Experience Manifesto

Rethinking the Mall - Allison Arieff Blog - NYTimes.com

If you haven’t seen this piece by Allison Arieff and you're in the mall business, you should certainly be taking a look. Many of the things we’ve been talking about for years are things that people are just now exploring. The key take away is that the business model of the big mall needs to change, both from a back-end and a front end.

I think that back in 2005, iTunes became the 7th or 8th largest music store in the United States. Think about that. They have no real estate, at least none dedicated specifically to iTunes, and carry no inventory. They don't have to pay for sales staff or worry about returns. And if you look at the typical Apple store, a great deal of its space is dedicated to social functions, not traditional retail functions. Now, if you're a large record store chain, this has got to be a huge challenge. You've got all of this real estate dedicated primarily of the inventory management of music and yet more and more people are buying their music online.

What's always interesting to me is that people in one industry can look at another and say "How can they not see that every thing's changed and they need to change" without looking internally at their own industry. We think that mall developers need to look at their business model in addition to the redesign on the physical space. Many work on a rent + a percentage of sales model, but will that still play in a world where people do more window shopping in the mall and more actual buying online? And, as we ask retail clients all the time, what happens to your retail space if you take away inventory management? Look what I said back in 2006:

So, if the retail space might become more of a showroom and if people don’t mind shopping and having their purchases drop shipped, then what’s the impact on the real estate itself? We see it becoming a much more vibrant and alive social space. A place for people to gather and share their experiences through the brand, rather then sharing their experiences of the brand. Look at the Apple store. Lots of people talking to one another. The theatres where you can learn together as a community. Even the Genius Bar. It’s much more of a social space.

So, what is the value of real estate for retailers today? Does a record store really need to exist as it's been for the past 40+ years? Or banks, grocery stores, fashion retailers? If, thanks to the internet, people are much more comfortable getting their purchases sent to them, rather then getting them right away, do we need that much space dedicated to merchandise? So, if we can do away with the inventory portion of most retail spaces today, what else would you do with the space? How could you make it a much more social environment, rather then being a retail environment? After all, this is exactly why places like Starbuck's or the Apple stores have boomed -- they created a social space, rather then a retail space.

Had a conversation recently with some friends a few weeks ago and we were talking about the economy and everything happening. A couple of us thought that if this was a really hot summer, people would be looking to places like malls to stay cool and keep their own a/c costs down. If I can walk around the local mall for a few hours on a weekend, I won't have to run my own a/c and that will save me money. We're already seeing people go to the movies more, it's a pretty good entertainment value these days.

Here's what Allison thought was the best entry:

Malls will not only generate sales, they will “grow food, create crafts, manufacture products, generate energy, and provide education.” As an antidote to time spent online, argue the CommArts folks, the mall becomes a social center, a “spectacle of hands-on demos, lectures, performances, classes, tastings, parties, and shows.” Further, the national sameness we now experience (Gap? Check. Victoria’s Secret? Check.) will morph into something more one-off, more local, more cause-oriented.

Utopic? Perhaps, but with dried-up financing, minimal consumer demand and the Chapter 11 filing last month by the second largest mall-operator in the country, it’s time to think differently. So bravo to ICSC for holding this competition in the first place. We’ve seen tremendous shopping innovation with online retailers specializing in uniqueness and craft like etsy, sustainable materials and business practices like Nau or customer service like Zappo’s; now it’s time for that innovation to hit the strip. And not just the Vegas one.

In fact, I’ve already seen something akin to Crossroads City implemented on a neighborhood scale. The Ainsworth Collective, a group of some 50 households in Portland, Oregon’s Cully neighborhood that came together out of a mutual interest in sustainability and community, have created a micro-economy within their few square blocks. They’ve published a directory of services provided by neighbors (from tax preparation to massage services to cat-sitting), encouraging local transactions. They’ve instituted tool-sharing, car-sharing, bulk food-purchasing and even own a farmer’s market that sells produce, baked goods and other items made by its members. There may always be mega-malls, but developers and architects would be remiss in not exploring grassroots solutions like this.

But, while people look at Starbuck's or the Apple stores and say "Yea, that's great for them, but it doesn't apply to me," they're missing a huge opportunity today. I think there's a coming trend to socialize the retail environment instead of just merchandising the real estate space. And the more we try to use the space for our purposes rather then our guests, the more they'll stay away...

CommArts Entry

Hobbs + Black Entry

Colman Architects

Rethinking the Mall - Allison Arieff Blog - NYTimes.com.

Economy isn't slowing Apple's building plans - USATODAY.com

Even thought their sales were down 3%, Apple is still investing in it's retail strategy. Why, because they know it's the way to really connect with their customers. Got to any more where there's an Apple store and more often then not, that Apple store will be the most crowded store in the mall. Not only are the usually pretty full of customers, but they also have more staff per square foot then any other retailer out there. Well, it looks that way.

We think they've created a social shopping experience and said this back in 2006:

Here's what we think the Apple store is all about: They took the barriers to entry to buying an Apple product and answered those barriers with the store. Again, this is only our take, nothing official from Apple here! And how does that work?

• First barrier to entry has been price in the past, although that has certainly changed. But with a higher priced product, what did Apple do? Create a store environment that's as beautiful to look at as their product. Give people the comfort that they're buying something of value.
• Number two barrier to entry? People don't want to learn a new operating system. Now, us Apple folks say Hey, Microsoft stole the operating system from Mac years ago, but the store takes away that concern. Afraid of learning a new system? No problem, we'll teach you. Come to our classroom (the theatre) or visit the Genius Bar and we'll help you. Learning something new is a big hassle for most people and this is a way cool way to make it less of a hassle. Sure, there are things that I can't figure out how to do, so I just make an appointment and get their help. I don't have the time to figure it out myself, so why not let them teach me or just take care of it quickly.
• Make it a social experience. Although I haven't been to the new store here in NYC at 3 AM, I can bet that a good number of other people have. No matter when you go to the Apple store here in Soho, it's always crowded and it's got an almost club-like vibe.

They're also investing in the downturn. So, while many (if not lost) retail companies are scaling back, closing stores and letting people go, Apple is growing theirs. They understand that in a down economy, it's even more important to find ways to create the right experience to connect with your audience. And, the Apple stores have been a great connection point. I still don't understand why more retailers are not looking for ways to create their own genius bars! Are you listening Whole Foods? Because, I still Need a Whole Foods Genius Bar!

Apple (AAPL) isn't letting the recession slow its retail ambitions.

The company said Wednesday that it plans to remodel 100 of its stores this year, to make more room for customer training and displayed products. Additionally, it will open 25 new stores, including a fourth location in New York City, and new ones in Paris, Italy and Germany.

"We know that a lot of people are cutting back, but we're doing the opposite," says Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail. "We're investing in the downturn." (Emphasis mine)

The company, which saw a 3% decline in sales of Apple computers in the most recent quarter, plans face-lifts for older stores to emphasize customer-service programs.

Some 170 million folks visit Apple Stores yearly. (Emphasis mine)

Economy isn't slowing Apple's building plans - USATODAY.com.

Experience Manifesto: The Role of Design in an Economic Downturn | The Customer Experience Labs.

Experience Manifesto: Retail Design Diva -- Has Shopping Lost Its Charm?.

Experience Manifesto: Is AudienceGames a Social Media?.

Photo by Ed Uthman, MD

Burger King's Big Misstep - BusinessWeek

Not surprising that people are starting to questions how well the Burger King ads are working. If you go all the way back to Subservient Chicken, people in the ad industry have talked about what cool things they do, but we've always wondered whether or not they were having any impact with either the consumer or with their sales. But, what's really interested though, is when you read through the comments, you'll see how important the role of experience is in advertising.

burger king food is rally not that bad.but the place just yells sleezy at you as soon as you drive in the parking lot.its the whole package that needs redone. trh commenting on the Burger King article.

I've said here before, we eat at the Burger King in West Orange at least once/week. We like the food, true, but the main reason we go there is the indoor playground, a 3rd place for Sydney. She likes to go and play with other children and that's why we go. Although, she's starting to get a little old to keep playing there, but that's another (sad) story.

The Burger King we go to seems fairly clean and we go there oftern enough that they know us now, so that's nice. And I think that the staff is generally on their game. We've had the occasional mistake, but they take care of it right away.

Forget the commercials, better hire some people with half a brain that can acutally make the sandwiches. Last 6 orders I've made at the Spruce Pine, NC store weren't worth eating or not what I ordered. I'm tired of it. I like to get what I pay for and what I order. keril commenting on BusinessWeek article.

Nanette Byrnes, who wrote the article, made this comment while reading through all of the comments on the article:

I'm the author of the story and am reading this thread with great interest. It especially jumps out at me that a number of people who are negative on BK -- Cici and Terry among them -- actually think the food is better than McDonald's. Drive through is the biggest single business for both chains, so food would seem most important. But cleanliness is still a big negative for BK, and quality doesn't seem able to overcome that.

Yes, cleanliness is important to people in deciding where to eat, especially for children. Depending upon our tastes, we can put up with varying levels of cleanliness, I mean I eat street food, but we don't like our restaurants really dirty. And we want the staff to be able to handle our food requests.

Management at Burger King is trying to build the chain from the top down instead of how they should do it from the bottom up. The majority of the BK's in eastern OH, WV, and western PA (Pittsburgh) could care less if your sandwiches are cooked right. If I were to choose a burger from a fast food restaurant I would rather a Whopper than a McD burger of any kind. However BK needs to take some of those ad $$$'s and start training their help better to bring back the customers who have left for various reasons posted here. To BK the comments here seem to be constructive criticism read and then do something about your stores. Terry commenting on the Burger King article

See, here's the thing. NOTHING, not cool ads, or a great campaign on Twitter or doing some UGC on youtube overcomes a bad experience. There will always be people who don't like the ads you create, although I think the SpongeBob commercials were in very bad taste.

What people really dislike is when your your marketing tactics don't match your actual experience.

The other day I made the comment on Twitter that there is no such thing as WOMM, only people talking about great experiences. We really try to get our clients to understand that at the end of the day, your advertising tactics can enhance your brand, but it can never make up or replace for bad experiences.

Burger King (BKC) gets a lot of buzz for its irreverent, often sexy ads. There's the "manthem," sung by men turning up their noses at "chick food" to get their hands on a Texas Double Whopper, and its Texican Whopper commercial featuring a short man in a colorful cape who's simply known as "a little spicy Mexican." This spring, the company has run a TV ad tie-in with SpongeBob SquarePants in which the fast-food chain's mascot, "The King," dances alongside curvy women with rectangular derrieres.

Chuckles and kudos aside, CEO John W. Chidsey now has a problem. He has missed a sharp turn in consumer spending and sentiment. While competitors like McDonald's (MCD) blanketed the market with dollar deals this spring, Burger King stuck with ads that wooed its male "superfans"—and alienated thousands of parents. And sales in April alone show the results: a 7% rise for McDonald's as Burger King revenues remained weak in many markets after a dramatic fall in March. "That caught us a bit off guard," admits Chidsey, 46.

Burger King's Big Misstep - BusinessWeek.

Click here to go directly to comments.

Brand Experience Lab: Creating a Branded Retail Experience | Flooring The Consumer

Christine (C. B.) Whittemore found an old post from when she first met me during a program for POPAI at the Lab about 4 years ago. Glad to see she was paying attention during the presentation! I've put some highlights here and agree that some of our conversation is even more relevant in a down economy. I can't find the original presentation, but you can click here to download the BEL POV Overview and see how we think. And, if you're not reading CB's blog, you should be!

In preparing for Social Media Series: David Polinchock on Bridging New & Old, I came across notes I took while first listening to David and experiencing the Brand Experience Lab. I thought I would share them with you here as they seem as relevant today - if not more so - as they did four years ago.

Here goes.

I participated in a fascinating seminar at the Brand Experience Lab + walking tour of SoHo on May 5, 2005 to discuss how to build a branded retail experience. This program was sponsored by POPAI [point of purchase advertising international]. The premise is that of the $900+ billion spent on marketing, $18B is spent at retail because traditional advertising no longer works. Power has shifted to the consumer, and the consumer is responding at the point of purchase, where the brand experience becomes critical for success.

• Many products/services are becoming commodities;
• The consumer has become increasingly knowledgeable, and comfortable making purchasing decisions, relying less on traditional marketing and sales efforts;
• It takes more effort/resources/etc. today to create a compelling brand identity.
• Challenge is how to ignite passion, inspire loyalty for your brand?

Components of compelling brand experience include:

• Culture - need to thoroughly understand cultural trends, customer needs, and knowledge of what is coming in the future
• Creativity - take your customers beyond your brand's features/benefits to create a visceral connection via storytelling
• Technology - audience is accustomed to using technology is daily life; so find relevant new technology to help tell your brand story better

Defining brand experience:

• A product/service is nothing more than an artifact or act around which customers have experiences. Over time, your brand will be defined by a total impression of those experiences rather than the products or services themselves.
• The right experience set creates a strong, emotional and consistent connection with the consumer. This is a force that captivates your audience and arouses anticipation of benefit upon brand recognition. Various elements such as advertising and marketing contribute to this group of experiences, however they are rarely the sum total of brand identity.
• Never underestimate the degree to which your customers and consumers will go out of their way for a better experience. Similarly, never underestimate the degree to which one bad experience can undo all other positive efforts.

Brand Experience Lab: Creating a Branded Retail Experience | Flooring The Consumer.

Kaiser's Redesign for Older Shoppers

Was reading Brand Experience Matters this evening and came across a link for this video about a grocery store in Germany and how it was redesigned for their senior shoppers. The Kiaser's store realized that they had a great opportunity to reach an older audience and, through their redesign, saw sales go up 30%. While I give kudo's to Kaiser's, wish that CBS allowed you to embed their video's rather then linking. But it's worth the time to watch & learn.

YouTube - Senior-Friendly Grocery Stores (CBS News).

Cindy Adams Relays a Shopping Experience - New York Post

It's a bad economy. Retailers need every sale they can get. But take a look at this piece from the NY Post today. This is what happens when you treat employees like they don't really matter, that's how they treat the guests. Now, maybe I'm wrong and these were just a series of unfortunate experiences, but I'm sure things like this happen at retailers around the world. You can't make the sale when no one wants to ring the register!

FIFTH Avenue. This LA visitor tried buying a Balenciaga. Nobody there except a young saleswoman on the phone. Asked, "Anyone working on the floor?" the saleswoman replied, "Should be," and resumed her conversation. Another 10 minutes. Nobody showed. The visitor then left for a Madison Avenue shop. There she waited for someone to take her merchandise. One salesperson dashed past with "Excuse me." Nobody came to ring it up. Then came a designer's shop a few streets up. She selected a dress and three salesladies, chatting at a desk, paid no attention. Obviously needing whatever she needed, she next tried Saks, where she spent big-time because, "The difference was huge. Personnel virtually grabbed you off the ground." (Emphasis mine)

GLORIA ESTEFAN GETS READY FOR CONN. SHOW - New York Post.

Clicks Or Mortar? at the Pixel Palace

I have a degree in theater and, although I haven't performed in a lot of years, I'm still very curious about how all of these emerging & interactive technologies will impact the role and position of performances. I was a children's theater person, so a lot of the work I did was called participatory in theater language, but what it meant was that there were elements of the show where we expected the children to help move the story along. 

But as we've seen in movie theaters for quite some time, people don't really know how to be an audience any more.  First, you're sitting there in the theater, minding your own business and someone sits down next to you.  You kick off the "elbow waltz, that dance you do to stake out your spot on the arm rest.  Then, as you're trying to watch the movie and the person next to you is on their cell phone talking about their plans for after the movies.  Everyone talks through out the movie (and I don't mean yelling "Don't open that door" to the people in the movie), they're talking to one another.  They're watching a movie like they're in their living room.  This isn't how I was taught be an audience member.

But what happens when the expected level of interactivity moves to other performing environments?  Can everything be interactive?  Don't we sometimes just want to go to the theater and see a really great performance without being asked to twitter ideas to the cast?  Should there be a vote as to whether or not Lady Macbeth kills herself?  Should we vote with the jury of 12 Angry Men?  Should we be expected to play musical instruments on our iPhone at the end of The Music Man?  Wait, that one may actually be a cool idea!  And how does a playwright create content where everything is interactive?  Is there a playwright at all?  (Wow, I'm pretty old school, looking at that list of shows, eh?)

Now, I'm not suggesting that we can't create new mediums from the old, where we add interactivity & audience participation to the mix.  That can work really well.  But when even members of Congress can't stop Twittering and pay attention to what the President is saying, what are we saying to our future audience goers?  

So, I was really interested in this conference happening this week in the UK and certainly wish I could've attended.  I think it's a really fascinating conversation and I love the exploration.  Look at some of the questions they're asking:

• How important are buildings in the digital world? Do we really need to preserve, extend or build cultural spaces or should we let them fade away as we move online?
• If we are to have cultural buildings and cultural spaces, who will decide how they are used and what they contain? Do we want to leave this to the 'wisdom of the crowds' or is there still a role for curators, programmers and other gatekeepers?
• Should cultural buildings try to compete with the home cinema/gaming experience? And if so, how - are the pleasures to be gained online essentially individualist, or can we share them?

Those are pretty big questions if you're job is to run a place like Lincoln Center. But it will also have a real impact on the content that's created, as we try to figure out the right mix of audience involvement.

And from a brand POV, what's the opportunity here?  We talk a lot about branded content, but it's almost all limited to the screen - movie or TV.  Is there a place for live, branded entertainment in our physical places?  Improv Everywhere has done some cool things in public, although I'm not sure they've done it as a sponsored event yet.  But take a look at the 2 videos below and see what you think.  Would you mind if that happened at a place by you, even if it was sponsored by a brand?  Sure, we don't want that every where you go, but it would certainly take the monotony out of a lot of things we do today.

But nothing they're doing is interactive right now, in the true, interactive sense.  Can you improv in a space with everyone there?  What's the process and interface for interacting?  And is there a democracy for participating or are some kind of filters used?

I know that there aren't any answers yet, but I'm sure happy to see that someone has started asking the questions.

Clicks Or Mortar? takes over the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne to explore the potential of digital media in a cultural building. Across three days the Tyneside will present a vast range of work by artists, gamers and filmmakers and on Friday 6 March will host a symposium for cultural creatives, thinkers and planners that will debate the role and challenge the relevance of cultural bricks and mortar buildings in tomorrow’s digitized and networked artistic practice.

Digital technology is already turning some cultural cinemas into spaces that can host an ever widening range of cultural product, from live opera to the National Theatre and an ever expanding diet of participative activity from interactive artists and computer gamers. This digital wave is also crashing over theatres, arts centres, galleries and all other cultural venues, proposing new forms of performance and, most significantly, engaging audiences who may well be turning from passive consumers of culture into active participants in its creation and distribution.

The Pixel Palace. 

View the video at Sangent

Mr. Clean Takes Car-Wash Gig - WSJ.com

I'm a big fan of this idea and hope that it will be successful for P&G. I think it's really an excellent way for P&G to put the Mr. Clean brand front & center with consumers and probably a whole lot cheaper then a large, national ad campaign!

The giant manufacturer of household staples including Pampers diapers, Crest toothpaste and Gillette razors is forging a new business model: franchising car washes.

To jump-start plans for a nationwide chain of Mr. Clean Car Wash franchises, P&G in December acquired the franchise assets of Atlanta-based Carnett's Car Wash, which has 14 locations.

"We need to look for new opportunities to allow us to grow," says Bruce Brown, P&G's chief technology officer. "That isn't limited to things within our current business model."

P&G is under mounting pressure to find new sources of revenue growth, particularly as more cash-strapped shoppers think twice about buying its premium-priced products. Wall Street is increasingly skeptical that the mammoth company can garner meaningful gains in its slow-growing product categories and a tough economy.

Known for exhaustively testing new ideas, Procter & Gamble has been quietly experimenting with service businesses in recent years. Since 2007, it has operated two Mr. Clean Car Washes near its Cincinnati headquarters. Last year, it unveiled three Tide dry-cleaning shops in Kansas City, Kan., area. Also in 2007, P&G said it bought a minority stake in membership-based medical services firm MDVIP, based in Boca Raton, Fla.

Professional car washing, which rings up about $35 billion in sales a year in the U.S., according to P&G estimates, won out as the company's first major franchise push. "We want to blow this out to a national network of car washes," Mr. Brown says.

The car-washing business has a handful of competitive advantages, says Nathan Estruth, vice president of P&G's FutureWorks, which develops new business ventures. It lacks a dominant national chain, aging baby boomers are reluctant to wash cars themselves and more water-strapped communities are pushing professional car cleaning as a conservation measure.

Mr. Clean Takes Car-Wash Gig - WSJ.com.

Sam Adams Happy Employees Commercial

Saw this commercial this morning while watching TV and thought it had a great message for all brands to hear. It's about how all of the employees are passionate about beer and that everyone learns how to brew beer, no matter what their position in the company. We always talk about the importance of putting your employees first and happy to see someone putting it front and center.

Companies Missing Big Opportunity to Turn Customer Pain Into Competitive Gain, Says CMO Council Report - MSNBC Wire Services - msnbc.com

Very happy to see that people are actually studying the role that experience plays in creating brand loyalty. I must admit that I'm constantly amazed how brand managers can understand this connection in their own lives, by having the experience drive where they shop, etc., but as soon as they put their corporate hat on, they completely forget it! While a few companies have added Chief Experience Officers (CXO) to their C-suite, most companies have not. They still see brand experiences in terms of experiential or guerrilla marketing programs. They don't get that if I have a bad customer experience, it will negate all of the marketing/advertising you're doing. All of it.

And yet, the role of customer experience is often relegated far down the line and I would bet that most c-level staff is completely insulated from the entire customer experience process. I mean, they never have the same problems with brands that the rest of us have. While I like his commercials, I doubt that when Dane Hesse calls Sprint customer service to fix a problem, I doubt that he gets put on hold or has to go through 10 minutes of menus to get help.

Look at these stats from the msnbc article:

In fact, 83 percent of respondents said it is either "essential" or "increasingly important" in driving brand advocacy and business performance. In addition, 84 percent said positive customer experiences and word of mouth have helped their brands and businesses grow. There were 44 percent of respondents who admitted that high-profile negative customer experiences had at some time compromised their brands.

How can 83% of the people surveyed say experience is so important and then only 31 percent rate their company's commitment to customer listening highly? We sure like to talk about the importance of customer experiences, but we're clearly not putting the effort into it that we should. Not because it's even the right thing to do. Because it's critical to the success of your company.

Currently, Circuit City is liquidating after a dismal performance during the '08 holiday season. And one of the items that's always discussed is how they decided to fire all of the knowledgeable staff in favor of less experienced, cheaper staff. So, what happened? People stopped shopping there because they couldn't get the product information that they needed to make a purchase decision. When we companies learn that staff that knows what they're doing is a really critical path t success. I bet that as they fired their experienced staff, the management of Circuit City laughed at how much Apple must spend for all of those geniuses. Yet, I remember reading somewhere that Apple stores generate $4,000/square foot in revenue. I bet the Circuit City execs wouldn't laugh at that number for their stores.

And yet despite the fact that every piece of information available, from actual research to personal anecdotes, shows that experience is the most critical part of a companies success or failure, we just don't give it the weight it deserves. Customer service is seen as something that companies are forced to do and many do it at a bear minimum. Social media folks love to point at how zappos uses Twitter or some kind of tool as part of their customer service strategy, but they fail to mention that customer service is at the core of everything they do. It's not just a tactic.

When we're doing client meetings, we always ask where "create a better customer experience" falls on the list of reasons that they do things. And quite honestly, it's not always as high as it should be. Too many companies today focus on creating value for their shareholders, when they should be focusing on their customers and employees. Yep, your employees. After all, if you can't create good experiences for your employees, how can you possibly create good guest experiences. Here's something I wrote about my own experiences doing the Electric Light Parade at Walt Disney World in Orlando back in the early 80's:

And although it's been 25 years or so since I did the parade, just hearing that music and the crowd brought all of those feelings back to me again. Sitting on my couch in West Orange, NJ, I felt the energy that I used to feel waiting to go out the gate at step-off. That performers high you get when you know you're about to bring something special to the audience that's been lining up for probably an hour just to see you. That my friends, is the hallmark of a great experience.

So, take a look at the experiences you're delivering right now and ask yourself this. 25 years from now, will one of your employees see something that brings back those memories and feel elated and excited knowing that they were part of it? Or will they be thinking I can't believe I used to do that. What a waste. We spend so much time trying to figure out how to create great experiences for our guests, but many times we don't even think about the employees. And if they're not feeling the elated and excited first, your guests never will!

When you hire, do you hire to save money or to find the best people possible to represent your brand? Would they be a great brand ambassador or are they simply a warm body that you can get on the cheap. Yea, I know money's tight, but give your employees something other then money to motivate them. Give them a passionate place to work. Give them the tools they need and let them make decisions. And don't be pissed off when you're employees don't care about the company when you cut their salaries/benefits while announcing that upper management made tens of millions in bonuses for saving the company money. If you're not going to treat them like they're important, they won't act like the company is important.

So, if the experience that the consumer has is that important to overall business success, stop screwing around. Make customer experience priority number one. Experience your company like a real consumer would and decide if you would still use your company if you weren't employed there. Go out and experience other people's brands and see what they're doing. It's not about using the right tactics, it's about really believing in what you do.

Despite overwhelming agreement on the importance of customer experience and word-of-mouth, senior marketers admit their companies are failing to take decisive, company-wide action to integrate customer voice and experience into key business and marketing processes, according to a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council.

Sponsored by Satmetrix, the Net Promoter Company, the study, titled "Giving Customer Voice More Volume," revealed that a surprising 58 percent of the 480 executives surveyed said their companies do not compensate any employees or executives based on customer loyalty, satisfaction improvements or analytics. Some 38 percent said their companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word of mouth among customers. In addition, only 29 percent said their companies rate highly in their ability handle and resolve customer problems or complaints.

-- Insufficient availability and aggregation of real-time customer experience data across touch points that should be shared across the organization

-- Poor use of customer interactions to collect insights and intelligence or maximize up-sell and advocacy opportunities

-- Lack of Internet processes and systems to track online word of mouth and drive customer advocacy

-- Intermittent or deficient monitoring of customer experience that fails to provide true and timely insights into problems and opportunities

-- Too few compensation programs tied to customer experience, loyalty and satisfaction gains

"Customer experience is one of the most critical determinants of brand strength and business growth. Yet, most organizations and senior marketers suffer from major blind spots and gaps in the way they interact, handle and respond to customer issues or problems," said CMO Council executive director Donovan Neale-May. "CMOs must assume ownership for the customer experience and establish enterprise-wide measures and disciplines to ensure continuous improvement. (Emphasis mine) We are missing a major opportunity to turn customer pain into competitive gain at every touch point through better use of web and contact center technologies and processes."

Companies Missing Big Opportunity to Turn Customer Pain Into Competitive Gain, Says CMO Council Report - MSNBC Wire Services - msnbc.com.

Riander Blog: The Chief Experience Officer.

Chief Experience Officer … it’s so much more than a title! | The Fast Company Blog | Fast Company.

Wanted: Experience Officer. Some Necessary. - New York Times.

Experience Manifesto: Shouldn't Every Employee be a Brand Ambassador?.

Experience Manifesto: WDW Electric Light Parade.

Experience Manifesto: Retailers prepare for a new, frugal future - Retail - msnbc.com.

MediaPost Publications Get Real: Hire a Chief Experience Officer 11/02/2007.

Wanted: CXO. A pdf of a London Business School survey of UK FTSE 100 companies done in 2006.