifying a few key experiential ideas that are absolutely unique. For the rest, be consistent, truthful and competent.

You’ve got to be smart to make a comeback after substantiated allegations of sweatshops. In the 2006 Markinor Top Brands study, Nike came out tops as SA’s coolest brand - newly positive awareness indeed!

This company has been particularly clever about creating selective experiences that truly speak to the brand essence of “Winning” – personal victories – from the Nike Dance experiences, to the “Rockstar” workouts offered at local gyms. Even the supportive visuals are empowering, depicting strong, active women of all ages, rather than idealised beauty shots. Arguably, these experiences have done far more for the brand than their elitist concept stores, which really don’t go very far in delivering any sensations or experiences beyond standard take-or-leave-it retail.

The rise of the New Integrity

The fact is, we are in an experience economy, not because consumers have become spoiled escapism seekers, but because they are spoiled for choice. Bombarded with brand messages, they have become wary of smoke and mirrors, and do not simply believe what they are told.

Experience is the new signpost. Getting it right requires a change of focus.

I like to call it “The New Integrity.”