CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Case study: Get real, get virtual I
n his most recent book, Infinite Possibility – Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier (2011), Joe Pine identifies the problem of “the migration of virtuality”. He adds: “People bring all this technology with them and
they’re just a click away from leaving your experience. How do you get them to engage with their technology so they are more fully immersed in your experience?” He cites the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure
that launched at Disney’s Epcot centre last year. “For teens and tweens, Epcot is the most boring part, but this exhibit
“What’s lacking in many of today’s environments is an organising principle. The theme is the essence of an experience – and if you have to tell people what it is, then it’s not a very sophisticated theme. “Every time Francis Ford Coppola
shot a movie, he always had a single word he’d refer to. Whether it was deciding on what kind of raincoat or wine to use in a scene, he’d go back to that single word, which represented the essence of the fi lm.” To show this perfectly applied in a
business setting, Pine and Gilmore use the example of Joie de Vivre Hotels and the company’s founder Chip Conley – a past recipient of a Strategic Horizons’ EXPY award. In the late 80s, Conley bought a
rundown motel called the Phoenix in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, and decided to theme it around Rolling Stone magazine. But instead of being an overt homage to what many considered a bible of rock music, Conley went through past magazines and extracted fi ve principles that he believed summed up the essence of the publication. Pine says: “Those principles were
adventurous, hip, funky, irreverent and young-at-heart. Conley felt, if he could capture the sense of the magazine in this way, then every one who loved it would naturally love his hotel. And it worked. Without ever having to put an oversized rock guitar in the lobby, the Phoenix became THE place for rock bands to stay when they played San Francisco.” Conley went on to create other
venues, such as the Hotel Rex, themed around New Yorker magazine, and the Hotel Carlton, themed around National Geographic, and now has a large portfolio of chic boutique hotels, restaurants and spas around the US.
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used digital technology to allow them to go on an adventure within Epcot that had nothing to do with the park itself.” Kids were given special
mobile phones and used the technology to fi nd clues around the park as if they were in an episode with the TV character, leading to a special area where they got to save the day from Dr Evil.
Creating a theme Pine and Gilmore’s formula for creating memorable experiences revolves around their own THEME acronym:
Theme the experience – design around a dominant organising principle Harmonise impressions with positive cues – intentionally create memories with signals from the space (set) or staff (ensemble) Eliminate negative cues – remove whatever runs counter to the theme or desired impressions Mix memorabilia – let guests attach memories to physical objects they actually use in the experience Engage all fi ve senses – richly stage all sensory phenomena
Out of these, says Gilmore, eliminating negative cues could be the most simple to address, yet is the most commonly overlooked. “Anything that doesn’t contribute to the theme is a negative cue. It might be something as simple as an overfl owing waste paper basket, or a staff member who does not smile.” As a model of good practice, Gilmore
cites the example of the John Robert’s chain of hair salons in Ohio, US, which from its launch in the 90s was focused on creating a very personal guest experience. New customers are always given a white gown to wear, while regular customers are given black ones, enabling staff to tailor their handling and greeting of a client without that client ever knowing they’ve been signposted. Similarly, instead of the receptionist having to tell a stylist their next client has arrived within earshot of a current client – potentially creating the negative cue of making them feel rushed – the stylist is buzzed via a device hidden in their pocket.
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
Brave new world Of course, the world has moved on rapidly since the original publication of The Experience Economy, and now social media is responsible for creating a whole other layer of consumer experience. Pine explains: “You learn about a
place much more readily from other people now. Your fi rst impression may not come from discovering it yourself, but from friends or complete strangers. “Online ratings can fl avour your
experience before you even get there – they can set the bar so high that you’re disappointed, set it low so you actually have a better experience, or set a bar which means you decide not to try the place at all. Social media can really be used to improve the experience, but companies have to pay attention to it and respond.” Pine says one only has to consider the
now-celebrated example of musician and plane passenger Dave Carroll, who had no offer of compensation from United Airlines when luggage handlers broke his guitar. So instead he took to YouTube with a song of complaint entitled United Breaks Guitars. “The song went viral within hours and
attracted over 12 million hits on YouTube. It’s estimated that United’s stock price dropped 15 per cent as a result. That’s the power of social media!” says Pine. Interestingly, while Pine is passionate
about new technologies (he more recently co-authored a book with Kim Korn entitled Infi nite Possibility – Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier), Gilmore confesses to being averse to such “anti-social” pursuits as Twitter and doesn’t even own a mobile phone. Like many successful business partnerships, the two men’s personalities and skillsets seem complementary rather than similar. “He likes cigars, I don’t. He’d spend leisure time at Disney, I wouldn’t,” jokes Gilmore.
October 2013 © Cybertrek 2013
PHOTO: FLICKR/PETER E LEE
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