Yes, I'm behind on my blog posts. Yes, I know I've neglected it. To those that have visited over last few weeks looking for an update to my promised experience article, I apologize. But it is still coming!!! For now I'll post some quick thoughts on a recent project we did at Captive Indoor Media that has direct correlation to experience although when we did it I had no intention to wrap it into the direction of my blog but here goes....
In my humble opinion, experience is something that extends beyond what your customer feels when he/she walks into your branch or store. If your employees haven't adopted your vision for the experience, you may as well pack it in. Experience starts internally!
At Captive Indoor Media, I am not only consumed with our product offering but how my employees feel about working here and then consequently how that feeling extends to our customer base. Hopefully it is positive on both fronts. It takes work to achieve this.
I've had the good fortune to work for both good companies and bad over my professional life. When I reflect back, I can see how my experience with each employer affected my interaction with customers and I try to use that to my advantage as I run my business today. The one thing that seems to strike me as most relevant when I reflect on past positions is the fact that when my mood was positive towards my employer, my customers attitude was more likely to be positive towards me. They were more likely to forgive not only my personal mistakes but that of the company I worked for and that makes life easier.
With that in mind, we did a really fun creative team building exercise in the office over the last couple of weeks. Follow the link listed below to see it in action. We filmed the entire thing and then sped it up by 4000% so it only takes 3 minutes to watch. I'd like to tell you more but the link is all you need to see what we did.
Yes, I promise I'll finish the experience article although I hope you will agree that this is a decent start although a bit off the initial path.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQUvUVVBD08
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Digital Signage: More on the video wall
Sound and Video Contractor did a rather large article on our video wall installation for the City of Louisville in their June edition. If you have not yet seen the print edition, follow the link to Sound and Video Contractor and check it out!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Digital Signage: Experience Counts
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.
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.
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