Last week I was in Seattle for the MAC (Marketing Association of Credit Unions) Conference. The conference draws around 150 professional marketers from within the Credit Union industry and is always interesting. If you are involved in the industry and have never attended, I encourage you to do so.
During the conference I spent much of my time interacting with other vendors and of course customers. The one topic which continued to repeat itself during these conversations was "Experience". "You have to give people a unique experience," said one. "The branch experience is what will set you apart" said another. Ok, fine but what is the definition of experience? Not one person repeated the definition that another had given me. Interesting.
I think about things as they relate to marketing in a retail space. And make no mistake, a branch is a store. If you don't think that it is, I suggest you take a closer look at what the high growth brands are doing. The most visible brand in the financial industry today is Umpqua Bank. If Umpqua Bank doesn't scream retail store at you, I don't know what will. Heck they even call the branch a store. Take notice.
Ok, so what is "experience" in a retail branch envirionment? I guess that depends greatly on who you speak with so I guess I'll add my definiton to the mix. But before I do, give me a few lines to set it up.
From my perspective I feel marketers today need to do their best to understand technology as it applies to the marketing realm. It is no longer good enough to say to a technology vendor that "IT takes care of that". If you find yourself saying things like that often, you are falling behind. Today's technology can get you closer to your customer and allow for better and more immersive communication. But you as the marketer must recognize the benefits of available technology as they apply to your marketing initiatives. In short, you need to know enough to be dangerous with technology as it becomes prevalent in the marketplace.
OK, so what is my definition right? I believe experience as it applies to a customer in a retail environment is the ability to fully immerse them in a brand from the minute they walk in the door until 5 minutes after they have left. That means giving them interesting interactive displays (check out this link from Infinity for an example) along with informative personal interaction in a unique setting (see Umpqua Bank) and backing it up with great service. If you do that customes will be wowed by your store and keep thinking about you for several minutes after they have left your store. They will also be more likely to talk about you to their friends. That is experience.
I'm going to do some more digging on this subject and post some follow up articles over the next couple of weeks. Be patient with me though. I'll be traveling quite heavily so posts might be sporadic.
