While the customer experience concept is not new, the dawn of the internet opened the world’s eyes to the importance of the user experience. This spawned a new field with significant influence over how organizations deliver value and interact with customers.
Why Customer Interaction Matters
According to research conducted by the Keller Fay Group:
- A good customer experience is three times more likely to spark conversation compared to a traditional advertisement
- 58% of consumers gave high credibility to information heard by word of mouth
- 50% of participants reported they were “very likely” to make a purchase as a result of a relevant conversation
- 50% of conversations triggered by in-person experiences resulted in purchases
Simply stated, interaction really matters. And nothing drives word-of-mouth advertising like great experiences. Furthermore, according to McKinsey studies, brand experience accounts for 50% to 80% of word-of-mouth marketing in any given category.
What is Brand Experience?
Brand experience can be defined as how a brand is created and then perceived in stakeholders' minds through all experiences and interactions with or involving the brand. It influences how customers feel about a brand through a simple but meaningful encounter. The ultimate goal is to elicit positive emotions and feelings from consumers concerning the brand.
With the world growing increasingly fast-paced, technological improvements enable more companies to get the basics right. Copying is becoming easier, as the sameness of many products and services make differentiation more difficult. Brand-inspired customer experiences, however, can help mitigate such effects.
To overcome getting lost in an endless sea of sameness, brands must strive to identify the unique customer experience that naturally comes from their brand’s positioning or promise.
Here are two engaging examples to help inspire your brand experience strategy.
Adobe Summit’s Community-Building Effort
For over a decade, the Adobe Summit has been a regular part of the tech calendar with its annual, week-long, action-packed conference in Las Vegas. However, the 2019 iteration of the event put brand experience at the forefront. It wasn’t just another generic conference or tired trade show — it was an experience.
Along with the product launches and interactive demos of new software, the event provided hands-on labs where summit attendees could gain insights into the brand's suite of tools and software.
The objective of the event was community building. Rather than selling products to its customers, Adobe sought to draw its users into a mutually supportive community. The extraordinary community-building effort really set it apart. Attendees were able to interact with the brand in ways you might not have thought of, see how other people use the products, and live in the brand’s world for a few days.
Best Buy Proves Being Innovative in Meeting Customers’ Needs Pays Off
At the 2019 Adobe Summit, former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly told attendees that seven years ago, people thought that Amazon would destroy Best Buy. However, the brand has seen a continuous increase in total revenue in recent years, including an over 8% increase from 2017 to 2019 ($39.4 billion to $42.9 billion).
What's Best Buy's secret? The company began by matching Amazon's pricing and fast, free delivery services. Additional CX improvements included revamping its website, implementing in-store changes, and investing in employees to reduce turnover. Best Buy now even offers free home visits and a tech support option that includes every tech product in a customer's home, not just those purchased from Best Buy.
According to Joly, digitization has been key to Best Buy’s transformation. Each tech advisor has quick access to current, key customer information, including which products they have in their home, past calls, etc. This saves a lot of time and frustration for the customer.
Newly appointed CEO Corie Barry is continuing the customer-centric focus started by Joly, “aiming to be the leading source of tech with a human touch.” The prevailing notion is:
“Selling a consumer a laptop or television gives you a customer for a day, but helping them install it, teaching them how to use it, and making a house call when they can’t figure out the remote creates a customer for life.”
When it comes to creating an experience with your brand, don't be afraid to think outside the box. Spend time thinking about the ways people could interact with you, even if it seems a little unconventional. If it aligns with what you do and is executed thoughtfully, people will talk -- in the best way possible.
Contact us to learn how our experienced brand consultants can help you develop a unique and valuable experience that will set your brand apart.
