Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am liking the analysis of customer service vs product - but let me add another perpective.  In the world of architecture and design the industry is facing a huge challenge with commoditization of services.  This is in part due to globalization (read "the world is flat" by Thomas Friedman) and perception....and as we all know perception is reality.  The point is this:  Regardless of customer service or innovation or anything else - as goods and services everywhere become commoditized, we’re shifting to an economy based on experiences – memorable events that engage each person in an inherently personal way. This is powerful....and as we move toward increasing competition and an increasingly higher level of educated consumers - what will bring them back is personal experience.  This requires a lot of thought, attention to detail, theatre, and innovation in the ways we execute and do business.......but guess what?  who can do this better but small business.....because we are more agile and nimble.

Wow Shane!
You know, I don`t think I`ve ever thought about this in quite this way.
But after I read your post and started thinking about it... the pizza joint exmple that I was talking about with Joel came to mind.
And, you know, this pizza place does offer a unique customer experience. They`re funny. The foods good and the atmosphere is sort of throw-back. People enjoy relaying their experiences--talking about how they were thrown out at 10 p.m., even though they close at 11 p.m., etc.
Now. This is going to sound a little sci-fi weird. But I recently read an article (I`ll try to find it) about non-technology and specifically nano-assemblers. They`re devices that can pretty much copy and create products. The article basically said, how will companies survive this ultra-commoditization of the world.
Could the answer be: by offering a unique customer experience?
Live long and prosper, dude.

Matt S.

Hello everyone!

Below is an article on this topic posted by Mark Hurst of goodexperience.com. Most people would benefit from reading his newsletter and blog. The full discussion is here: http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/000335.php

Defining "Branding"

by Mark Hurst

September 28, 2005

While speaking at a "branding summit" recently at a major tech company in Silicon Valley, I heard several different definitions of "branding". Depending on the speaker`s background, a company`s brand could be explained from a number of angles:

- It`s an aesthetic style that consumers should recognize. (The visual approach)

- It`s a consistent message that must be pushed out to consumers as frequently as possible. (The big-advertising approach)

- It`s a story that we tell ourselves and each other. (The narrative approach)

- It`s a reasonable amount of value that consumers should be willing to pay a reasonable amount for. (The classic marketer`s approach)

- It`s a culture.

- It`s a promise.

- It`s the iPod.

- It`s whatever we can do to be like Nike/Starbucks/Coke.

While I think that each of those statements is accurate to some degree, the reality is different for every company. After all, different companies have different customers, services, and business goals! Not every company sells a famous logo printed on a container of sugar water; thus, not every company should try to be Coke. Every company should try to find its own path in crafting a brand.

But if I had to give one definition to apply in all cases, it would be something like this:

The brand is what you tell your friends about afterwards.

Think about it. When you have a great (or bad) experience with a restaurant/airline/hospital/website, what do you tell your friends about? Do you echo the messaging from their advertising? Do you say, "Hey, try them, because they had the coolest logo"?

Of course not: you tell your friends what was important to you - the details about your particular experience. And that`s the brand. Nothing more, and nothing less, than the sum total of all the customer experiences served up by that company.

Here`s an example. As I sat on the plane last week from New York to San Francisco, I heard the traveler in the seat behind me telling his row-mate, who he had just met, why he loves JetBlue. More legroom, lower fares, on-time departures, DirecTV - all the things that he has valued in his personal experiences with JetBlue. This was the most accurate description of the brand he could give, and the most effective that his row-mate could hear - better than a dozen TV commercials. JetBlue couldn`t control what the guy said, but they could - and did - control the experiences he had as a customer. And thus the brand got built.

(I should also note that this exchange took place in the back of an American Airlines plane. Why did JetBlue come up in the first place? Both travelers noted when they sat down that American doesn`t provide very much legroom in coach. So a less-than-ideal customer experience in one context created the opportunity for another company to extend its brand.)

With this in mind, let`s simplify that definition:

The brand is the customer experience.

And that`s all it is. It`s not primarily a story, or a logo, or a style, or even a value proposition. Primarily the brand is just what customers tell each other about: their experience.

So if you want to create a good brand, the best - perhaps the only - investment to make is in the customer experience. This means learning from customers through direct observation, and crafting a strategy built from that customer input.

I`m not suggesting the death of advertising; nor am I suggesting that companies avoid mission/vision statements or logos or color palettes. However, I am suggesting that all of those things are secondary. The primary job of any brand executive is to create an outstanding customer experience.

Once the customer experience is set, the other elements - aesthetic style, consistent messaging, value proposition, iPod-ness, Coke-ality, all of those wonderful ideas will take care of themselves. I promise.

I found your post informative regarding your ideas .Great job.