Insights from the queue, lovemarks and missed opportunities

It’s not everyday that a huge marketing machine like Apple has a big event in the Southern Hemisphere, and for me it was one of those unique moments where I could see a truly inspirational brand in action. Apple was opening the second biggest Apple Store in the world - Apple Store Sydney.

This store was two years in the plan and build stage and like most big openings there was a big dose of interwebs hype and media attention. Some people camped out in line for two days prior to opening, from right around the world, others queued for hours, some in the rain, just to be one of the first people through the doors of this remarkable lovemark.

I was one of the first 500 people through the door starting my time in the queue around the corner and down one street-block.  It was here I waited with many other Apple fans from around the globe.  Beside me someone who had come from New York City just for the opening of this store, in front of me a group of school kids excited to be part of an Apple event for the first time. At the ripe old age of 13 and 14 telling their war stories of when they got their first ipod and iBook.

It got me thinking about when I first started using the Apple Macintosh, over twenty years ago, before these school kids were even born! I remember getting goose-pimples down my arms when I first saw a Macintosh on TV and thinking “this is very different from the Apple IIe, it’s going to change the world”.

Not such a grand thought in the scheme of things, but for me as a 14 year old I realised my world was changing before my eyes. My school got a Mac only a few weeks later and my world changed forever.

A lot of people have been asking what it is that draws people, sometimes from the other side of the world, to an opening of a store. There are no new products on offer, and there were no secret announcements… just a free t-shirt for the first 2,000 people through the door.

Was I queuing for the limited edition t-shirt?  Yes… and no.

Did I queue to buy some product? Not today.

Did I go in the hope that there would be some secret announcement? Not really.

So why did I go?

I went to experience how Apple markets something like the Apple store. Unlike most, I went to experience the queue, just as much as the store.

Most sane people would not queue for street blocks, waiting sometimes hours in the rain just to see a new store. But this is no ordinary store. It’s an Apple Store. It’s somehow more special, more attractive and more deserving of the wait.

Perhaps it was how long we’ve had to wait for a store like this in Australia, perhaps it was the build up and plans under wraps, but never before have I witnessed this type of cult-like following for the opening of a store. It was all quite remarkable. Saachi and Saachi call brands like this a lovemark - a brand that exceeds beyond expectations of great performance. Standing in the queue taught me that remarkable brands can get people to do things out of the ordinary.

It showed me that smart marketers can tap otherwise hidden opportunities when these extraordinary events happen. Today I want to share with you three marketing observations and a missed opportunity.

While I waited in a queue I saw music stores, sports stores and even recruitment agents handing out flyers to the sitting ducks waiting patiently behind carefully constructed barricades. No message, no shared enthusiasm, simply an opportunity to hand out pieces of paper to people with no attempt to connect.

I saw others who served the crowd coffee from mobile vans. These people worked tirelessly to meet a need on a cold winter evening handing out free beverages.  There were friendly smiles and interactions and people were appreciative of the hot drinks. There was no hard sell, these people were offering free giveaway in the hope that people may remember their brand in future.

The best marketing I witnessed was from Nudie a niche crushed fruit juice maker - a quality product with quirky name that always makes me smile. They were handing out product by the handful to the waiting crowd. A small juice to take away the thirst, but what made it special was the extra step. They connected with the crowd. As they were handing over the bottled drinks they were smiling and sharing the enthusiasm. Their message was creative and hit the spot with the people who were waiting:

“Nudie loves Apples too!”

In a feat of carefully organised brand alignment, they met my need, and connected their juice brand with the buzz, excitement and brand of Apple.

Now, it rained on the opening night and what happens next is the missed opportunity.

Apple had umbrellas which were being carefully distributed to people waiting to get into the store.  Once safely inside, the umbrellas were recycled back into the crowd.  But what about on the way out, it was an entirely different story? You guessed it, no umbrellas.

For me it was a bit like the caring, the cheering and the love stopped when you walked out the door.

What a missed opportunity for Apple! They missed a huge opportunity to send a powerful message that they care as much about their customers as their customers care about them

What you may not have realised is that Telstra have their flagship mobile phone concept store right across the road from Apple.

Now imagine if Telstra turned up on the footpath with an umbrella for Apple’s departing customers. What message would that send?

It gets you thinking about the marketing inroads that are lost through a lack of agility and insight?

It just gets you thinking…

An apple a day…

The humble apple is arguably the greatest teacher ever.  Let’s not contemplate what it did for Adam and Eve. But it did come in handy when Newton was trying to understand how gravity worked. It provided the wake up moment to see things from a fresh angle. 

Talking of freshness - how and when did the old adage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” come about?  Was it a green grocer? an over-vigilant dietician? Or even a computer designer - way ahead of their time? 

We at Sparkles think a lot about healthy communication. And in particular about the sorts of constipated problems we can fix with a sharp head-thumping insight and sound communication treatment. 

We believe you can diagnose, provide a prognosis and ultimately suggest a treatment for communication problems in much the same way you can attack digestive problems with a bit of fresh fruit.

The Sparkle approach is to work with business areas to help analyse their communications need (or constipated or ’stuck’ problems). The consultation is designed to facilitate the business areas’ ownership of their own communication problems and solutions. In other words,  one needs to accept they’re constipated before they go looking for an apple - or something stronger!

Many  people or businesses teams don’t know how to identify their communication  problems let alone treat them with the right solution.

Moreover, many still think that “communication” can be done by pushing an email button to “all staff” or passively posting a document on the website or intranet and assume that users will find it, read it, understand it and then act on it.

We at Sparkles promote healthy communication as a process with many inter-related steps, much exploration and exciting discovery - a veritable colonoscopy. 

• The first step involves diagnosis which is conducted by a series of assumption reducing questions.
• The second step involves prognosis which is a forecast of the course and probable outcome of a communication problem. At this stage some of the questioning can be a bit provocative and lateral.
• The third step involves the planning and design of a treatment schedule - we never just pick one schedule and there’s never only one solution.

Diagnostic - type questioning
what do you want?
why do you want that?
where did the request come from?
when do you want it by?
why aren’t you doing that now?
what are you doing towards that end already?
what have you tried before
what do you think needs to be done?
when will you know it is working?
where did the need come from?
how long-standing is the problem?
 

Prognostic stage – questioning
Can the current problem be related to a similar problem experienced in the past?
If this went unchecked what is likely to happen?
If we fix this problem what sort of repercussions will there be? 
Is that the only problem?
Is this a symptom of a bigger problem? 
What do you think is really going on here?
Have you considered this scenario? 
Have you heard the rumours about ….?

Treatment stage - dialogue
 If you don’t know what to say – will certainly need to craft some key messages
If you think people don’t know you – you might need to approach it from a marketing angle
If you want more users – you definitely need to promote and position your product or service      
If you want feedback you will need a communications plan and will need to start thinking about where and how to collect  issues
If you want to reach maximum people – you would benefit from mixing marketing with strategies to communicate online 
If you want to engage others  you need marketing as well as including some personal coaching to ensure you deliver the message effectively
If you want to be remembered – you need to craft your key messages with a rigorous and thoughtful schedule included in your communication planning.

So get munching but be prepared to look for or deliver a thump on the top of the head as you go. If you get that thump - it’s a good sign you’re heading down the right track.