designing experiences
If you are a $11 billion a year retailer with 17,000 outlets across 55 countries how do you align customers and staff alike around your brand in a consistent and sustainable way?
At a talk in Toronto, Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks Corp. was asked this very question. He spoke about the ‘smell’ of the brand, which he discovered had shifted from ‘coffee amora’ to ‘burn cheese’. As Schultz described it, “We are not in the burnt cheese business.”
What Schultz was really saying is the company had forgotten its DNA was all about the customer experience — how we walk through the doors, pick up the coffee aroma and are reminded that we have arrived at a special place.
We can even put a value to that experience. In the case of Starbucks, it lost a stunning $22 billion in share value as the company lost its way.
While it might be hard for some to relate to the scale and reach of Starbucks, the lesson is universal. In a world where everything — travel, charity, shoes, cars and maybe even politics — is commoditized, the true worth of a brand is actually the experience it delivers. There is no shortage of places to grab a cup of java, so the real consumer value add is in offering an experience like no other.
Here at figure3, we have built our practice on this premise. We creating spatial environments that inspire and connect those who use them, enrich the brand and organization and deliver a memorable experience, whether that is for play, work….or to drink coffee.
What are you doing to enrich the experience of your staff, customers and stakeholders?
