How to leverage on consumer stardom.

The thing about You-tube and consumer self expression has been pretty well established with the growth of social networking. You saw the VISA dancing guy in different countries, Susan Boyle etc. You probably can name a few more. The fact is that normal people like you and me have a stab at becoming 'stars' is not fantasy. The internet has provided the right medium to do so easily.

Question is, how can brands leverage on this consumer trend? Making your customers feel like a star for them to express their individuality and tastes is not far fetched. In fact, you should do it as a brand owner. To allow your customers to express themselves in their desired form (good or bad) and at the same time creating an unforgettable experience, why not? Look hard and probably the opportunities are around. A dose of creativity helps. Here are my observations.

A recent trip to a popular local KTV chain has prompted some opportunities for such consumer stardom. First, my congrats to them for having a wonderful intuitive, all-in-one remote to select songs and even food at a few button presses. For the song belters who are totally into giving their best shot holding the microphone, why not bring it one notch higher. Having a mini platform stage, mini stage light and a voting system from the audiences (yes, your teasing friends). Quite sure this will create a different experience and a differentiation from competitors.

What about retail? A local, immensely successful shoe chain can also leverage on it without spending more than their frequent renovations to refresh their store experience. Women love shoes. Its about how many brand X can sell to them. Having a proposition of affordability without sacrificing quality and design hit the right spot. On average, I notice local women will try on average of 3 pairs before buying X number. Say 3 is the most desirable, 0 is worst. But it is not a lost cause if you know how to turn it around. How? Have a dedicated shoe corner with the right mirrors and lighting for the women to whip out their camera phones (most got one) to take pictures of the 'considerations'. They can take it back and ponder, think, imagine, fantasize or better, show their friends, post it online etc. Bottom line is, it creates pre-purchase intentions and word of mouth for that brand. You can imagine what happens next? Probably a few more purchases. What does it cost shoe brand X? Not much but an elevated shopping experience with possibly more return visits. If brand X is afraid of shoe copies, they have not understood the concept of continuing innovation. Pity.

Car test drives. Perfect for consumer stardom again. What about having a mini film of you test driving the vehicle you always wanted. Car brand Y could have these delivered to you after a few days of testing driving in a nice 'Thank You for visiting and testing our vehicles' card, enclosed a mini-DVD of the footage of you driving that hot hatch. No sales? Car brand Y just added value to the brand by elevating customer experience using consumer stardom. Some months down the road, that customer would still be talking about it I reckon.

I can think of a few more but lets leave it here for now. Please feedback or comment if you want to.

Great Design, Winning Experience

As a market researcher by training and profession, I have the chance of testing and researching on a number of products for my clients. Very often, clients are at my doorstep with design prototypes (unfinished products) wanting me to validate and improve their offerings. Over the years, I have conducted studies which range from chocolates to petroleum. I would like to take this chance to share some my personal thoughts with you on how to attain winning products for your customers.

Product experience matters.
A great product experience delivers impactful emotional branding. It is far easier and cheaper to retain a customer which has a pleasant experience with you before than finding a new one. Pleasant experience form deep emotional bonds between your brand and your business. It is priceless. Look for the ‘experience architect’ in your business. They are the ones that closes their eyes, holding the prototype in their hands and imagining what the customer will feel when they use their products or services. Design experience, it matters.

Purposeful design that meets a need is fundamental.

Many products are created for the sake of bringing in sales or ‘it’s already in the pipeline’. Too often, designers design for the sake of fulfilling project requirements and not knowing what is it designed for. Has the product lost its initial purpose? Do designers know why customers need them in the first place? Do they need another 10 TB drive that stores more media? Or do we need one that integrates all your media files that you have and make them ubiquitously accessible to make their lives easier? Sell your product benefits by first having a strategic purpose and meeting the needs of your customers.

Be open about your innovation. Involve your customers. Customers talk, be it to you or to each other. Point is that customers talk. With the prevalence of internet and social networking tools, you can stay in your rabbit hole and they will still be talking about you or your products. Why not make them talk to you and become your asset by integrating product research with them? Lego Factory is created for that purpose to integrate customers into their product design.

I hope you go on to improve your offerings for your customers and great product experience for them.

Please leave your comments, if any.