As my favourite digital marketing demi-god Mitch Joel said in a recent blog post, ”Product Is The New Marketing“.

“The individual is empowered is code for Social Media,” writes Mitch.  “This isn’t really about word of mouth marketing in as much as it is about the fact that customers don’t just tell one another about brands they love (and hate)… they tell everybody.”

Which is exactly what happened here. 

I was first introduced to 1-800-Headsets through my friends at LeapZone Strategies when they raved/blogged about the service.  Nothing like a glowing endorsement to get me motivated.  Plus I was looking for a replacement office phone and me (and my chiropractor) love headsets. 

Having hung myself copious times with headset cords, I was particularly interested in finding out about cordless options.  Well voila!  I landed on 1800headsets.com and a world of options unfolded.  From selection through product delivery and support, I’ve enjoyed a fantastic, multi-functional office phone/headset solution ever since. 

This week, I needed a replacement battery and was reminded of all the reasons why this service rocks.  I landed back on their easy-to-navigate site where help is encouraged through a “Customer Love” mantra, where LiveChat operators are standing by for assistance, where picking up the phone is welcomed with messages like “Call us!  A real person would be happy to help you”.

In a rush, I decided to go traditional.  Inside two minutes, the delightful customer service dude pulled up my profile, told me what I needed and made it happen.  Yah. 

I was promised delivery by Friday, got it Thursday.  The box came complete with custom, idiot-proof installation tips/instructions and…get this… TOOTSIE ROLLS. 

Yes, Tootsie Rolls. 

Nothing like taking an already great brand experience and making it fun and yummy too. 

MY SOAPBOX:  To be clear, all I needed was to get my phone battery replaced… boring right?  Wrong.  1-800-Headsets took a pedestrian purchase and made it personal, easy and enjoyable.

And the best part is, with the power and influence vested in me as a consumer, I get to share it with you.

When is the last time you were surprised and delighted by a brand?  Tell us about it…

1-800-headsets, 1800headsets, brand experience, brand experiences, brand performance, branding, headset, leapzone strategies, mitch joel, smd marketing, smdmarketing, susan dore

Stop the madness.  How did I go from not having time to read a fiction book in years to being sucked down a vampire vortex so deep and suffocatingly sexy, I spend the non-existent free time I have Twilighting my life away?  

Well… it started with a girlfriend of mine telling me how she was “enjoying” reading the Twilight Saga book series.  She suggested I might enjoy it too.  I laughed.  (a) I can’t stand the sight let alone reading about blood; (b) I left my teenage angst behind years ago; and (c) seriously, who has time?  I could be reading Gladwell’s latest or my Google Reader blog back-up I SOOO need to get through… right?

But with a knowing smile, that friend loaned me the first book – I cracked it on Easter weekend. 

(Crack being the operative word.)

Pouring through the first book in record time, I was away on a business trip and found myself in an unfamiliar, neighbourhood book store… large sunglasses… head down… looking for Eclipse (book #3) BECAUSE I’d finished New Moon (book #2) at 2:30 in the morning.  Not seeing Twilight books anywhere, I adjust my sunglasses and quietly ask the shop-keeper for help.  He basically yells, “Twilight…sure!  Kids’ section.”  All heads in the quiet, serene book store turn.  I quickly follow him to the back of the store with the same flood of emotions I recalled from grade 9 when the guy at the drug-store bellowed, “Tampons?  Ya… aisle 4!”

Humbled, I ask myself… um… how did I get here? 

First published in 2005, I was a late adopter on this brand.  Was it the resulting teenage frenzied line-ups at the box office that suddenly intrigued me?  The cult-like, breathless anticipation I’d witnessed around each book release?  Or am I now just a cougar looking for a fantasy escape.  (And I don’t use the ‘c-word’ lightly.)

Turns out the books were just the beginning… the cross-over media since then boggles the mind. 

Movies – not as good as the books but who cares.  They’ve given us a face for Edward and a body for Jacob. 

DVD’s – almost 10 million original Twilight movies have been sold to date; the 2^nd New Moon movie sold 4 million copies in its launch weekend alone.

Soundtracks – hardly toe-tappers, but from vampire lullabies to Clair de Lune, soundtracks for both movies have broken download records.

Merchandise – clothing, jewelery, random gear… don’t get me started.

Make-up – I’m at the drug-store the other day, low on health and beauty essentials (because I’ve been reading!!) and there’s a Twilight make-up display.  I’m there for toothpaste and next thing you know I’m trying on Twilight branded lipstick, suddenly desperate because they’re out of the shade of blood red I HAD to have.  It wasn’t pretty.  And my (inside) voice was screaming, “Take down the [blank’ing] display if you don’t have the [blank’ing] product to back it up!!”  

Realizing how pathetic I was, it started to really sink in… just how powerful is this brand (?)

As a woman, I and every soccer-mom I talk to is in (secret) love with Edward (help).  As a marketer, I’m beyond spellbound by this phenomenon.

I’ll probably finish Breaking Dawn… the last book in the series… tonight.  I understand there are more spin-off books coming and the 3rd movie Eclipse is being released in June. 

(Sigh.)

MY SOAPBOX:  While J.K. Rowling’s enchanting Harry Potter series spoke to tweens/teens and took the literary world and Hollywood by storm, its ride was pre-social marketing.  Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga – also targeting tweens/teens - has truly captured the hearts, minds and texting thumbs of this most influential demographic voice of our web 2.0 times.  

Beyond that, this gothic vampire love tale has transcended age and bridged every demographic, shattering records and hearts… surprising even its author.  But who could have predicted this epic literary/2.0 combination that’s fuelled an entirely new category of (hungry) consumers?

brand experiences, brand strategy, branding, smd marketing, smdmarketing, stephanie meyer, susan dore, Twilight, Twilight saga, Twilight series

When my old vacuum recently started to blow vs. suck, it was a little problematic.  Decided it was time to invest in a dirt-sucking solution that was built to last.  I’ve been fascinated by Dyson… how can you not be?  Hip commercials with casual, cool James Dyson talking about how he was frustrated by vacuum cleaners that clogged and lost suction – so he invented Dyson cyclone technology:  The first vacuum that doesn’t lose suction.

Like me, you’ve probably seen those Dyson ads and thought… this IKEA kind of dude built a business around vacuum suction?  I can assure you that you can’t fully appreciate the problem/solution here until you see dust bunnies forming a funnel-cloud in your living room because your vacuum blows.  Literally.

Research – I start with Dyson.com and was not only drawn in by what I can only describe as sexy looking machines, I was seduced by the story behind this brand.  Turns out James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes (what??) before he was satisfied with his powerful, bag-free technology.  Described as “a man that likes to make things work better”, all I can say is this guy was focussed!  Since then, the Dyson brand has broken through bag brainwashing and patent nightmares.  Now in over 15 million households, you could say Dyson has sucked up some serious market share.

Purchase – Next step, Home Depot where Dyson had decent display real estate and easy-to-follow point of sale material.  This is where the price-point comes in.  At $500+ a Dyson is an investment, however, strategic yet approachable brand positioning makes you feel like you’re buying the Jaguar of vacuums (psst!  Dysons don’t just come with operating instructions, they come with Owner’s Manuals).

Thought I’d need to recruit some muscle or at least a dolly to get the box to my vehicle…but it was so lightweight complete with a handle, it was no sweat.

Test-drive – Back at the ranch, assembly was effortless with 3 easy-snap pieces in a well-packed box with negative cardboard cuts.  I was vacuuming on all floor surfaces in no time flat, easily getting into nooks/crannies with a festival of built-in attachments… all while enjoying music that I didn’t need to blare to hear.  And light?  This unit is so ergonomic and easy to manoeuvre it feels like a dance partner.  (I can’t believe I’m romanticizing household cleaning but dragging around a heavy, awkward vacuum?  Well it sucks.)

The comprehensive collateral kit directed me to register online for my 5 year warranty – took under 2 minutes and the follow-up emails since then have been all about “me and my experience” vs. up-sell or intrusive side-offers.

And at the risk of sounding ridiculous, when I “parked” my shiny new Dyson in the closet… I smiled feeling a sense of pride in a worthwhile, well-executed purchase. 

And isn’t that what a great brand experience is all about?

MY SOAPBOX:  From easy-to-empty to easy-to-push, the Dyson brand has harnessed innovation in its quest to engineer “a new way to clean”.  And from worldwide industrial design awards to exhibits at modern art museums, Dyson has invented a euro-hip brand that’s reinvented the “category” of vacuums.  But that’s just the beginning.  In recent months I’ve seen/test-driven Dyson hand-dryers popping up in major North American airport washrooms.  Same technology – reverse application.  Guess what?  They blow vs. suck!  And just as brilliantly.

brand efficiency, brand experience, brand innovation, brand leadership, brand performance, brand promise, brand strategy, branding, branding continuity, dyson, dyson.com, innovation, smd marketing, smdmarketing, susan dore, vacuum technology, vacuums

Snooth.com has created the ultimate online wine experience.  A community with so many layers of functionality and ways to connect, it’s like the Facebook of wine.   An online brand designed to not only purchase wine and wine related products, but to actually participate in wine culture… digital viticulture if I could make an on-the-fly attempt at capturing the “X factor”?

There are an abundance of wine club type websites out there, but once landing on Snooth.com, it doesn’t take long to realize this online brand has harnessed the distinct technological advantage of innovation.

Beyond pedestrian wine and wine destination travel articles, Snooth.com offers:

Search– go hunting for wines by varietal, region or winery with multi-level search functionality (I’m talking easy, uber-search)

Customize – once you find the wines you’re looking for, build a wish-list and/or virtual wine cellar… which you can easily download/manage via an Excel spreadsheet

Buy– rare finds and bargains can be found and filtered by country/zipcode making shopping in your hood feel like winning the wine lottery

Participate – have fun rating and writing tasting notes on wines and suddenly… personal recommendations start showing up with wine suggestions that “you might like based on your taste preferences” (like book recommendations on Amazon only geared for your palate)

Eat – nirvana for foodies, wines you search and/or find come with food pairings and recipe recommendations (like a liquid Food Network)

Mingle – meet people with similar wine tastes, follow RSS feeds on wine reviewers you like, check-out forums on hot wine topics… it goes on and on

In fact, with so much going on, Snooth.com surprises wine aficionados and at the same time, is non-intimidating for neophyte, new sippers.  And it’s that appeal to a wide audience combined with mobile applications, seamless social marketing integration and more that makes Snooth.com a show-stopper.

The only marketing questionable that comes up for me is their tagline… “Find better wines”.  Hmmm… underwhelming or so strategically simplistic it sets the stage for so much more?

MY SOAPBOX:  It’s like the people behind Snooth.com crawled inside the aspiring minds of every wannabe sommelier… creating a multi-dimensional experience around a great bottle of wine.  Hell, you could have been weaned on boxed wine and your uncle’s porch-climber… yet, you land on this site and aspire to more.  You want to learn more.

Lots of online brands simply follow and ride the wave. 

Bravo to Snooth.com for being an epicurean example of leadership in their category on every plausible level… for now.

brand efficiency, brand experiences, brand leadership, brand performance, brand promise, brand strategy, branding, branding continuity, smd marketing, smdmarketing, snooth.com, Strategically Speaking, susan dore, wine

Look familiar? Not to worry, there's a customer revolt coming.

Vancity – Canada’s largest credit union with over 400,000 members and 60 branches throughout British Columbia.  Small beans on the banking scale?  Sure.  But I can truly say – partly because I’ve been a member for over 15 years – Vancity has exemplified the “how to” in brand building. 

1. Visionary – One of the first online banking platforms back in the early 90’s.  (I remember online banking up a storm while everyone around me was still licking stamps.)
2. Employer of Choice – Nationally recognized as a Top 100 Employer and named #1 Employer in British Columbia.
3. Web Savvy – The best, most intuitive banking website you’ll find.  (In fact, find me a better one… anywhere.)
4. Perfectly Positioned – Grassroots community with the just-right balance of “green”.  From cool, edgy ad platforms to banking programs actually targeted at (what???) the self-employed, Vancity is as non-traditional as it gets… progressive with just enough conventional spin to attract Joe average.

And that’s what its members love and embrace!  Their brand promise… while dry… does what it says:  Vancity is guided by a commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities where we live and work.

Fantastic!  But in an online banking world, what happens when we actually need to go into a (gasp) branch?  Well, let me tell you about two very different experiences.

Case Study A – Vancity Branch #11

Nine people in the line, 3 bank service people… wait… 2 bank service people after the “woman-that-won’t-make-eye-contact” leaves for lunch, a break?… who cares.  People in line now groaning… 2^nd bank service guy (we’ll call him Rob) moving at a pace that is indescribably slow.  As the woman behind me spontaneously spouted, “It’s painful to watch him”… the guy behind her chimed in, “I was here last Saturday and got a parking ticket… it’s that slow here.” 

It’s finally my turn to get Rob’s help… guess he “picked up” on the negative energy in the line…and the first thing he says to me is, “You can always use the ATM”.  I pause… give him my best smile through gritted teeth and inform him how I have an international cheque which I can’t deposit in the ATM.  Rob goes on to tell me how he can’t deposit the cheque in the account I’ve asked for… then walks (in oh-so-sloooooow motion) over to his supervisor… only to come back and confirm how he can’t help me.  I ask for clarification… (keep in mind at this point I’m watching his smart-ass smirk and his slooooow moving lips… I’ve done this exact transaction 100 times, and I’m not up for any more of his incompetence)… so you know what I do?  I pick up my stuff, smile and walk out.  The woman behind me applauds and says, “Good for you girl!”  Then bravely steps up to the plate.  Not your average day at the bank?

(20 minutes later)

Case Study B – Vancity Branch #4

Eight people in line, 4 bank service people.  Line moving.  Lots of happy, neighbourhood chit-chat.  News and Food Network on multiple TV’s for those that don’t choose to chat.  It’s my turn in no time flat.  Exact same request as prior branch… done.  Effortless.  “Is there anything else I can help you with?” I’m asked by the friendly, efficient bank service person.  I leave smiling and feel like high-5′ing the rest of the people in line.

What happened here?  Well, it’s simple. 

An inconsistent delivery on a critical “moment of truth” in my brand experience.  That live, face-to-face, belly-to-belly opportunity for Vancity to either enhance or erode their brand.  To either heighten or undermine my loyalty as a member and ultimately, impact our relationship for better or for worse.  And it was all in the hands of front line employees like “Rob”.

MY SOAPBOX:  No melodrama but this is not a new movie!  We see this inconsistency all the time… brands dropping the ball on the front lines when it really counts. 

• A brilliant car brand campaign that has you feeling like an owner, smelling the leather with wind-blown hair… you walk into a showroom and (urch) you meet the sales guy. 
• The “we know you have many airlines to choose from but thanks for picking us” warm, fuzzy, in-the-air pitch followed by the gruff lady at the lost luggage counter who doesn’t give a rip about your golf clubs. 

There’s a customer revolt coming.  And it’s brands that put as much focus on selecting, training and empowering front-line or even on-the-phone-line employees to act as brand managers delivering their brand promise… (breathe)… as much focus on THAT human interaction as they spend focusing on the online/digital side of their marketing mix.  Those are the brands that will survive and thrive. 

Brands that not only have their finger on the pulse… they actually have one.

banking, brand efficiency, brand experiences, brand inconsistency, brand performance, brand promise, brand strategy, branding, branding continuity, canada, credit union, smd marketing, smdmarketing, Strategically Speaking, susan dore, vancity, vancouver, vancouver city savings credit union

To me, cupcakes are like “the banana of sweets”… perfectly packaged and full of goodness!  Ok maybe not as “transportable” but you get the gist.  It’s all about moist, delectable cake… straight up for purists or infused with gooey filling for adventurers.  Seemingly endless, mouth-watering, flavour combinations.  (Don’t get me started.)

But there’s an art to a cupcake… an art that’s not represented in the bulk, plastic packs of sprinkle-suffocated cupcakes you often see in super-markets.  So suffice it to say there was no one more delighted than me to see the original Cupcakes franchise explode onto the scene. 

From website to in-store, Cupcakes delivers Disney-like appeal.  They’ve done a brilliant job of creating branding continuity and a princess-like feel as soon as you walk in the door.  Honestly, you want to eat the walls.

However, after (several) visits to three separate locations I’m sad to report I’ve had luke-warm customer service experiences.  Each and every time I’ve asked a question about a particular cupcake, eyes glazed over like donuts.  You see the dichotomy.

Enter Big City Cupcakes.  I was on a busy Vancouver street and spotted the logo on their signage…first thought was CUUUPPPCAAAKE… 2^nd was ‘that branding needs a colour platform’.  First though prevailed.  I jay-walked, entered and asked a simple (albeit direct) question… with a smile, “What makes your cupcakes better?”  Her answer surprised me.  She said, “Big City Cupcakes was founded by 3 business women with an old family recipe and a vision.  All of our cupcakes are handmade with fresh milk, eggs and butter and the finest ingredients including Callebaut Chocolate.”

I bought a ½ dozen.

And as she walked me through selections like Truffle and Strawberry Cheesecake, I noticed nothing but the spectacular display cases showcasing these little treasures.  The rest of the shop was stylish but ‘in the background’…by design.  What shone through was a brand story and it was beyond engaging. 

So off I went with my gold ribbon package and product card detailing their locations and website, which… needs help.  However, Big City Cupcakes stayed with me… and the experience has been consistent in two other stores.

Here’s where the rubber meets the road… or the cupcake meets the lips. 

On the taste scale… the new-kid-on-the-block Big City Cupcakes is off-the-charts better tasting (confirmed in a blind taste-test with foodie friends).  And I shouldn’t be surprised.  I took some original Cupcakes to a barbeque with lots of kids and there were left-overs.  When I bought Big City Cupcakes the first time, I dug into one on the way home and had to pull over. 

MY SOAPBOX:  I could digress into the nuances of creamy vs. crunchy icing, moist vs. dry, etc… but the real take-away here is how two cupcake franchises growing at the same relative rate, deliver a simple product in two very different ways.  One sets a brilliant front-end stage and falls short on back-end service and product while the other needs front-end ‘packaging’ yet tells a story, engages the customer and delivers a better tasting product. 

Which delivers a better “brand experience”? 

By definition, all of the above.  But ultimately, it’s the product that raises the bar on taste, service, appeal, delivery… it’s the product that leaves you wanting more.

And isn’t it something when the under-dog actually RESETS the bar?

big city cupcakes, brand buy-in, brand efficiency, brand experiences, brand performance, brand promise, branding, branding continuity, canada, cupcake, cupcake franchise, cupcakes, original cupcakes, smd marketing, smdmarketing, Strategically Speaking, susan dore, vancouver