Think Big : Designing the message

Want to hook customers? Remember that good design isn't simply about the product, it' about the entire business.

Behind every great customer experience is a tight coupling of product, service brand expression and business system. Designing for business - both the product and the message that go with it - is essential because a great experience should not be a veneer or hollow shell built to disguise an otherwise unremarkable product or service. A customer experience is the sum of many things working in concerto to create something true, authentic,, and compelling. User delight must be designed into every element. Not just the user-facing offering , but the product line, information systems, service and support, marketing communications - everything that will influence what customers hear, see, and feel.

WORKING TOGETHER - Jet Blue understands this. Most airlines do a good job of flying us safely, but what we remember are tortuous gate delays, rude staff and the painful nature of the boarding process. An enormous amount of energy has been spent in the design of the physical elements of flying, but little has gone into the back-end business processes. When thought through from the customer's point of view this could severely alter the user's perception.

In contrast Jet Blue's reservations, personnel and logistics systems were all designed with an emphatic understanding of the needs of not just the passenger, but everyone with a role in the flight experience, from pilots to service agents. This means that all these elements don't just work, but function in a synergystic way to create the magic of good experience.

Understanding the needs of everyone in a business ecosystem doesn't imply satisfying them all equally - that's a prescription for paralysis - but designing for balance in the ecosystem does increase the odds of a venture's viability or even success.

At the nexus of business innovation, three principles emerge :

1. Ensure desirability

Establish a point of empathy for the user. For example, the insights that let to the Sony Walkman and its progeny the iPod, which didn't come from traditional market research but from observing behavior. Empathy is the wellspring of value creation.

2. Balance desirability for shareholders

As your user-centered point of view develops, add in emphatic insights for all the shareholders in the ecosystem : Users, employees, shareholders society and even government. What does each entity want and need to make this product successful? an example is Amazon which incorporated the desires and needs of customers and partners.

3. Iterate for viability

Proceed as designers do, which is to create something quick and relatively cheap, show it to real people, and roll the learning back into the venture.

HOLISTIC APPROACH. Ready answers may not exist for most of the key questions that matter to your users and ecosystem - which will mean that you'll have to design experiments (Think of Google's long lasting Gmail beta) to get real information from real people about what works until viability is realized.

To meet the rising bar of customer experience, organizations must embrace this holistic approach to designing for business. It's when a company's products, services, brand and supply chain work together - Think Apple - that the experience is more than the sum of its parts.

Inspired on "Think Big" an article by Diego Rodriguez, Businessweek

State of the Marketing World : Quotes

by Erik Hauser. Founder and Creative Director. Swivel Media

On word of mouth..

"Word of mouth marketing does not exist. Word of mouth is an outcome.

Word of mouth is that part of the equation that comes after the equal sign. Real word of mouth is a genuine conversation between two or more individuals that benefits the receiving party. The only way to guide this conversation is by putting together a solid program that comes before the equal sign.” (Thanks Barbara for your feedback)

On the death of push-and-interrupt...

"An entire generation of Americans is making it clear that the old advertising models of 'push' and 'interrupt' marketing are no longer working. The key to successful brand building begins with engaging your audience and holding its interest long enough to create a relationship that will grow."

On the pitfalls of guerrilla marketing...

"Done poorly, guerrilla marketing can make your company look like a nightmare. Done correctly, it is one of the single most powerful marketing tools."

On experience marketing...

"Experience marketing defines the future of marketing. We live in an increasingly consumer controlled marketplace -- from the way people personalize the music they'll listen to, the type of news they want to receive and the delivery system that brings them that news. The only way to maintain an adequate degree of relevance as a marketer is to provide the consumer an experience in the self-defined and controlled sphere in which he lives."

"The companies that provide the great experiences will be the companies that capture market share. The deeper and more intricate experiences companies can provide, the more relevant connections they'll forge with consumers."

"By designing great experiences that satisfy consumers' senses, companies will experience marketing bliss and consumers will reward them with their almighty dollars."

"You can't put entertainment out there just for entertainment's sake. It won't create a lasting impression on the consumer. You've got to link it to an experience that will make the consumer immerse himself in that entertainment and the brand that it's bringing him into intimate cortact with. You must provide an experience that connects meaning and relevance to your brand."

On brand differentiation...

"It's not enough to express your function. Your message must communicate authenticity, credibility, meaning, relevance, and express your company's personality in order to connect. It's essential to find our own personal brand's voice by uncovering your differentiating strengths and leveraging those to beat your competition."

On Gen Y buying decision-making...

"We make buying decisions based on both rational and emotional factors. a feeling about something, using our senses of smell, touch, sound, sight. Those feelings are engendered in experiential marketing situations, and that's particularly true for people in their teens and early 20s. They've grown up so bombarded by messages that it's difficult to get their attention. Experiences that engage their senses and emotions are more apt to get their attention, to break through the message noise and clutter."

'Kids have tuned out traditional media. These kids don't want brands shouting at them and telling them what to buy. They consider themselves smart, clever, and they know what they want."

"You have to reach Gen Y in a way that's personalized and connects with their emotions and lifestyle. I haven't named them the Teflon generation for nothing."

Brainstorming : More Brain, Less Storm

How to think creatively about thinking creatively
By Michael Flanagan

Ideation is the punchline
Moving headlong into the brainstorming phase (or what designers call the "ideation" phase) of a product development program is like rushing to the punchline before properly setting up a joke.

Remember that upfront research will not be quantitative. It's not meant to be. And the techniques may not end up yielding tangible results every time. But with innovation at such a premium, investing a little in new techniques is well worth the risk.

It is important to resist the urge to start brainstorming product concepts too early in the process. Instead, channel that creative energy toward developing new tools and techniques for understanding what it is you're working with. But remember that this upfront research will not be quantitative. It's not meant to be. And the techniques may not end up yielding tangible results every time. But with innovation at such a premium, investing a little in new techniques is well worth the risk.

Click here for the full article from Core77

Leave No Stone Unturned

Column by Michele Miller


“I’ve done everything possible to create good relationships with my clients,?? a physician announced with just a hint of smugness during one of my recent seminars. “I’ve decorated my office with marble pillars and resort-style furniture. I’ve painted the rooms soothing colors and have a Japanese fountain in the waiting room to calm the nerves. There is a variety of magazines on the coffee table that appeal to different personalities. I even have a cappuccino corner where patients can make themselves a beverage. I’ve covered all the bases. You can’t possibly add anything -- there’s nothing left.??

I let his statement hang like Air Jordan for a few ticks of the clock, then arched an eyebrow and asked, “How long do your patients have to sit in the waiting room before they’re escorted in to see you???

It was like hitting him with a two-by-four. One of the most important aspects of the patient experience, yet he was so close to it, he couldn’t see it.

Link to read the full story :
http://www.inc.com/resources/marketing/articles/20060201/miller.html

Know The Codes

Know the Codes ; Why We Act, Buy, and Love as We Do"

In order to obtain an accurate reference, the marketer needs to explore the consumer's perception of the product. For example in reference to the Jeep Wrangler, in order for Chrysler to understand the potential buyer's preferences they were asked about their first memories of a Jeep, not what they wanted in a Jeep.
This approach is contrary to traditional market research involving numerous focus groups with the answers to hundreds of questions. Despite having asked loads of questions, Chrysler just hadn't asked the right ones. They kept listening to what people said they wanted, not to what they wanted.

An interesting example to this line of thought is the "American Idol" reality show. During the progress of the competition, the viewers are asked to vote for their preference amongst the competitors. Based on the votes received, the least preferred contestants would be eliminated, and so on until only one remains; the winner. Now, interestingly enough, back in the real world comes the final test. What happened was that not the number one contestant received acceptance but the second ranked one raked in the success and made it on the charts, while number one faded into oblivion. This happened both in American Idol as well as Indonesian Idol.

This shows that one can not ask for what people want, but one has discover what it is that they expect. This perception will certainly not be the same when comparing people across cultures. Going back to the Jeep, it was discovered that Americans perceived the Jeep as a horse. Horses don't have luxury appointments, soft leather seats or a closed roof. They have tough leather seats and an open top, letting you feel the wind around you while driving, as if riding a horse. Since Chrysler's executives were not very impressed by these conclusions, a minor modification to the Wrangler was suggested : Replacing the square headlights with round ones. Why? Because horses have round eyes, not square ones.
The car was tested after the modification, resulting in an immediate positive response. The Wrangler's sales rose and the new "face" became its most prominent and marketable feature.

After Jeep's successful campaign in the US, it was Germany and France's turn to give up their code for the Wrangler. As opposed to the Americans who saw the jeep as a horse, the Europeans saw the Jeep reminiscent of the liberation from the Nazi's used by American troops during World War II. The people in these countries told stories; their first memories; of how the image of a Jeep gave them a sense of hope. This resulted in the code of "Liberator" for Europe for the Jeep. This resulted in the positioning of the car surrounded by its proud past instead of as a horse. This campaign resulted in marked gains by Jeep in Europe.

Using a similar approach, coffee was explored with respect to the Japanese market. In Japan, a country where tea is the national drink, people have a minimal imprint for coffee and thereby it required a from the ground up introduction to the Japanese.
This made it clear that imprints vary from culture to culture. If you could somehow "decode" elements of a culture to discover the emotions and meanings attached to them, you would learn a great deal about human behavior and how it varies across the planet.

An imprint and its code are like a lock and its combination. If you have all the right numbers in the right sequence, you can open the lock. Doing so over a vast array of imprints has profound implications. It brings us to the answer to one of our most fundamental questions : Why we act the way we do.

Quoted from "The Culture Code" by dr.Clotaire Rapaille
(http://changethis.com)

The Law Of Perception

Tales From The Marketing Wars
Jack Trout, Forbes.com

Marketing is a battle of perceptions.

Still, many people think marketing is a battle of products. In the long run, they figure, the best product will win. Thus, Mr. Nardelli's Six Sigma push.

Marketing people are preoccupied with doing research and "getting the facts." They analyze the situation to make sure that truth is on their side. Then they sail confidently into the marketing arena, secure in the knowledge that they have the best product and ultimately the best product will win.

It's an illusion. There is no objective reality. There are no facts, no best products. All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.

Read the article at Forbes.com..

Quote

"You have to remain focused on your people. That's the key to great service."

-David Neeleman , CEO, JetBlue