In China it is the year of the White Tiger, in the United States it is the year of the consumer. Both are highly endangered species with generations of poachers taking out the White Tiger and the perfect storm of a housing value implosion, credit market freeze, and record unemployment taking out the global ATM formerly known as the US consumer.
image from Wikipedia
How does a consumer brand go to battle these days? With social media becoming more ubiquitous every day there is no where to hide. How does a restaurant get a better Yelp rating and reviews? The same way a restaurant became a hit in the ’60′s, 70′s or 80′s:
- Great food at a fair value
- A nice host and knowledgeable waitstaff
- Something unique on the menu that changed often to bring the dining customer back
No bullshit, ballons for kids or Kobe beef tartare for $75 that tastes like Manwich. No magic social media pixie dust, just a spot where folks felt looked after that made them want to return next week or month and tell their friends about their nice dinner out.
What can consumer brands do to make the consumer feel special? Make a great product and act like you give a shit about the post purchase experience. Rocket science – no, hard work, hell yeah.
I leave you with this from about 2002, some posters??….I fell for it, they cared:
