A.R. Goldyn Communications

While you're creating your marketing plan for next year, add customer service to it. Outstanding customer service can quickly become one of the most effective marketing tools.

If you’re like me, you’ve learned to accept mediocre customer service as the new standard. That’s why when I receive excellent customer service it can literally make my day — maybe even my week. This week, I had two outstanding customer service experiences that many other companies could learn from.

The first was with J&L Television. On Saturday night, the picture on my two-year-old Westinghouse LCD TV went black. The sound was still on, but there was no picture. I checked the Internet and discovered that the inverter board was probably the culprit. So, I Googled Omaha TV repair and wrote down the names and numbers of two shops to call on Monday.

I called the one that was farther than I wanted to drive first, thinking I’d get an estimate from them and then if the shop in my part of town was the same or less, I’d just go to that one. However, when I called J&L Television, the man on the other end — who later identified himself as John — was so nice and professional, that I never called the second shop. He told me the problem was a common one with my brand and model, and that it was a same-day job. He even told me the cost. Best of all, John delivered: I brought my TV in over my lunch hour, picked it up after work that day, and paid what he said it would cost. He’d even said that if I couldn’t make it back to the shop by 5:30 to just call and he’d wait for me.

Here’s an example of awesome customer service over the telephone that can win customers. Treat callers nicely, take a little time with them, know what you’re talking about and convey a bit of professionalism, and they will trust you and want to do business with you.

My second superb experience was at Markel Automotive. On Saturday (before the TV broke), my mom noticed a tiny chip in the paint on the door of my three-month-old MINI Cooper, probably from a rock. I looked for touch-up paint online, but how could I be sure it would match? Finally, I decided to just call Markel and find out if they would sell me some touch-up paint.

The woman on the phone at Markel’s body shop was friendly and nice and told me just to bring my car to the body shop and they’d touch it up for me. So, after I dropped off the TV, I figured I had time to stop at Markel. They not only touched up the spot, but they also washed my car and gave me a bottle of touch-up paint. And they didn’t charge me a penny. I fully expected to pay for their service and the paint — which sold for up to $40 a bottle online — but the body tech said, “No, no. It really didn’t take any time.”

Now, I can tell you from my experience with Markel that they pride themselves on consistently providing incredible customer service, and it’s one of the things that differentiates the company. In every experience I’ve had with Markel, the employees have reached a high level of customer care and service that is tough to find these days, and my experience at the body shop was no different.

Markel has won me as a MINI customer for life. I’ll be quick to recommend J&L Television and Markel to anyone looking for the services they offer. Moreover, my experiences put me in a great mood with renewed faith in customer service. In fact, I’m still riding the high from being treated so well.

Talking with some friends the other day, many of whom are current or past employees of advertising agencies, we started discussing agency life. We’re all creative people, and we all value those clients who appreciate creativity and let us run with it a bit. What we realized, though, is that few clients are like that. In fact, we see multiple examples every day of so-called agency work that is obviously the result of a client saying, “just do this,” or “I had this awesome idea to do this for the ad/campaign/commercial.”

Before I go on, answer this question: If you use an agency for advertising and marketing, why did you hire an agency?

My pals and I realized that many businesses hire an agency merely as a workhorse — they just want the agency to do what they tell it to do. They often want the agency to use existing copy, artwork, logos and designs, and if the agency suggests refreshing, updating or redoing materials, the clients decline, reiterating that they already have everything they need; they just need the agency to do the work — i.e., layout, editing or creating a website.

If you’re using your agency merely as a workhorse, then you’re shortchanging yourself. Your agency is full of people with many years of expertise in marketing, advertising and branding. And if you want someone who really knows websites, you’ll find that person at your agency, too. If your agency tells you that your materials and/or logo are outdated and your website isn’t user-friendly, then you’d be wise to listen.

Likewise, an agency owes it to its clients to speak up when a client comes up with an idea or concept that is flat, uninspired or ineffective. Personally, I think it’s unethical for an agency to carry out a client’s bad idea without speaking up. If the client declines and says, “No, do it my way,” then the agency must. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be a conversation about other options.

Furthermore, clients should trust and listen to their agencies. An agency should be able to say, “I think a more effective campaign would be …” without the client feeling like the agency called their baby ugly. After all, the agency is the expert in marketing, branding, etc.

Clients will find that they receive the most outstanding results when they allow an agency a bit of creative freedom. Rather than saying, “I want this and this and this exactly,” show your agency examples of what you do and don’t like, whether it’s an ad or commercial, a piece of collateral, a direct mail piece, or a website. By getting a feel for what a client likes and doesn’t like, without being told, “just do this,” the agency can let its creativity flow and come up with unique and innovative concepts developed specifically for the client. And that’s how the best campaigns, ads, websites and more are born.

So, if your agency suggests a new logo, a complete rebranding or a new website, it’s not trying to take all of your money; rather, the agency’s representatives can offer practical, expert advice that will improve your overall business. After all, if our clients succeed, then we succeed.

I found a wealth of blog topics in the book Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy by Martin Lindstrom, so I apologize if you are tired of hearing about this book. It’s great, though, and I think everyone in marketing or advertising should read it. In fact, anyone who owns a business or even touches on marketing and advertising should read it.

In the book, Lindstrom discusses “smashable brands” — brands that, if they were smashed into little pieces, would still be completely identifiable. His term comes from a story from 1915. Back then, a bottle designer at the Root Glass Company in Indiana was asked to design a glass bottle that when smashed into pieces would still be recognizable. The client? Coca-Cola.

The bottle designer succeeded on a level he couldn’t have imagined possible. Nearly 100 years later, the classic Coca-Cola bottle is still in use — albeit somewhat tricky to find — and it is indeed identifiable as a Coke bottle even when broken in pieces.

Lindstrom maintains that all brands should be able to pass the smash test if their overall branding is effective. For example, if you remove the logo from a product, can you still identify it as that particular company’s product?

I refer, once again, to Apple Computers. If you remove the Apple logo, a MacBook, iMac, iPod, iPhone or iPad is still identifiable as what it is: an Apple product.

Creating a smashable brand requires companies to go beyond designing an attractive or clever logo; it compels them to imbue their brand into every part of a product, from  the shape to the color to the scent to the taste to the feel.

Consider some of the smashable brands that Lindstrom cites: Tiffany’s robin’s-egg-blue box; Louis Vuitton’s signature brown leather handbag; the photography style of the United Colors of Benetton. Take away the logo from any of these and you’ll still easily identify the brand.

Other smashable brands: Absolut vodka has given its bottles a unique shape, but part of the brand is also the way the company spells — or misspells — its own name, as well as the names of its flavored vodkas, such as Peppar or Kurant, inspired by Swedish words. McDonalds has made its brand smashable by using “Mc” or “Mac” as much as possible — McNuggets, McMuffin, Big Mac — to the point that Merriam-Webster has recognized what Lindstrom calls the “Mac-ization” of the language. You’ll now find words such as “McJob” (a low-paying job that requires little skill) in Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary.

So, here’s your weekend project: Smash your brand. Does it survive, even when broken into little pieces?

In case you hadn’t noticed, Apple’s marketing is genius, and I’m not just saying that because I’m an Apple aficionado. It’s a fact well known and accepted in the world of advertising and marketing.

In his book Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy, Martin Lindstrom discusses how companies should try to reach consumers via more than just the typical sight and sound of today’s ads; they should be striving to reach out to consumers’ other three senses: smell, taste and touch.

You might think that the only reason I’m using Apple as a good example of marketing, advertising and branding is because I love the company’s products (and own most of them) and admittedly have a bit of a crush on Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. However, Lindstrom used Apple examples liberally throughout Brand Sense. The fact is, the company knows what it’s doing and how to sell its products, from innovative product development to memorable branding and marketing. Everyone in the industry recognizes that, and I think more companies could produce outstanding marketing results if they took a few lessons from Apple.

I contend that Apple has also achieved five-sense marketing, which Lindstrom discusses in the book:

·      Sight -- Sleek and streamlined, commonly in brushed aluminum or white, Apple’s products all have a unique look. Even if the Apple logo were covered up, you’d still know the product is an Apple, whether it’s an iPhone, a desktop iMac or a MacBook. In fact, I’ve noticed that some TV shows do cover up the Apple logo, and I can always identify an Apple product, even on my little 26-inch, square TV screen.

And let’s talk about that logo. The apple with a bite missing from the right side and topped with a perfect leaf has become one of the most recognizable logos in the world. Whether in its original rainbow form or its modernized solid white, one glimpse and you know what it stands for.

Furthermore, because Apple products use the company’s proprietary operating system, the products all have a unique look when they boot, as well as from the desktop or Home view. There’s no mistaking the purple Leopard Aurora desktop background or the Home screen on an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. They’re pure Apple.

·      Sound -- Ever since the original 128K Apple Macintosh, Apple users have been familiar with a core set of sounds that are resolutely Apple’s. From the start-up chime to the “clunk” when you hit the wrong command on a desktop or laptop model to the blip you hear when plugging an iPod Touch or iPhone into a charger, are all unique Apple sounds.

·      Touch -- To many, Apple products just feel better than others. Whether it’s a “virtual” feeling, such as the feeling you have between the mouse in your hand and the cursor on the screen or the unique feel of Apple’s keyboards, the company succeeds on this level, too. In fact, Apple has taken touch to new levels with its touch-screen products: the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Add to that the company’s newest mouse innovation, the Magic Trackpad, which offers a sleek, slim design and allows users to scroll, click, drag and drop, etc., without ever moving the trackpad itself (it works just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro). Apple understands the connection between its users and touch, and the company continually makes efforts to connect with its users in this way.

·      Smell -- You know that smell that hits you when you walk into an electronics store? It ranges from the not-unpleasant odor of new plastic and wires to an odor that faintly resembles dirty-body smell? When you walk into an Apple Store, you don’t smell any of that. It just smells like exciting new things that are going to be really fun to use. I don’t know how Apple eliminates the “Radio Shack” smell, but it does. And when you open the box of your new Apple product, you just smell a clean, new smell that brings happiness — nothing stinky.

·      Taste -- When I said that Apple has achieved five-sense marketing, you were probably wondering how the company managed the “taste” aspect. I’ll admit, this is debatable, but I’m sticking to my guns here. No, I’ve never licked an Apple product, so I can’t tell you what they actually taste like.

But remember the first iMacs? They came in a lovely rainbow of colors — pink, purple, orange, blue and green — rather than the standard beige color of the era’s current computing products. And they were and are still known as the Five Flavors: strawberry, grape, tangerine, blueberry and lime.

Granted, there was nothing to eat, but by calling them the Five Flavors and naming them after mouth-watering fruits, Apple brought a sense of taste to users — the closest a computer company can come to adding taste to its marketing.

Every writer has a ritual that puts him or her in the mood for writing. For example, American writer John Cheever donned his suit every morning, rode the elevator down to his basement office, and then stripped to his undies to write. When Cheever went back upstairs for lunch or at the end of the day, he put on his suit again. Stephen King starts his morning with a cup of tea and a vitamin before sitting down in the same seat with his papers arranged in the same way. He says that this consistency signifies that it’s time to work. Gertrude Stein used to sit inside her parked car and write poems on scraps of paper. And, every morning, Alexander Dumas ate an apple under the Arc de Triomphe before he went home to write.

My personal ritual for beginning a day of writing at work is to check e-mail and scan the job folders on my desk, becoming familiar with the projects that the day will entail. I then prioritize the projects physically by putting the job folders in order, most pressing on top, and making note of which projects in e-mail are most important. Then I think about the projects while I do something mindless, like check personal e-mail or check out Facebook. Then I’m ready to start writing.

When I write outside of work, say when I’m writing a blog post for my personal blog, my ritual is the same. I need something that doesn’t require much focus in order to clear my mind and become focused for writing. After my e-mail–Facebook ritual, I begin research for my blog post; then I often get up from my desk and move around for 10 minutes, thinking about what I want to say, before I start writing.

Every writer will tell you that his or her ritual is imperative to starting off on the right foot. If the ritual is interrupted, then the entire day feels off-kilter, and the ability to focus is lessened or lost.

A large part of writing is thinking. James Thurber, whose vision was impaired, often composed his work in his head, whether he was socializing at a party or sitting with his family at the dinner table. Later in life, he spent the mornings composing his text in his head; then, in the afternoon, he dictated the text to his secretary.

I often find myself tossing around ideas in my head for how to word a clever lead or headline, or even composing would-be plots for books or short stories. If I’m stuck on how to make something mundane sound interesting or exciting, I get up from my desk, go outside and walk around for 10 minutes. For whatever reason, the words come to me during this time, and when I go back inside, I sit down and start typing what I’ve already drafted in my head. The key for me is getting up from my desk; staring at a computer screen does no good.

When I’m stuck on ideas for headlines or taglines, I turn to the Internet. I look at websites from other companies in the industry, becoming more familiar with the industry as a whole. Then I get up, go outside and start thinking.

If writing comes difficult for you, try developing a ritual that signals to your brain, “it’s time to write.” If you already have a writing ritual, then I’m curious: What is it?

I’m currently reading the book Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy by Martin Lindstrom. The Wall Street Journal named the book one of the best five marketing books ever published, and it’s really interesting to learn about how some companies touch four or even five of our senses with their branding.

Typical advertising and marketing usually touch only two senses: sight and sound. Some companies, however, have managed to work more than the usual into their branding. For example, Lindstrom cites the trademark Kellogg’s “crunch” as an intricate part of its branding. In fact, the Kellogg’s crunch is so much a part of the brand that the sound of the crunch was specially developed in a laboratory.

Last weekend, I finally bought the car that I’ve wanted for nearly 10 years: a MINI Cooper. I’ve always kept an eye on MINI’s marketing and branding because it’s so clever. As I’ve been driving the car, it’s occurred to me that MINI has managed to incorporate at least four of our five senses into its automobiles:

• Sight — When you see these cars, you know unmistakably that they are MINIs. There’s no guesswork because of the distinctive body design. Moreover, MINI has designed the interior features its own way. For example, the main controls for windows, locks, moon roof, etc. are all located in a central location and feature switches rather than buttons or dials.
• Sound — MINI has incorporated one-of a kind sounds in its vehicles, most notably in the sound of the horn. But everything from the engine and turn signal to the Bluetooth system lets you recognize that it’s MINI.
• Smell — Apparently new-car scent is not the same in every vehicle. I’ve owned several new (American) vehicles, and they’ve all smelled about the same when I’ve driven them off the lots — at least, they didn’t smell different enough that I noticed. I have noticed, however, that a new MINI seems to have its own version of new-car scent.
• Touch — When you sit in the cockpit of the MINI, your sense of touch gets to explore new things. I’ve found that the most noticeable are how the main control switches feel and how it feels start a car with a pushbutton rather than by turning a key. Also, the turn signal is electric, so it feels much different than other turn signals, and it operates more like a switch than a lever. (I’m still getting used to this aspect.) And obviously, the way the MINI handles while driving is unique — but I think that’s a unique quality that every vehicle has.

The one sense that MINI hasn’t appealed to (at least to my knowledge) is a sense of taste — although I haven’t licked the dash or steering wheel, so I can’t attest to this with final authority. Next, week, I’ll discuss how Apple, another of my favorite brands, has managed to successfully appeal to all five senses.