24 January 09
Last summer when shopping for some flip flops I found myself wandering into a Hollister store at the mall. I have to say that it was one of the more immersive brand experiences that I’ve had in a while.
With shuttered windows, teal flooring, and cozy lounge chairs, the store both inside and out resembles a Southern California beach shack. The inside was dimly lit, music was cranked and the Hollister signature scent filled the air.
Their e-Commerce website does a great job carrying over the brand image online.
If you get the chance I recommend visiting the store. You’ll likely be feeling your age, but it will be hard to not be impressed.
Wikipedia has some background info on the Hollister story.
17 November 08
My wife recently gave birth to our son. That spectacular event triggered a flurry of communications from our health plan — namely, plan statements. Plan statements get mailed following a provider visit. They explain what procedures were performed, what the provider billed the plan, and what the consumer’s cost is (if any).
Up until recently we really didn’t pay much attention to our statements as we rarely visit the doctor. But after the birth, larger bills started to float in — it was time we looked closer.
20 October 08
A blog I frequent published an article that, with a simple quiz, brought into high relief the lack of brand differentiation in online retailers. The author removed the logos of a dozen or so e-commerce websites from brick and mortar retailers such as Sears, Macy’s, and Kmart and challenged you to identify who’s site was who’s. I got most of them wrong.
While this exercise is quite powerful, there is a critical piece of the equation that the author left out. Many of the retailers that she cited don’t have distinctive customer experiences in the the real world. Yes, I could tell the difference between whether I’m in a Kmart, Macy’s or Sears, but how memorable and engaging are these customer experiences? What does the JC Penny brand really have to leverage in-store that they can extend online? The fact that Penny’s has consistently scored high on Forrester’s Customer Experience Index isn’t enough to truly set them apart online — especially when competing against companies like Zappos.
So who does do a good job extending their brand and differentiating itself online? Let’s take a look at a few examples…