From Butlers to Perks… how to satisfy an increasingly demanding consumer
Posted by Laurie Fitzgibbon on March 26, 2009 in FMCG, Promotions with 1 CommentBuy one get one free, 33% extra free, half price... Unfortunately, consumers have heard them all before and marketers need to look at new ways of engaging with and rewarding their customers.
2008 saw the arrival of the brand butler, an interesting twist on customer loyalty that was quickly adopted by some of the biggest brands in the business. Based on the premise that consumers value practicality, convenience and exclusivity, brand butlering allowed brands to assist their customers in smart, relevant ways. Top trendwatching site, trendwatching.com, cited a number of great examples of this kind of activity. Two of these examples are detailed below:
At the Lowlands music festival, jeans brand Wrangler offered festival-goers a much-needed service: laundry. At 18 meters wide and 9 meters high, the Wrangler Laundromat was hard to miss. People dropped off their mud-encrusted laundry and were sent a text message the moment it was ready. No change of clothes? Wrangler came up with a generous solution to that problem, too: they handed out black overalls to anyone who used the laundromat.
Acknowledging that travelling with infants can be a strain on both parents and children, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport opened the Schiphol Babycare Lounge by Nutricia last summer (2007). Located in the airport's main departure terminal, the lounge is (as the name indicates) a co-branding effort by Schiphol and Nutricia, a Dutch baby food brand. The booths have comfortable circular seating curving around a crib. Lights in the lounge are dimmed for sleeping babies, with individual reading lights for parents. For infants that need a bit of distraction, each booth has a gadget that projects coloured lights onto the ceiling, just above the crib.
In Ireland brands were quick to hop on the butler brand wagon. A case in point was last year’s Women’s World Expo Show in the RDS which saw a number of leading brands looking at ways of making the attendees days easier and more pleasurable. Frusi, a Unilever brand, had a chill out zone, where they offered complimentary head and shoulder massages from trained therapists, Slimfast, Flora and Adez all had trained nutritionists or health advisors on hand to offer relevant advice such as cholesterol testing (for Flora) or slimming advice (for Slimfast).
According to trendwatching.com, 2009 will herald the evolution of the brand butler to the field of Perkonomics which, to put it simply, is all about perks! Consumers value exclusivity, premium access and great experiences and these are the cornerstones of Perkonomics. There are some obvious examples of Perkonomics in action, namely airlines and hotels members clubs but this year we’re due to see more and more brands engaging in this kind of activity in order to get customers spending again.
In Ireland, O2 are offering priority booking for all O2 customers for all concerts and gigs in the O2. In the UK Orange are allowing customers to reserve tickets for concerts a full 48 hours before they go on sale. Palmeiras, one of the major football teams in Brazil, reserve 5,000 seats exclusively for Visa Card customers. The section has a lounge, restaurant, bars, plasma TVs and other perks and they’ll also allow fans to buy tickets in advance and without queuing.
So, if you’re thinking of rewarding your customer for their loyalty what are the kind of things you should consider doing?
1. Queues
No one likes queuing, if you can find a way to get your customer to the top of the queue you’re onto a winner
2. Save time
We’re all working longer and harder during these tough times and finding a few minutes to drop off your laundry or book that doctor’s appointment can be difficult. Nokia Concierge trialled in Ireland last year did just that for you.
3. Offer more
There are a lot of brands clamouring for share of voice, so you need to offer more to your customers. For example, Nokia in the Philippines (who are obviously quite good at this type of thing) has installed phone charging stations for all Nokia users throughout Metro Manila, which Nokia owners can use at no cost.
4. Parking
Big cities, big events all have parking problems, so why not reserve some spaces for your customers? In the US, Lexus have reserved car parking spaces for Lexus drivers. Superquinn, Dunnes, et al. now all have reserved spaces for expectant mothers and families.
So, to sum up, show your customer that you value their time by offering them simple convenient solutions to every-day problems and you might just notice an increase in your bottom line.
Laurie Fitzgibbon ’s focus is on brand management. Laurie has a particular interest in brand experience and promotion.Find out more at Laurie's Profile. Don't forget to subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Trackback URL
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Comments
Casino 1238816880 Casino 1238816880Laurie thanks very much for the post. Your Wrangler example is a nice illustration of a brand with a creative, cost effective strategy. One of the O2 ideas room bloggers, Paul Dervan, wrote about the need for businesses to have ‘focus’ highlighting how some businesses miss opportunities by being closed minded.
http://webkit.o2online.ie/ideasroom/?p=897
Thanks for the post,
Elaine @ O2 IdeasRoom
About H+A Blog
Our blog was created to educate, inspire, provoke thoughts and generate ideas.
It is a voice of our passionate team who shares its knowledge and views on marketing, PR, branding and new media, while also discussing the latest trends, innovation and technology in the communications industry.
Categories
Recent Entries
- The importance of the follow-up
- 72% Experience Increase in PR Business in Last Six Months
- FIFA ready for Ambush
- Sport in the Media - More Facts, Less Hysteria Please
- PR STUDENTS DIGG SOCIAL MEDIA