PM360 May 2011

BRAND SLAM

CRAFTING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
BY ALLEN ADAMSON

It’s the differentiated customer experience, not just the differentiated product that spells brand success. Apple and Bayer Pharmaceuticals prove that functionality is just the cost of entry.

Boy, have we moved beyond functional benefits— when it comes to successful brand-building that is. Sure, you’ve got to ensure your product is inherently different in a way people care about before you go to market. But these days it’s only the starting point. No matter how different or interesting or beneficial your product may be in terms of its functionality, this is no longer good enough to get it on the leader board. Come on, let’s face it. Whether you’re in the pharmaceutical, the technology, the pet food, or even the fashion category, you can go from celebrity to commodity brand in a Madison Avenue-minute. The latest bells and whistles are easily replicated. Even the strongest of the strong recognize this. This is why the strongest of the strong and smartest of the smart brands set themselves apart in the minds of consumers by differentiating not just the product or service, but the entire user experience.

PERFECTLY APPLE
Here’s an obvious, but obviously perfect example. An Apple “i” product of any sort, be it a Mac, a Tune, a Phone, or a Pad, is synonymous with the latest and greatest technological wizardry. But knowing full well that there are other savvy players in the field, the folks at Apple don’t count on their ingenious i-gadgets alone to ensure the brand stays successful. They do what it takes to see that a sense of “Apple-ness” is intrinsic to every experience a customer has with the brand. The company has established a cultural sensibility, an emotional connection, that’s reinforced across all points of touch, from the brilliant coolness of the product packaging, to the literal brilliance of the young geniuses behind the customer service counter, to the creatively brilliant advertising. The hardware and software are wonderful, of course, but the company, with extreme due diligence, has set the bar extremely high relative to the user’s total experience with the brand. And it’s this totality of experience that differentiates it in the marketplace. While RIM and Samsung are hoping their own brands of tablet can take a bite or two out of Apple’s market share, the companies should be thinking beyond the functional proficiency of their wares.

A colleague of mine, Louisa Holland, who is co-CEO for the Americas at Sudler & Hennessey, one of the world’s leading healthcare communications firms, gave me another great example of differentiation via user experience from, where else, the healthcare and pharmaceutical milieu. “Product difference is getting more and more marginal,” she told me in a recent conversation. “There’s an increasing need for pharmaceutical companies to build value for consumers beyond functionality. And there’s a real opportunity for a brand to mean so much more than the medication itself. Manufacturers can become part of the conversation that patients are having with each other about their conditions, and can really help patients to manage many important aspects of their care. Perhaps one of the best instances I’ve seen relative to this is Baxter Pharmaceuticals and its commitment to the Advate user.”

WE’LL BE THERE FOR YOU
Advate, I quickly learned, is a drug used to treat hemophilia. The Baxter team, with an understanding that those using Advate could also use a trustworthy dose of emotional support, established just that with its pledge to patients: Baxter will be “there for you.” Through Baxter’s extensive online and local community efforts, patients have access to information about their disease, their medical insurance coverage, and other clinical and emotional aspects of their condition. They have an opportunity to connect with healthcare professionals as well as other patients through popular media channels including Facebook. “This is a very active patient group,” Louisa said. “The amount of information, guidance, and support that is available from Baxter through this program is an incredible advantage that goes beyond just the efficacy of the drug. The fact that there’s someone out there waiting to help is part of what makes the Advate brand what it is.”

With the time between every new and better and different product quickly diminishing, it’s never been more important for companies to look for ways to distinguish their brands above and beyond the way something works. That it should and must work effectively has become merely the cost of entry. The cost of winning rests on the entire user experience with the brand, be it a pharmaceutical brand or any other. Apple and Baxter are just two great cases in point.

Allen Adamson is managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates, a brand consulting and design firm. He is also the author of BrandSimple and BrandDigital. He can be reached at allen.adamson@
landor.com