Welcome to our Friday roundup of bits of interesting info...
Environmental design smelling better all the time
Why would Credit Suisse be attending a marketing research conference about fragrance? Perhaps because they were thinking about their five senses project. Customer experience guy David McQuillen is leading the charge with pilot branches that play customized music that varies throughout the day, as well as providing a blend of aromas that make people feel at ease. [And you thought your new carpeting was cool.]
Advances in chemistry are enabling more scent related products, including devices that will let you design your own scents, scent devices connected to computer games, and even scents in fabrics. (Businessweek April 18, 2008)
Emotions in advertising
I heard Terry O'Reilly speak a few weeks ago, and came across this in my notes. "Emotions should be felt, never stated." How very true this is. Consider a vodka ad that evokes the emotion of feeling special, versus one that says, this vodka can make you feel special. Makes total sense. But it's easy to lose that clarity when you're in the middle of message development.
He had other gems too. Consider these:
"People don't want to be targeted, they want to be understood"
"The only way to explode a paradigm is to be armed with a detonator called 'the insight'"
Service recovery at Air Canada
Avid reader Bruce W. told us about his recent experience with Air Canada on a five hour flight. When the entertainment system didn't work, apologies were made and vouchers were handed out. Vouchers were reported to be for "future travel" or Aeroplan points. When BW went to collect via the internet, there was a choice of "Goodwill Options", either points or a travel voucher. But how could he choose when no value was provided for each? A quick call to the customer service centre revealed that the points option is usually a better deal. But you couldn't tell from the form.
Still, it's a big improvement over the past. It's just such a big hill for them to climb.
Avoiding the mushy middle
Coach, the luxury handbag maker, announced in March that they are opening 40 more stores and are upgrading stores to the larger flagship format (as large as 5000 sq.ft.). They see more of their sales coming from the high end stores, and also have research that suggests women are still splurging on bags even if they cut back elsewhere.
Tiffany, on the other hand, is opening smaller stores that focus on the lower end of the product line.
The middle is often the danger zone, where you are too expensive for the mass-market, and too ubiquitous for the luxury market. Plus the middle is where all the competitors are.
Doesn't this just make you wonder where Starbucks is going to go?
