Brand experience is front of mind for me, filling the gap whilst spring continues to try really hard not to spring. Tomorrow apparently. I’ve been using the weather as an excuse to avoid training for a looming 10k. Pretty reasonable excuse as anything broadly below 15 degrees and brilliant sunshine makes me want to run for the Málaga hills. That would mean zero chance of competing in said race, clearly. I am fully intending to run when the Ice Age departs. How I envy the many who seem not to have noticed the extensive meteorological calamity that this winter has been and the really poor 2017 summer before that (no summer at all in fact, after that hot week end mid June).
The link between sub-optimal climate and brand experience? Well, staring at winter for 7 months has given me time to think about brands that are successfully reading – or not – the climate around them. Two brands have been on my mind following close encounters with them in recent days. As a result I’m now avidly following one with a thirst for more and looking forward to my next news or purchase from them. In the case of the second, seems they don’t hold out much hope for my future, which is fine, given I don’t like the look of theirs either. Brand experience matters, you see.
Runr, you are in the first category. I get what you are trying to do and who for. I understand your proposition and your positioning. You are really clear on what motivates your audience and the sort of interventions that keep them coming back for more. You seem to be run by someone who loves to run and this makes a real difference to how the brand communicates. My running buddy ordered the wrong size top – her fault not yours. You offered to change it (she might even have been beyond exchange date) and sent her the correct size, with no postage charge. Plus bonus Haribo sweets included – just the sugar hit for a post training run perk. You recognise that runners (sometimes) have normal lives outside of pacing the roads and so you sell runr wine glasses as well as the more technical stuff we all need a bit of. Your running number magnets to dispose of safety pin scratch are frankly a little bit of athletic genius. Your #MedalMonday recognises someone who has had a personal achievement over the weekend, no matter distance or time. All of this warms my glutes very much. What a winning brand experience.
Here’s the proposition: ‘Fitness and lifestyle brand for people passionate about running’. Simple isn’t it. And the positioning? ‘Be proud to be a runr’. From this call-to-action stems the community. An understanding that running ain’t just for the 26.2 milers. From couch to first 5k, 5 to 10, 10 to first half or beyond, it’s all running and there’s nothing like it in terms of achievement and pride. So, I’m still moaning about the climate and as such I’m running frankly tight on time for the looming 10k. I’m still proud to be a runr tho. Thanks for the welcome.
To the second brand experience candidate. A few days ago I received an email entitled as follows: “Suzanna, you’ve only got 7 more days…”.It’s from my M&S Sparks membership. I wonder how they got access to my medical data and interpreted that my end is nigh? In this day and age of free for all personal data, I guess news of my apparent terminal condition could easily have leaked – just a shame it didn’t leak my way first. I was feeling rather well actually. Still, now I know what’s coming I’ve just booked a flight to Seville. 6 days touring Andalucía lie ahead. Day 7 I shall enter a Leading Hotel of the World in Marbella, announce something in perfect subjunctive-happy Spanish and fall to the ground, still wishing I had made that career change to A&E Consultant and not wasted so much time writing social media rhubarb.
Oh. I see. You were giving me another week to enjoy my ‘exclusive’ food offers.
Interestingly these exclusive offers, of which the email listed 5, managed to reflect in no way my shopping habits. I can’t eat any of your really beige and over-priced ready stuff, since switching to gluten-free. Wonder why your Insights team hadn’t spotted that, or thought about how language influences brand experience? Too busy evaluating my medical prognosis maybe. Good luck with the ‘Everything we do as a company is filtered through the lens of what we know about our customers’. Apparently I won’t be around to know how you get on. Proposition and positioning? No idea these days. Don’t care either – it’s 25 in Seville and hotting up.
