This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.
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"You can shine shit, but it’s still shit." – a guy I used to know.
Seth Godin writes about his experience with American Express:
". . . a customer just took the initiative to call in, to do business with you, to pay attention. And the company, just to save a buck or so in excess capacity, makes this eager person just sit and wait."
I wonder how much American Express paid Ellen DeGeneres and Robert Deniro to appear in their beautiful, entertaining and well-executed commercials. I wonder how many millions of dollars went into the hands of ad agencies, marketers, designers and media outlets to help AmEx become a trusted and respected financial brand in the minds of consumers.
And when all those people do their job effectively . . . when their work inspires someone to take the next step toward becoming a customer. After all that goes just as it should, AmEx pisses it away. They fumble the ball on the five yard line.
Little did they know if they could have handled this one customer correctly, they might have earned an evangelist. If they could have blown his socks off with their service (like Captain Denny), they most certainly would have made an evangelist.
Great marketing. Lousy execution. You can shine shit, but it’s still shit.
Conversely, I can’t tell you the last time I saw an Apple Powerbook ad or commercial. Yet, because Ben McConnell talked very briefly about how well Apple executes; how well they managed his experience from start to finish, end-to-end . . . I’m strongly considering an Apple as my next computer.
Ben called it "experiential marketing." See, besides investing in ads, Apple also invested in Ben’s experience, Ben’s satisfaction. They blew his socks off. And they profited from that investment in his experience. Profit from the sale, and, although it may not show up as a line item on any financial report, they earned a profit on Ben’s mouth. How many people do you think read his blog? How many people do you think hear him speak each year? Will he continue to evangelize Apple? Most likely.
The next time you consider writing a check for an advertisement of any type, ask yourself if you’re just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Ask yourself if that money would be better invested in your customer’s experience. Ask yourself if your company looks as good naked as it does underneath all the fancy advertising.