Integrated Br and Touchpoints

owning customers across your Brands proprietary experience

Whitepaper#8

In the Wizard of Oz , Dorothy asks: But, how do I start for the Emerald City? Glinda tells her, Its always best to start at the beginning and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road.
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Likewise, robust brands see themselves as Emerald City destinations -- and, thus create well-defined and proprietary yellow brick roads to draw customers in, connect, service, and engage. Brands, in this case, become experiential journeys integrating perfectly crafted images, service interactions, and moments of truth or touchpoints. A brand, so the theory goes, is represented by literally hundreds if not thousands of individual touchpoints. Carl Sagan would be proud. Every piece of media, marketing, collateral, business cards, strategic partnerships, suppliers, packaging theyre all thought to be touchpoints. This thousand-points-oflight definition, however, is too broad, too bland, and plainly unmanageable. The definition isnt wrong it just overreaches and provides little strategic focus or operational prioritization. Rather, a brands key touchpoints should be those specific moments, interactions, and/or places where it inspires with compelling imagery, service delivery, and quality. Said another way, touchpoints are those discreet moments owned by and unique to a Brand.

As a customer journeys into and around a Brand, touchpoints successively introduce, welcome, engage, service, and retain. Brand imagery comes alive. Service personality is demonstrated; and customer information -- that drives personalization -- is captured. All told, the Brands resources and intellect come together to own the customer : their attention, their aspirations, and their affinities. This creates powerful moments for building trust, confidence, and fidelity.
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Celebrating the 80/20 rule, having a manageable set of critical touchpoints ( lets say 4 to 8) allows organizations to focus, have initial success, and greatly impact customer perceptions. Over time, these can expand to include back-of-house touchpoints ( such as wardrobe, EDR, HR, and employee store) where the brand comes alive and demonstrates itself to team members. Ikea, for example, designed an obvious customer journey with branded pathways and touchpoints. From arrival, through the showroom, their market hall, kids area, Swedish foods market, check-out and pick-up each is a

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Integrated Brand Touchpoints

an AmicusBD whitepaper
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distinct and signatured touchpoint for the brand. Even at exit, the Ikea bistro (hot dogs and Cokes) dramatizes value and an Ikea embrace before leaving. Disney, likewise, dramatizes itself at key moments. Perfecting the wink, Disney has a keen ability to make brand imagery, aspirations, and iconography come alive in subtle, yet powerful moments. Note below, the Disney Cruise promotional image of Mickey in the clouds elicits a dream-like state where Disney will take you. While most cruise marketing leads with the ships name, Disney clearly owns and connects to a different state of mind.

gallon of Vlasic pickles ( Fast Company The Wal-Mart You Dont

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Alternatives -- No doubt the greatest reason is choice and consumers have it. How well does your brand engage, connect, and create relevancy to their needs, their motivations, their affinities, their aspirations, and their lifestyles? Dont tell them show them! So whether it is segment splintering, emerging new markets, or media fragmentation its best to own your customers ( and their lifetime value) across distinctive, well-conceived touchpoints. With maturing core business growth rates, Federal Express and UPS have each aggressively expanded their proprietary touchpoints as well as their value to small businesses and individuals. Here, FedExs purchase and re-branding of Kinkos (1200 locations) and UPS doing likewise to MBE (Mail Boxes Etc.) with 1100 locations, significantly expands each brands reach and visibility.

Disney: Perfecting the Art of Winks

Once on the boat, Mickey is core to the pool scene. Its as if Mickeys omni-presence (in subtle winks) reminds you that this experience is clearly different and compelling. Hilton Hotels Corporations Hampton Inn hotel brand has similarly re-defined itself with a style, imagery, and personality that is distinctive and charismatic to its targeted customers. Assisted by Amicus, this brands re-conceptualization focused on four touchpoints: owning the welcome, the guest room first impression, the complimentary breakfast offering, and the 100% Hampton service and experience guarantee. Think of touchpoints as key moments along your brands experience roadway. These are defined by landmarks and connected by a storyline with a distinct brand personality. They are moments of truth where the brand is challenged, where service greatness is achieved, and products come to life.

Expanding Distribution Touchpoints

Conceptualizing Touchpoints

The advantage is obvious. Rather than trying to differentiate and own an entire experience at once break it down into consecutive components. Own distinct moments within the experience but make sure that all operate in seamless continuity. Touchpoints serve many purposes: to welcome, orient, service, celebrate, persuade, excite among others. Thus, first and foremost, conceptualize and design touchpoints from the customers perspective their state of mind and their reference points. What are customers most urgent needs, insecurities, and expectations upon first entering or approaching a touchpoint? Are approach points well defined and inviting? What transactions and interactions take place? What are the basics? How can you deliver them in impressive or expedited new ways? How should the touchpoint draw people in and be a beacon? What imageries instantaneously connect with customers orient and welcome? What should be the
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Why Important?

Why is this so important? Easy: noise, commoditization, and alternatives.

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Noise -- Competing noise and marketplace claims have consumers tuning-out in record numbers. Savvy consumers see well beyond the promises of media and direct marketing. To them, its all about trying it on and giving it a spin. How well does it fit? Consumers want touchable brands.
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Commoditization -- Everything being equal fewer and fewer brands have truly distinguishing characteristics. Stripped back to the basics, theres more and more competition on price. Here, these lowest-cost brands often serve at the mercy new technologies and re-intermediation. Behold, Wal-Marts $2.97

Integrated Brand Touchpoints

an AmicusBD whitepaper

Has the touchpoint design, service, and interactions built trust and confidence? Is service recovery built into it?

Virgin Atlantic Takes Touchpoints Literally

first impression? In other words, how will the touchpoint unfold from the customers perspective? What proprietary products, services, and enhancements speak to target customer segment aspirations, motivations, and preferences and, how well do they capture the customers attention? How to customize, personalize, and signature the interaction? What information is captured? What knowledge is used? What is shared across other touchpoints? Building on these core customer needs, next bring the brands iconography, imagery, personality, and values to life. Demonstrate what the brand stands for including its passion and expertise. How does the touchpoint affect the customers perception of the brand? is it motivating? what is the call to action? How do we celebrate with our highest-worth customers? What impressions do we make? How is brand imagery and brand uniqueness embedded in the built-environment? How substantial and subtle? How unique and charismatic is the physical space? Beyond transactional efficiencies, how are emotional connections made and reinforced? What is your brands distinctive and expressive personality (see Amicus Whitepaper #6 De-Mystifying Brand Personality )? How does this manifest itself at the touchpoint in obvious and subtle ways?
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Standing Back, Conceptualizing Integrating

Most of todays growth brands well understand the concept of touchpoints. Some create new ones -- such as JetBlue through seatback entertainment, Starbucks with call & echo, and Targets Club Wed wedding registry kiosks. Others stand back, re-think, and craft whole new branded experiences with interconnected touchpoints. Example here: Mazdas retail revolution concept -- a whole new showroom, shopping, service, and relationship experience where the Mazda brand is further dimensioned, demonstrated, and brought to life. Targeting tech-savvy younger consumers, Mazdas retail revolution focuses on 3 inter-related ambitions: create a more engaging shopping experience, facilitate up-front test-driving, and provide a more relaxed social environment that connects current and prospective customers to the latest inventory. Most importantly, this new concept was designed to clearly differentiate the Mazda showroom from competition visually, transactionally, and emotionally. The Mazda concept features several unique destinations or touchpoints including 1) a visually distinctive, canopied drive center where all models are fueled and ready for anyone to drive, 2) the mCafe in the showrooms center where buyers and service customers can relax with a good cup of coffee and/or enjoy the PlayStation Mazda Race game, and 3) Mazdas on-floor iCafe interactive web kiosks that help remove the veil of secrecy surrounding the pricing of model packages and customization options. For those re-vamped showrooms open 12+ months, sales have jumped 32%. More importantly, these showrooms generated twice the profits of non-revamped dealerships with similar sales increases.
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What is the hand-off? How do touchpoints and other beacons connect? How do you keep a touchpoint fresh, inviting, and special?

Integrated Brand Touchpoints

an AmicusBD whitepaper

In doing this, it is important to have an employee nearby to facilitate the welcome, communicate the benefits, and assist with questions.
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Promotional Opportunities -- To create promotional buzz, brands can implement temporary touchpoints. These are often fun, and unexpected. For example, to promote a new store opening in Palo Alto, IKEA set-up and dropped-off complete rooms of furniture with steal me tags in key feeder market downtowns.
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Dramatizing their Difference to Connect with Target Segments

Unexpected Promotional Touchpoint Creates the Buzz

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Tomorrows Touchpoint Battlegrounds

Three types of touchpoints (a brands website, self-service applications, and promotional opportunities) are growing in importance. Brand Website -- Many brands depend on the webs ubiquity, interactivity, and ability to personalize results. Yet few brands truly own this touchpoint. Some challenges include: making the brand come alive, being relevant to individuals, keeping it fresh and exciting, and ensuring connectivity with other touchpoints. At the end of the day, a touchpoint especially a web touchpoint must be proprietary.
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Similarly, Starbucks takes mobile stores and/or Chill Patrol Frappuccino sampling vans to events and concerts across the nation. Along the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy encounters a scarecrow without a brain, a tin man without a heart, and a lion without courage. Through their experiences on the road to the Emerald City, each gains what they lacked and becomes a true believer. Does your Brands journey likewise have this impact?

Self-Service Applications -- Building on the technological capabilities of the web (ubiquity, interactivity, information/database driven) self-service applications are increasingly gaining customer preference. When done right, self-service actually improves both transaction speed and a customers feeling of control over the process while improving transaction economics.
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Wheels take Starbucks to Customers

Thus, the keys to designing self-service touchpoints are to simplify the transaction, drive customers up a learning curve, and expand the real or perceived benefits of self-service.

Richard W. Gonzalez rick.gonzalez@amicuBD.com 901.755.5734

Amicus is a brand strategy, relationship marketing, and customer experience consulting firm driving incremental performance for leading travel, hospitality, leisure-time, and entertainment organizations.

Airlines Exploit Self-Service to Speed Transactions and Empower Customers while Lowering Labor Costs

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