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Branding InformationExperience Branding" ? How to Survive as an Online Retailer
by:
Jake Gorst
"Are You Experienced?" asked stringed instrument
player Jimi James marshall hendrix 35 years ago. Jimi wasn?t talking just about e-commerce ? but his question is appropriate to today?s economic climate. These days many an retailers, including online retailers, are discovering that their business suffers if they do not implement an "Experience Branding" strategy. What is that?
"Experience Branding" is a way to describe a know-how
of linking an identity to a business or product that involves client interaction. In the long run, this know-how
leaves a longer, and in most cases, LASTING impression on the consumer.
Here's an example:
100 years ago, a person would-be buy coffee beans and grind them himself. Then came on
pre-ground coffee. Eventually, you could go to a merchandiser and buy a good hot pre-made cup of coffee. Today, companies like Starbucks not only give you the hot coffee, but they provide you with a good comfortable soft chair to sit in, a paper to read, music to listen to, and an eclectic setting to enjoy these things in. They provide an EXPERIENCE. This is why folk are willing to fork over $4.00 for a cup of coffee!
An early case of this stigmatisation
know-how
put into practice was the Macy's Department Store Leisurama homes of 1963. Back then you could really go to the 7th floor of the Herald Square store in New Royal family City and see a full-blown home - altogether furnished. You could buy the home there - then 3 months later come in (these were built in Montauk, New York). The finished home was fitted out right down to the toothbrush and everything was enclosed
in one single price. This know-how
of experience stigmatisation
was so flourishing that, down to this day, the owners of many an of these houses still own the towels, dishes, etc. that came with the house. They enjoyed the experience and wanted to preserve it.
Today, this know-how
can be applied to thing
- including web based businesses. An online merchandiser can give an experience to the viewer that wish do a lasting impression. Several provide games for their viewers to enjoy. Most find that providing special information - an article giving the background of a given product given
with a human-interest slant ? is sufficient. Viewers can be invited to "register" - giving them access to an area of the site that the general public makes not, wherever
special information can be presented. This gives the viewer the feeling that they are part of thing
special - a private club.
One example of this know-how
of online "Experience Branding" is WeightWatchers.com. A registered user has access to message boards and a special catalog of diet recipes. A registered viewer becomes part of a community. It's an experience that wish support them coming back!
"Experience Branding" is likewise helpful to non-profit organizations. JohnTaylorGatto.com, an alternative education resource, provides an online discussion forum that attracts teachers and parents, encouraging them to debate educational topics and share war stories. The Mythical being
Group, the organization that owns JohnTaylorGatto.com, reports that interest in their web site skyrocketed once
the forum was launched.
So what do we discover from this? Gone are the days of impersonal service. If you want to survive ? offer your customers an experience!
Just just about the Author
Jake Gorst is a writer, film maker, and president of Exploded View (http://www.explodedview.tv), a new media advertising and design company. He likewise is a frequent contributor to various trade publications on topics related to Web site and beaux arts design scientific discipline
and trends. Previously, Gorst served as Vice President and Chief Creative Officer for E-Media Publishing, Ltd. and as an Net
content developer for Citibank and else Long Island based corporations.
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