Kate Newlin, former Faith Popcorn cohort at BrainReserve, has written a book that strives to challenge consumers to stop being obsessed with buying stuff on the cheap from the Big Box retailers. It’s called SHOPPORTUNITY: How to Be a Retail Revolutionary.
SHOPPORTUNITY revolves around 21 steps consumers should take to get the best, most meaningful experiences from every shopping opportunity. I can’t say all 21 steps are on-target but a few of them are chewy enough for us marketers to gnaw on and over ... such as these two steps:
(1) Relearn Anticipation>
Newlin argues that a key ingredient missing in many of our current shopping experiences is the lack of anticipation. Meaning, there are very few retailers out there that customers truly anticipate going to and shopping at. For the most part, consumers no longer anticipate and retailers have lost the ability to elicit feelings of anticipation.
Newlin is onto something here. In a recent Starbucks Tribal Knowledge presentation, I touched upon this point by telling the audience that “Destinations become expectations when they lose the feeling of anticipation.” By being omnipresent and super-consistent, Starbucks is losing the ability to elicit feelings of “anticipation” from customers.
Which retailers are eliciting feelings of anticipation? Are there any businesses you look forward to doing business with? What must your company do to relearn anticipation?
(11) Shop Where the Staff Knows More than You
Newlin is spot-on. As shoppers we are more likely to find deeper, richer, and more worthwhile retail experiences from businesses whose employees are smarter about the products they sell then are the customers.
There’s a difference when buying a complicated a product high-tech gizmo from a big box retailer than from a specialty retailer. That difference should be the employee at a specialty retailer knows more about the high-tech gizmo than a part-time staffer does at a big box retailer. (Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.)
For more … read the Reveries "Shopportunity" sum-up of the book review from the Wall Street Journal.
I love your stuff John. But what does this mean:
“Destinations become expectations when they lose the feeling of anticipation.”
Anticipation IS expectation. Keep it tight, man. Marketers are confused enough. ;)
Posted by: Account Deleted | October 03, 2006 at 07:35 AM
Tom ... my point is the "surprise and delight" is gone when customers begin to expect "surprise and delight." Once that experience has been set as an expectation, businesses are challenged to follow-through on it ALWAYS.
It is very hard to be surprised and delighted at Starbucks these days because we've come to expect that from Starbucks. However, it is easier to be surprised and delighted from say Gloria Jeans, Sears, or Applebee's, etc...
Sorry for not keeping it tight enough for ya Tom. I hope that clarification helps you to understand my bent. Then again, it might serve as a side dish for your BBQ Guru thang.
Posted by: johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) | October 03, 2006 at 09:36 AM
Hey John,
Thanks for the clarification. There's no need to put it "on the grill" at gurubbq.com, but if you see something that needs to be served up please let me know. :)
I know it's difficult to delver an expectation called "surprise and delight," but in fact, this is required in many business cases today. Apple is great at it. So is Cirque du Soleil and the Fox dramas House and 24.
If we don't expect it, then in many cases we don't tune it in. Just a thought. But hey, I may be wrong. ;)
Posted by: Account Deleted | October 05, 2006 at 07:15 AM