The more remarkable the customer experience (or piece of content), the stronger the desire to share it through word of mouth and social media. Just barely exceeding expectations isn’t enough.
Remember, it’s important to be remarkable!
The 3 Triggers of Social Media & Word of Mouth Marketing
Recall the last few times you personally participated in word-of-mouth culture about your experience with a product or service. The product either exceeded your expectations or fell substantially below them. Either way, that word of mouth was a result of the product’s performance along with one or a combination of the following triggers:
- Architectural: This is a product, package, or store design. When a product or experience is planned or controlled for a specific effect, it’s architectural. Aesthetics and a unique appearance and experience are architectural triggers.
- Product examples: iPod, Bose, BMW, “Halo” (video game), RAZR, and Michael Graves’ products
- Experience examples: McDonald’s playgrounds, Apple retail stores, Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme stores
- Kinetic: This is energy and performance, in the show business sense of the word. Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, which the well-known book “When Fish Fly” is based on, is the quintessential example of a kinetic trigger. Hipness, selection, fashion, and outstanding product performance are also kinetic triggers.
- Product examples: BlackBerry, “Tony Hawk” (video game), Red Bull, Starbucks’ products, and Airborne
- Experience examples: Any slot machine, Cabela’s stores, HDTV, JetBlue, and iTunes software
- Generous: A generous trigger occurs when perceived value substantially exceeds the price of a product or service. Extremely large portions in a restaurant, oversized seats on an airplane, and consistently low prices are all generous triggers.
- Product examples: Kia, Vonage, Skype, Hyundai, and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys
- Experience examples: Great AYCE buffets, Wal-Mart, Steepandcheap.com, and the first-generation iTunes Music store.
How do you plan on being Remarkable?
(Note: Roy H. Williams, the “Wizard of Ads,” was the first to identify and label these triggers in his Monday Morning Memo.)
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