Ordinarily I wouldn’t write about this sort of thing as it’s so close to home but it’s such a wonderful example of how a brand can use service to its advantage.
At Christmas I went home to Australia to visit my family. At LAX, my daughter was wandering through a store while waiting to board our flight. Unfortunately when it came time to board she accidentally left her carry-on luggage behind. It was only at the gate that we realized this. Too late. It had disappeared.
Ordinarily this would be one of life’s little lesson in responsibility and no cause for concern. But inside that bag was something very special – my youngest daughter’s favorite super soft toy that she sleeps with at night. Now this was a different matter.
My eldest daughter felt bad about the loss of the toy and even bought her younger sister a sorry gift (bless!) My youngest daughter did a very good job at managing her sadness at having lost Snugglewuggle. People felt sad all round.
When we arrived in Australia we purchased what we hoped would be an acceptable replacement for Snugglewuggle, but as my daughter confided to me, it only made her think of who she lost. I tried calling the airport and got a long recorded message. I called the store in question for several days to no avail. It was time to move on.
We returned to LA having given up any hope that Snugglewuggle would ever return. We scoured several CVS pharmacies and even contacted the distributor where a wonderful woman named Laurie kindly searched the factory inventory with her reps for the missing bear. (If you’re young and single this probably sounds insane but went you’re a parent with a sleepless child it suddenly becomes completely rational!)
It was at this point we finally gave up hope. Then, miraculously, only a week ago, we received a phone call from my daughter’s school. Apparently a Delta Airlines lost luggage employee in Detroit had received the missing bag through lost property, opened it up and found my daughter’s schoolbooks that she was taking to read on the plane. The employee located the school in California, explained the story, the school called us, we went to LAX andlo and behold, we were reunited with Snuggles.
Not only do I have huge respect for the quality of customer service provided by Delta, but it also made me mindful of how the powerful emotional bonds that bind us are transmitted through products and then associated with brands.
That teddy bear was incredibly meaningful to my daughter. As such, its disappearance was incredibly meaningful to me. As a result, the effort by that Delta Airlines employee has transformed my opinion of that brand forever.
These emotional bonds pass invisibly though products especially across social media. The easiest way to win over a unhappy customer tweeting negative things about your brand is to reach out to them, take responsibility and ask how you can make things right (a lesson Wall Street and Toyota are struggling with). Once you do an unhappy customer can become your greatest champion simply because of how you handled the situation.
So thank you, Delta, for returning Snugglewuggle and reminding me what service is. My youngest daughter is really happy as am I. And don’t let that crooked smile fool you. Snugglewuggle is happy is to be home too.
If you’ve had an experience where you opinion of a brand was transformed, let me know.
BTW: I did ask my daughter if it was ok to share this story. Snuggles didn’t object either.
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Few companies launched on twitter with more bang than ad.ly. As an in-stream advertising platform that enables users to publish content and be paid for it, their arrival attracted a lot of discussion and exponential success.
Sean kindly shares what they’re up to now, their new analytics tools for publishers and their plans for the future.
Big clients like NBC, Sony, Universal and Microsoft have already jumped on board. And as we increasingly become content generators, publishers and distributors, this is one area to watch for sure.
Hope it’s useful and fire away with any questions.
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Steve Jobs didn’t just launch the latest ‘must have’ consumer accessory last week. He unleashed the latest assault on everything we thought we knew as marketers.
Faris Yacob responded the iPad launch with a great post about its impact on languaging. Appropriately entitled ‘The Medium Isn’t the Message’, he questioned – to paraphrase him – that when you’re watching 30 Rock on Netflix, via your Xbox360, on Hulu, a laptop, screen, projector or very soon an iPad, are you still watching television? If you’re reading Brian Solis’s Engage on your Kindle or iPad, are you still reading a book? Or when someone is reading an e-newspaper on a news website or their iPad, are they still reading a newspaper? In short, what do words like television, print or newspaper mean any more?
His point is well taken. The language that media companies have used to distinguish themselves from competitors and build their empires is suddenly rendered meaningless when text, audio, video, experience, and gaming migrate seamlessly in real-time from one medium to another.
While this is a boon for consumers, it is of great concern to brands trying to keep up with new technology, social consumers, and maintain a competitive advantage. It’s is both a business and advertising problem that begs several questions.
How do media companies re-invent themselves when long standing silos like television, print and newspapers are no longer meaningful? How do content providers define or redefine themselves on an ongoing basis? How long will those definitions hold? How soon will it be before consumers migrate to new technology that shifts the media landscape again?
These questions have enormous implications for brands in terms of their internal structure, their business planning, and how they take themselves to market. They demonstrate the very real clash between the practicalities of running a business based on a top-down, tiered-structure that has been used for decades and the demands of a socially connected marketplace undulating with free-flowing conversations.
Companies need to strike a delicate balance between their internal organization and external interactions with the marketplace. This necessitates an organizational structure that is defined and undefined in the sense it has the capacity to evolve and reconstitute itself.
A critical requirement will be a clear definition of purpose, core values and contribution that serve as a compass in an environment of continual change. Not only will they give the brand a distinct personality that consumers can respond to, but such clarity offers huge upside in terms of internal decision making, strategic planning and employee retention.
As the marketplace gets more confusing (thanks, Steve!), a company must become better defined. Confused is an uncomfortable place to be in a recessive marketplace and threatens a brand’s survival. The best solution, more so today than ever, is for brands to look to themselves to find the solutions they need.
I’d love to know your thoughts on traditional media silos and what new technology means for brands?
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Twitterville is the first book in my new giveaway-extravaganza-bonanza-athon. Now I hear giveaways can get problematic so I’ll post some guidelines on my site shortly. But the goal here is just to keep going ideas flowing among us and to say thanks for your support. Here’s how it works.
Every two weeks I’ll review a book and then give it [...]
Social media has done more than connect consumers in ways never imagined before. It has done more than challenge brands that traditionally communicate with consumers by dictating behavior in a “push” rather than “pull” strategy. Social media has also redefined the short and long-term roles of advertising agencies. Here’s why.
Simon Mainwaring is a branding consultant, advertising creative director, blogger and speaker. A former Nike creative at Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy, he now consults for brands and creative companies that are re-inventing their indSimon Mainwaring is a former Nike creative at Wieden & Kennedy and.......
