Nothing is More Important Than Brand Experience

I’ve written about my bad experience with Batteries Plus, so perhaps its time I said something about positive brand experiences.

I am incredibly loyal to a great number of brands, particularly Starbucks, PF Changs and Plaza Cleaners. All three of these share one quality: My personal experience with their brands has been extraordinary. What makes them extraordinary is their people – the people who greet me and make me feel as though I belong. At my neighborhood Starbucks (Renaissance Center in Durham, NC), they make me feel welcome every morning. The baristas know my name and my drink preference. They even know that my weekend drink is different from my weekday drink. And when I’m gone for a few days traveling on business, they ask me where I’ve been and how my trip went. It’s at this very local, personal level that I’ve developed my brand loyalty; and it is in large part due to people like Matt, Rachel and Eric (and many before them) who make it a pleasure every morning.

PF Changs is another of my favorite brands. When my wife and I visit PF Changs, we love to eat at the bar where we have the full attention of the bartenders. Their bartenders stay with them for a very long time and are very good at what they do. The crew at the PF Changs near our home is exceptional. Ryan, Taylor, June, and Derek (to name a few) always recognize us and treat us like old friends. There’s so much equity in that recognition. It opens the door to a feeling of belonging – of being part of a community. And again, it is the people who make the difference. However, it is clear that both Starbucks and PF Changs have placed the customer experience high on their list of values and priorities. They’ve created an environment and the expectations that foster these incredible experiences.

My final example is Plaza Cleaners in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They have been my dry cleaners for more than 15 years. I don’t even know what they charge for dry cleaning a suit or washing and pressing a shirt, and I don’t care. They enhance my life, so I’m not going to sweat the little things. When they see my car pull up they will immediately have one of the employees get my clothes ready. Everyone in the place knows me by name and I know most of them as well. They send me a bill once a month, rather than make me settle up each time I stop in. By doing that, they make my life a little simpler (one of my values) and every meeting isn’t about a financial transaction. When something goes wrong – and things do occasionally go wrong – they call me at my office to notify me and then they handle the problem. They don’t make it my problem. End of story.

These are all examples of companies that in some important way have their values aligned with mine. Whether it is simplicity, a desire to belong or to be a part of a community, or to be appreciated as a customer, they have found ways to connect with me. And because of that, I am a brand advocate for each of them. Are they perfect? No way. But my connection to their brands helps me get past those imperfect moments when they arise.