Tag: Experience

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Buying something I don’t need…

On LinkedIn, Tuesday morning – Dean posted this…

It’s true- people do.

On Tuesday – I had the day off (I know, right? – I actually put an Out Of Office on and took a day off!) – so, Tuesday…I decided to go to Ikea.

Now, many of you who go Ikea – will know, doesn’t matter what you aim to do – if it’s just looking, or you’ve done your research and know exactly what you want, you’ll always end up buying something that you think later… do I really need it?

So why does Ikea do this? – (and this blog post idea was created by my friend Raj, who mentioned the below….)

Well… so during my visit on Tuesday, I did wonder, a) what will I end up buying and b) there must be some science behind it!

Now, before I even entered the store – I knew what I wanted. I knew the exact items, etc… however, yes – like most folk, somehow… I’d ended up at the cashier till with not only the items I wanted to buy originally but some other nice ‘additions’ in the basket.

Now… couple of reasons when I did some research and looked into this…

  1. Children – or shall I say, ‘children-less’. That’s right, Ikea have Smaland – a place where you can leave the kids to be entertained and you go off to enjoy Ikea without the nagging, shouting, fighting… and ultimately thinking ‘hope my kid doesn’t break that’.
  2. Windows – Now, I’d heard about this previously – but it is kind of true! – There aren’t many windows once you are in the realm of Ikea. This means, you are isolated some-what in the Ikea World, and have no idea what time it is (obviously you can check your watch)… clocks on the wall don’t tell the real time – so being honest, you can literally spend hours…and hours…. and hours….
  3. List – I always thought it’s very kind of Ikea to provide you with pencils and the measuring guide…. oh, and the paper list (to write down what you want). Yep – there’s science behind that, once you write down what you want or thinking to get – you’re kind of making a commitment to purchase it. You’ll only write things down you want – and if you’re in two minds – chances are, once you’re written it – it’ll be in the back of your car in no time.
  4. Mix – I love it, that I’ll be walking looking at beds, and all of a sudden… I see an extension cable. Why would I need an extension cable? – maybe because I can plug several things that need charging overnight near my bed? – oh look… this bed side table I was looking at, can store everything I want an on top, there’s space for my mobile phone… Do I have enough sockets… I think I should buy one to give me that flexibility. And there you go – there was a reason I picked up that blue/yellow bag at the front of the store – to pick up little items that might make my life easier.

I think I could write a book about this – in fact, I’m sure someone has already!

The other final note was – Ikea Family. Not clubcard, not Nectar points, not anything like that… not even loyalty card… but Ikea Family card. That’s right, You’re part of the family. And family support each other.

So, there you go… so much we can learn from Ikea to incorporate into our organisations, into our companies and places of work…

… and yes, I didn’t even mention the hot dogs. That’s a whole blog post on it’s own!

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Experience Centres…

A few weeks ago, I was in London with my colleague Bruno, who’d travelled over from Brussels – for a meeting.

I noticed his shoes – very nice they were, and let him know that.

For the next 10 minutes, Bruno explained to me how the High Street was changing – and where he went to buy his shoes, they had a Ferrari and other ‘items’ which you wouldn’t normally find in a traditional shoe shop. It was more like an experience centre – where you walk in, sofa’s, tea and coffee, let the kids look at the Ferrari, whilst you take your time and find the right shoes.

I fully agree. The High Street is changing. There’s more on-line shopping. We know this! – just look at the statistics.

Bal, how can we help the High Street?

Well – firstly, have more ‘experience centres’ – where customers can ‘experience’ what they want, take their time and indulge what you have to offer.

A place where they can ask questions freely, talk to people with some serious knowledge – sounding very familiar to the Apple Store!?!

But what if you had a kids play corner? What if there was some ‘attractions’ to divert your attention? What if there was a coffee machine that enticed you to stay longer… become more loyal to the brand/shop.

Thinking differently will help the High Street. Similar to how in the 80’s and 90’s the shopping centres appeared out of town, with ample free parking and huge variety of shops. They’re still popular – but why would I waste my time, to drive out of town, park up, walk into a shop, purchase an item, walk back, drive home….. when I could do it in a few clicks on my phone?

In addition to the experience, it begins to be more personal. More individual. And we’re seeing that in a number of sectors.

Pop-up shops for example. We don’t want the same thing as everyone else…. and that’s the same as our drinking! – look at the number of beers you can get now, different beers, different tastes – and more individualisation!

It’s funny to keep reading about ‘the High Street is Dead’… maybe it is, but how can it be revitalised?! – let’s look at other cities around the world. Let’s learn what other people are doing… and bring some life back to the High Street!

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Weather Technology…

Who remembers when the weather was simple, and straight to the point? – you know what I mean… Michael Fish on the BBC using those magnetic symbols…

What a throwback! – love the shirt!!

You know where I’m going to go with this… that’s right, why haven’t I got a shirt like that!!

Ok… the magnetic symbols were replaced by TV screens. Why? – because it was easier, quicker and less work for Michael to do.

That’s right – the Screen Technology helped to quickly move around different regions of the country – zoom in and be more specific about weather. Remember the remote control they used to hold – where they’d press the button to move the screen to the next one! – fabulous times….

What technology did… and does today, is improve the process.

The process is – the weather person to share with us what the weather is going to be like. Is it going to rain. Will it be warm. How windy will it be…. etc…  Technology helps the whole process and experience.

With advancements in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality – combine the two and we now have ‘Mixed Reality’ – there’s so much more you can do.

You can immerse yourself in the weather! – well… we’re getting there.

One weather channel used technology to share what the weather will be like.. but not only what it’d be like, but show what will be happening. In this case, it’s a hurricane. Lots of rain. Lots of wind.

Now we can imagine what it’d be like. But showing it – well, that’s a whole new experience.

Rather than me talking about here… here’s the weather video…

Remember… it’s about the process…. AND the Experience – make it memorable.

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It’s not all about the product… it’s the experience!

This weekend gone…. I was over in Dublin.

Whilst there, I thought I’d visit the local sites. Well, mainly two… The Guinness factory and the home of Jameson.

What I did fast realise – predominantly at the Guinness Storehouse, is how important the whole experience is.

The Storehouse has several floors – with the top one being the Gravity Bar – views all over Dublin. Now, the other 5 odd floors, provide you with an experience.

They tell you the story of Guinness – how it started… what the ingredients are… what’s so important about it… statistics…. advertisements… all of it.

And why is that important… because it builds a lovely experience. Rather then just walking in and having a few drinks, and seeing some nice articles on the wall… this is an impressive experience. Leaves a lasting memory but most importantly.. you leave educated and feeling like an ambassador.

You don’t need to have a huge building, with lots of floors… with immersive material. You can take different approaches.

This I realised with Jameson….

Here… I opted for an experience which involved me sat with a small group of people (about 10)… around a bar… on which had a number of items.

Now… i’m not going to tell you what happened. Neither am I going to tell you what takes place…. because you should really experience it for yourself… what I will say is, a) I absolutely loved it! – b) I walked away with my own blended whisky… and c) Educated on the product…. which made me feel like an ambassador.

Two slightly different experiences. Both absolutely amazing. Leaving each one as an ambassador- which means, I will speak highly of them. Not just the experience but the product also.

This is why… whatever you do, have an experience – that’ll educate and inform  your ambassadors. Doesn’t have to be anything extravagant… there’s small gestures or individual things you could do, to build that experience.

How many brand ambassadors do you have?