Famously Different

This has been a remarkable week for me, as I watched truly great people explore ways to help customer’s find what is unique about their brands.  I have been in brand summits and brainstorming sessions with two terrific groups Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que restaurants with corporate headquarters in Minnetonka Minnesota and PEMCO insurance based in the Northwest region of the US.  While I view the work product of each of these groups to be proprietary and not something I would share in this context, I relished in the opportunity to watch these great organizations fully explore what they uniquely have to offer the customer.  There was a time when businesses would put their finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing and adjust their sails to move in the direction of hot and trendy customer interests but both of these groups were asking “who are we?” , “what is the authentic special sauce (excuse the pun as it relates to the barbque experience) that sets us apart from other insurers or other restaurants?.  If you will, they were exploring what makes them excellent and how do they take care of people differently from others in their brand neighborhood?

Those questions not only serve to help position their businesses amongst cluttered media messaging and guide business strategy but the clarity of their answers is a huge gift to consumers.  How often have we been lured into an experience by jazzy marketing only to find that the hype and the reality was starkly less than what you expected.   Both PEMCO insurance and Famous Dave’s committed themselves to a “real assessment” of what experience they wanted to drive for each customer every single interaction across all channels of customer contact.  The authentic nature of their exploration reflects of the unpretentious nature of both brands.  PEMCO Insurance has been sharing a media message that  recognizes that the pace and quality of life in the Northwestern United States is a little different than say NYC – “We’re  alot like you, A little different.”  In fact, I you will see one of their great television ads that champion the message through a goat renter.  Take a look at it, it is 30 seconds well spent.

PEMCO – Goat Renter Guy #80 

For more on this topic, listen to this weeks podcast of the same name….

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Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D. is a professional speaker and chief experience officer at The Michelli Experience. A New York Times #1 bestselling author, Dr. Michelli and his team consult with some of the world’s best customer experience companies.

Follow on Twitter: @josephmichelli

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