Wednesday August 09, 2006

Pop quiz: what's that sign?

 

What is it? The first person who gets it right wins a free homebrew from yours truly.

OK, now that I've got you hooked, more detail: in my spare time I've been toying with an idea that could help locally-oriented companies better promote themselves as primary ambassadors of a local region's goods. And this is what the idea looks like. Guess away, or read the entire entry via Permalink below for more info...

Tuesday June 27, 2006

How to win -- or at least not lose -- clients in the first 5 minutes

I spent a good chunk of time in the Midwest in the last couple weeks, working from Chicago and Milwaukee, remote style, while my wife and kids spent time with her family. Both of these visits were really enjoyable (especially in the early part of the summer), and my experiences in both places -- speaking at Neocon and later working amidst the core of Milwaukee's creative class in the Third Ward -- have spawned a number of conversations I'd like to share with you. So here we go.

Neocon, brand, vendors, and how to win -- or not lose -- a client in the first five minutes

We've spent a lot of time at Sun in the last few years evangelizing the notion of what brand is and what brand isn't. For a simple recap: brand is not a product, company, or logo. It's a reputation -- your perception -- of an organization. And it's communicated in a boatload of ways, from advertising and marketing to product performance and even service and support.

Now despite what a number of low-rent marketers might have you believe, brands cannot be built on promises alone. We all love (or don't) certain things not for what they promise, but for what they deliver. And companies that get that are rewarded financially...they've built their organization to deliver value across as many touchpoints as possible.

That's something that I don't think anyone gets quite right, but I'm certainly excited to say that Sun is working to make that happen. The good news: we'll get there. The bad news: everyone who has the opportunity to provide value to and for Sun -- all employees and vendors -- must also understand this.

The trouble with vendors

I should rephrase that...it's not necessarily "the bad news." It's the most challenging part. And I'm not referring to the employees; that's a heavy-lifting effort, but as an organization we can measure and reward people who contribute in a way that's reflective of our core values. It's hard, but it's doable.

Rather, I've found that it's gosh-dang hard to enlist a cadre of vendors who actually care about our business. Finding vendors who espouse the true principles of partnership -- who understand our business and have our best short- and long-term interests at heart -- can be difficult. I'm exposed on a regular basis, for example, to firms in the architecture or interior-environments world that seem to think that we're more interested in what nifty thing they can do with our logo on a wall, than with how they can assist in providing unforgettable experiences (unique to Sun) that blossom into long-term business relationships.

And if it's not about the logo, then it's a fascination with technology that a potential vendor wants to push. Or it's an obvious rote approach for design -- we'll give you the exact same wow-factor that we gave Company X (who all too often just happens to be a competitor, differentiation be damned.)

Separating the wheat from the chaff

So I was fortunate enough to present at Neocon (with David Meckley of Huntsman and Beth Davis of Spencer Stuart). My particular angle was on the value that designers (and more specifically, "design") bring to any business. And one of the questions that arose after the presentation was about knowing the difference between a "good vendor" and a "bad vendor" -- something that becomes rather clear to me, in my role at Sun, in the first five minutes of any presentation from an environments-design vendor.

In fact, it's something I've been asked about twice since then...attendee Donna Caldwell positions this as "how to win -- or at least not lose -- a client in the first 5 minutes." Works for me. So what the heck -- let's open this up. Here's my rapid-fire take on the difference between vendors I at Sun want to work with and those I don't...the difference between those who will boost our brand as a true partner, and those who simply want to do their thing, send a bill, and walk away...often despite intentions that state otherwise.

Ready, set, go:

-- Language: if the firm offers to design our brand story, they're in the door. If they simply "design interiors," that's less valuable to me.

-- Brand:: if their view of "branding" is about where they place the logo, or about which wall we paint Sun Blue, then that's a negative point.

-- Measurement:: if the firm can tell me how they'll connect guests or employees to the brand -- and how they'd measure that -- then I'm very interested.

-- Possibilities:: if they can map out for me how this may provide increased revenue or new sources of revenue, then I'm downright excited.

-- Prescriptive solutions:: if they're immediately diving into the latest technology or hippest designs, they're missing the point. (If it's something our competitors could easily do, then what's the point?)

-- Open approach:: if the firm has a multidisciplinary team (from artists to designers to writers to [yes] actors), they're more likely to see the world in new ways and provide a solution that's as unique as we think we are. And that's good. But if the firm has signature look that hints of a templated approach to design, that's not as desirable.

-- Research:: if the firm has done its homework and knows something about our history and brand values, I'm grateful. If they haven't prepared, it's usually clear. (Any firm that makes their first presentation to us in PowerPoint/Microsoft rather than StarOffice/Sun has a small mark against them, in my opinion. [Regardless of which tool may actually be better.] They clearly don't know our culture.)

-- Charisma:: and finally, if the team lead can sell ideas, they're in. Organizational navigation is a given challenge in any big company, and a strong lead can make or break the implementation of a good idea at Sun. Some vendors have it, some don't. The best ones are those who can make my internal-selling job of that much easier.

Finally, I'd like to add one more. It's based on what Martin Lindstrom calls "smashing the brand," but it's an ages-old methodology for knowing how strong you communicate your brand. The litmus test is this: if you remove the logos in this physical space, would it still be clearly identifiable as a Sun space? If not, then we're all really just plopping in walls, furniture and fixtures, aren't we?

Walls, floors and fixtures are fine for meeting minimally-acceptable requirements. It's just that I don't believe Sun is interested in presenting itself as a minimally-acceptable company.

OK, enough grandstanding from my end. Dogmatic approaches, after all, will only get me so far. I'm curious to hear what works and what doesn't for you, whether you're on the vendor or client side. Let's talk.

( Jun 27 2006, 10:14:16 AM PDT ) Permalink

Tuesday December 06, 2005

Pop-up Stores in NPR's "Morning Edition"

I wrote about Illy Coffee's pop-up store/noteworthy brand-building innovation a while back. For those of you who missed it, NPR ran a story on it today -- here's the article (includes audio).

Here's what I thought notable:

- - It's not about being a "coffee shop." Illy may be losing money as far as being an operational coffee shop goes, but that would be missing the point; as a brand-building experiment, this store has created a phoenomenal amount of free buzz. That's priceless.

- - Buzz is good, and experience is better. Those people who have actually visited the store have had a much more intimate conversation with the brand...one that most marketing managers would pay dearly for.

- - Ditch the focus groups. On top of all this, Illy uses the store as a research lab of sorts. They're watching people interact with the brand and developing deeper insights about what matters most to people when it comes to coffee. Why pay for a focus group, after all, when you already have "the field" right before your eyes?

Store closes December 15. After that, be prepared for Illy's next wave, which is likely to be a major retail push here in the states. Keep an eye out for whatever they're up to next.

( Dec 06 2005, 10:44:41 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Monday December 05, 2005

Humane architecture = better SATs?

Meanwhile, over at the Washington Post, they're profiling a new school in Manassas Park, Va., where "the design of this building does in fact have a measurable effect on student achievement and student behavior."

I see a town-hall fistfight in the near future if their school board is anything like corporate America. Nonetheless, you've gotta dig their enthusiasm. If seasonally-affective disorder is an honest-to-goodness example of what happens when your day's a little too grey, there's no reason why gloomy buildings and forgotten interiors can't have a similar downside.

"We have examples of kids whose schools were dark and dank and crumbly, and when their new school opened, morale increased, the community came together, teachers stayed longer. Even the football team got better," Judy Marks (associate director for the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities) said. "There are those anecdotal stories that can give you a glimpse, but trying to look for solid research on that is a little trickier."

( Dec 05 2005, 05:46:44 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Can you hear me now? No. Great!

Fascinating audio device described in the NYT:

"The device, called the Mosquito ("It's small and annoying," Mr. Stapleton said), emits a high-frequency pulsing sound that, he says, can be heard by most people younger than 20 and almost no one older than 30. The sound is designed to so irritate young people that after several minutes, they cannot stand it and go away."

...'Course if you can't afford a Mosquito, there's always champagne music. ( Dec 05 2005, 05:34:10 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Wednesday November 30, 2005

User interfaces for physical spaces

MAYA Design and the IA Institute are putting on a nifty workshop: User Interfaces for Physical Spaces. To be honest, it looked...well, somewhat interesting until I saw the process docs that MAYA used...and then I poked around to find that there's way more where that came from.

As it turns out, MAYA's process is straightforward, full-throttle experience design, encompassing contextual inquiry, IA, persona development, and so on, as visible in their case study for the Carnegie Library.

Speaking from experience, most projects only really get a smidgen of any of these disciplines applied -- wishing I could be in Pittsburgh this December 12.

( Nov 30 2005, 11:33:07 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Wednesday November 23, 2005

Nothing but flowers

Still stumped for that perfect holiday gift/customer premium/promo item? Forget the usual wasteful, annoying and usually pointless tchochkes (sp?). Get 'em the most amazing little foldable/refoldable flower six-dollar vase you've ever seen: the Wonder Vase.

Just bought my own three-pack, in fact. Will report back once they arrive.

Link via Funfurde.

( Nov 23 2005, 07:00:00 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Friday November 04, 2005

Pop goes the Wired Mag

Following up on last week's conversation about a growing number of brands' attempts to cultivate connoisseurs, Wired Magazine is entering into the pop-up fray with a store in SoHo.

Manhattan shoppers, you'll have five weeks to get your holiday geek fix on.

(Thanks for the pointer, Experience Economist.)

( Nov 04 2005, 09:30:59 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Monday October 03, 2005

Moving From Libraries to Starbucks: Outsourcing the Third Place

Jeff Kallay got me thinking about the role of libraries this morning...

Which of the following places are you most likely to spend your spare time: a) Starbucks; b) Barnes & Noble; or c) a nearby public library?

Ten years ago, you probably didn't even have access to two of those three options, given that Starbucks hadn't yet taken over the world and B&N wasn't quite yet in sprawl mode, either. And back then you may have spent some time poking around in a library either when you had to or when there were few other options. But in those ten years, those two companies (among others) have picked up the slack where most libraries have completely dropped the ball: they've become viable "third places," or the places where you spend time when you're not at work or home.

Third places aren't anything new, but the concept of a "third place" has become a little more codified and thus increasingly relevant in a day when the average American's time and attention are available in slices as thin as North Beach prosciutto.

Why third places? Well, when you can lock in any human being's time and attention on a habit-forming basis, you've reached a golden moment: on an interpersonal level, we give time and attention to people who matter to us. And on a b-to-c level, we as consumers give our time and attention to companies that have improved our lives in one way or another...and that relationship is acknowledged in the form of long-term revenues.

Suffice to say, the coffeeshops and bookstore retailers have our long-term revenues in mind. They've built environments that are safe, comfy and appealing to a lot of people, and it's obviously paid off for them.

So is it fair for me to criticize libraries for not thinking about "long term revenues" when I say that they've dropped the ball? Not completely, given that libraries are not accountable for shareholder value. But libraries are, to a large degree, accountable to the public for being relevant in our lives. They're the most accessible publicly owned places in the real world that we (as Americans, anyway) have for community gatherings and the larger civic goal of acquiring, sharing and promoting knowledge.

Given that aim -- and given this recent report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy which says most campus libraries are "...outdated, poorly lit, under-financed and depressing 1960's relic that is less attractive than a friends off campus house or local coffee shop" -- I'd say that it's time for many of our civic leaders take a page from their corporate counterparts' playbook and think a little more carefully about today's Third Places, and the role that libraries have in being that Third Place for many of us.

It's either that or cede that larger goal of being relevant for, to, and within our civil society.

Or perhaps we've already done so, and outsourced the whole thing?

( Oct 03 2005, 12:20:15 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Friday August 26, 2005

Full recap, Experience Architecture Forum at Harvard GSD

As promised: this is the last of an informal, scannability-oriented series of recaps from the Experience Architecture Forum in August at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Thanks to Greg Beck for sharing his thinking and articles with us.

FIRST OFF: TAKEAWAYS

Let's jump to the chase and get straight to the big takeaway: it's the ideas around designer as translator; story-driven spaces; and strategy before technology or design. For the bullet-point versions of the big takeaway, see my entries from earlier this week. But for the longer version, Gregory Beck's article from Lotus in 2003, The Architecture of Experience, (PDF) is clearly a must-read.

Why, you ask? What's the article mean for anyone involved with guest-facing spaces? Here's what it covers:
- What humans are looking for in a space
- How "experience architecture" projects achieve their impact
- Four elements that define a compelling guest experience
- Why most "traditional" architects had (or have) a bias against "experience architecture"
- Four lessons for guiding your own experience-architecture projects.

For anyone in a large organization looking to improve guest experiences (as I am), this thinking is as good as gold.

BRIEF SPEAKER RECAPS

Advance apologies for cutting any of this down to 100-word recaps. It's wrong, plain wrong. But only slightly better than giving you nothing at all. And so...

-- Mapping it out with Nancye Green
Before American Girl was "a store in Chicago," it was a raw vision that needed poking, tinkering, refinining. Nancye Green, the store's designer, let us in on some of the exercises they worked out before AG settled on the Mag Mile. One such idea was an AG steamboat experience. And her firm, Donovan/Green designed some remarkably beautiful -- but more importantly useful -- experience maps for helping everyone get a sense of each customer's on-board visit and that relationship to the bottom line. Go see Nancye speak when you can just to get a peek at those maps.

-- How many grande frappucinos is that, anyway?
Historian Bryant Simon is working on a book about the cultural cache of Starbucks. When you step back and realize that Starbucks is neither about coffee nor real estate, you start seeing the world differently, as Simon has. Broad-stroke themes (which don't hold a flame to the real presentation): safety through exclusion (homeless people can't afford four-dollar coffee drinks); universal appeal (look up and see modern, creative styles; look down and the design is more reserved); and a nonthreatening environment (no piercings or tattoos, please). These are some of the tactics Starbucks has employed to make their shops the place to be in different parts of the world. And it certainly pays to consider the thorough, vision-driven planning that's required of a company hoping to move from a mover of goods to a global cultural icon and lifestyle brand.

-- Forget bling. It's all about creative captial.
Dave Norton of Stone Mantel took the Starbucks conversation further with an interesting but sensible take: creative capital is something we're all after -- and Starbucks gives those who are high on economic capital but low on creative capital a chance to get in the game. I'll buy that. Norton adds a nicely wrapped overview for offering creative capital: it's produced by people (not companies) through conversations (not messaging) in significant settings (through the use of storytelling). Dave's just starting Stone Mantel after years with Yamamoto Moss; say hello and be sure to subscribe to his newsletter.

-- And then came The Producers
And then there was Starizon, who presented the notion that regardless of where you're coming from (be it architecture, marketing, brand, etc.), you're an experience producer if you're working on spaces. People will respond to what you give them -- might as well make it intentional rather than accidental. Personally, I can't help but immediately translate that to perception is greater than reality, so get to work on creating well-crafted perceptions...but the good news here is that Leigh Adamson and Jeff Bensky are rightfully concerned with making reality and perceptions one and the same. They point to their work with the Mid-Columbia Medical Center as an example: the MCMC represents a holistic reframing of what the concept of a hospital is/could/should be, and it's a powerful example of innovation in an ages-old model. That kind of change doesn't start by rethinking logos or advertising campaigns; it's driven by a vision and carried out in all levels of an organization. I'm looking forward to visiting Starizon during the ThinkAbout conference.

ROUNDING IT OUT

Other excellent speakers from the forum who deserve far more space than I'm giving here: (I've lablelled them "excellent," but I should also mention that every single one was thought provoking, entertaining and affable, and I'd love to hear/see each of them again.)

- Deanne Beckwith, Herman Miller
- Wayne Hunt, Hunt Design
- Gregory Beck AIA, Architecture + Experience Design
- Hugh Darley, IDEA/International Design and Entertainment Associates
- David Bianciardi, Audio, Video & Controls
- Margaret King and Jamie O'Boyle, Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis

LAGNIAPPE

Go experience:

Ambient Devices
American Girl The Drake for Tea
The Reagan Library
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Volkswagen Autostadt
Vans Skateparks
Let's Dish
Cereality
The Kohler Resort/American Club
Santa Fe
Herman Miller's HQ
The Brand Experience Lab
Disneyland
Las Vegas (Related: read this Architectural Record article from Gregory Beck re: the changing model of "experience design" in Vegas. )
The Library Hotel

That should do it. If you didn't attend, you obviously missed out. If you did, let's continue the conversation.

( Aug 26 2005, 02:09:55 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Thursday August 25, 2005

The five million dollar question

I was prepared to go into more about the "architecture-versus-brand-strategy" conversation (it's really architecture-as-a-component-of-brand-strategy) as part of my EA Recap Week 2005, but all bets are off today as the following question sprung up and I can't take my brain away from it.

That question: what sort of "sales" center would yours be if your typical customer dropped, let's say, $5 million dollars with each sale?

Wow. The mind boggles. Prada is only shooting for a few thousand per sale, and lookit them. Volkswagen already has you sold on a $30,000 car by the time you experience the amazing Volkswagen Autostadt. Heck, Disney's only gouged you for a few hundred by the time you're through with them, yet they've given most their visitors something they perceive to be the memory of a lifetime.

In thinking this through, let's be industry-agnostic for a second. Forget that it's "your" industry. Forget business, forget verticals, forget everything you know about your company's or client's current situation, and focus solely on a few things:

• Let's say your customer spends millions on you with each sale
• Let's sayd it sometimes can take a handful of visits to complete the sale
• Let's say competitors don't really have a leg up on you, not with the goods/services they're selling, nor with the experience they provide at their own sales facility.

Okay, so those are the obvious assumptions. Let's add a few more less obvious ones, which still need to be considered:

• These are human beings first, customers second.
• As human beings, we respond favorably to personal attention.
• As human beings, we stick with people we like -- people like us, people who understand us, people who seem to be part of our tribe.
• And we respond well to stories. Especially when those stories involve personal attention and, er, tribal affinity.

All of which lead me to believe that "experiences" such as the Volkswagen Autostadt or upper-class travel for British Airways or Virgin are a bit closer to the mark than not, for the simple reason that when it comes time to plan, design and build out these spces, they've acknowledged these basic fundamentals long before they even consider talking about the design, technology, or messaging that's going to drive these spaces.

Or put another way, they understand their high-value customers better than most of us. Not that they're perfect -- 10 minutes with product marketing whiz Peter Wilton will convince you that the airlines are far from it -- but as I said, they're better than most of us who might be tempted to lead off these conversations talking gizmospeak and carpet choices long before acquiring a deeper understanding of our customers.

Millions of dollars per sale. What's it going to be?

[Insert dramatic pause.]

And that ends today's diatribe...keep those cards, letters and donations coming to me -- firstname.lastname@sun.com.

On a very related note, Joe Pine and James Gilmore -- the very bright people behind The Experience Economy -- are hosting the ThinkAbout conference next month in Colorado. Their agenda is to make much more sense of all this "experience" stuff than I do here, and word has it that they're very good at it. Tom Peters headlines. See you there?

( Aug 25 2005, 04:18:09 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Wednesday August 24, 2005

Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre success.

Tom Peters' latest slide deck is worth a look-see, if for no other reason than it'll thrill, scare and irk you...all in one. (Note: TP's deck is in PPT format. Do yourself a favor and grab the wonderfully free Open Office suite and open it with that.)

( Aug 24 2005, 08:10:30 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Live Girlish Fantasies!

From Sunday's NYT Magazine (registration required) comes yet another classic case in Experience Economy thinking...

Whether we want to admit it or not, Mary Drolet argues, there was a time in our lives when we all pretended to be rock stars or princesses. That time was childhood, the years before the line between fantasy and reality becomes more tangible. This belief, in part, is what guided Drolet in founding, with two partners, a business called Club Libby Lu, which offers 5- to 13-year-old girls the chance to live out one of several (overtly girlish) fantasies, at least for the duration of an hour-and-a-half-long party in a shopping mall.

Apparently the business is doing quite well.

So. Let me take this further, bring it back home and take the girlish fantasies out of the equation. I'd like to ask you, dear reader: what would you do to make Sun a real-world, visceral experience that would be worth paying for?

We have our ideas, and we're working on making them a reality in places like Menlo Park and a few other cities. But I want yours. Do share.

( Aug 24 2005, 06:03:18 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Tuesday August 23, 2005

Fake road signs

Fake road-sign art at bopano.net.

Kudos to the artists for stirring things up.

( Aug 23 2005, 12:32:28 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Recap #1: What "Experience Architecture" is, what it ain't

As promised, I'm providing blurb-level recaps from the EA Forum two weeks back. (Why blurbs? Two reasons: 1) It's a short-attention-span world [sad but true]; and 2) I'm far too busy to write a formal report.)

Today's installment is based on a slide that Gregory Beck, who so skillfully led the forum, provided as a discussion tool. It's worth sharing:

"Experience architecture" (or experience design in guest-facing spaces ;-) is about...