branded customer journey design

De Merkmijn | 2013 | Willemijn Schneyder | [email protected] l @willemijns

Ideal Brand Delivery - branded Peaks and good Pains

Using Customer journey design for brand activation

Customer Journey design is a method to visualize and purposely design the steps and

experience your customers go through in engaging with your company. Whether it be a

product, an online experience, a retail experience, or a service, or any combination.

It describes both the interactions and the experience - through every channel - of a

customer during the so-called journey he goes through in the process of fulfilling his need.

Whether these interactions are online or offline, intentional or unintentional, branded or non-

branded. From awareness and orientation phase to the buying and use of a product or a

service, until new or additional needs arises.

This is what makes this method unique. In most organizations the coordination between

departments and channels is sub-optimal and the orchestration of these interactions not

mapped from a integrated perspective: the customers experience.

Why is this essential for the brand?

Every time a customer interacts with your organization, intentional or unintentional (i.e.

through word-of-mouth), is a moment where the brand is touched. That is why these

interactions are called touch-points. Due to the fast changing environment and consumers

behaviour, organizations alone are no longer in charge or able to manage each and every

touch-point. Todays consumers actively influence your customers journey and perceived

experience by their (digital) sharing, reviewing, referring, liking or disliking. I.e. it influences

your brand experience.

A promise made is a promise kept

It is essential to design your customer journey in a way that contributes consistently to the

targeted brand experience. This requires a design approach to brand experience; actively

designing the desired experience at every touch point in the journey. Effectively doing so

requires a brand, which clearly positions itself; appealing not only at functional level but also

connecting with customers at an emotional level. A brand that has a refined design of its

personality, clearly guiding briefs for advertising, design or internet, but also for employee

expectations; able to change behavioural patterns.


So, everything has to be excellent?

Not at all! Behavioural economist and Nobel price winner Daniel Kahneman teaches us that

we judge experiences by their high and lows. We remember our experiences a positive

when they have significant peaks, a few pain points and most importantly by the peak-end.

Especially this emotional contrast makes the whole experience memorable.

Subconsciously our brain gives this kind of information a more prominent spot, so that the

next time were confronted with an impulse it will reproduce this memory quicker, thus

impacting our buying or decision behaviour. In conclusion, allowing for a little pain in the

customer experience makes your brand more memorable and saves you money, resources

and people. It is however essential to understand at which touch points the (brand)

experience has to excel and at which touch points there is room for pain. The desired brand

positioning and your customer will lead you the way.

Conclusion

Purposely designing the customer journey: every step, every interaction, all touch points

and the targeted branded experience, will ensure that the brand is effectively activated

amongst your targeted customers. Measuring and monitoring this will guide innovation. The

whole process drives customer behaviour during orientation, buying, usage and retention

and will help to realize business goals. All this with fewer resources; doing more with less.


Example: The journey a customer goes on with Ikea.

Now what?

We would love to work for your brand, your organisation. Your brand and your customers

are the starting point of our journey. We want to know your aims and ambitions. Whether it

be brand activation, customer acquisition, retention or implementing a new concept. We

then start by plotting the existing journey learning as we move along. Then we proceed to

design the ideal journey step by step - based upon the acquired customer insights. We

design which steps, through what channel and touch points and with what targeted

experience. All this coming together in our Brand Delivery Canvas.

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Be Yourself.Positive Feeling

Product quality

Display settings

Product trial

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Satisfy

Gratify

Bad

Neutral Time

Store location &

appearance

Car park

Indoor decoration

DIY shopping

tools

Price

Labels & signage

Toilet

Kids playfield

Canteen

Checkout

RMB1 ice-cream

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2001-2012 G-CEM All rights reserved.

Bad

Horrible

Negative Feeling

The round tour Staff ServiceSearch stock

Pick stock

Delivery arrangement

Installation arrangement

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Unacceptable Levels / Minimum StandardsUnacceptable Levels / Minimum Standards

Smell and background music

Friendly staff and professional in coffee

See and be seen

Coffee taste & packingGoodbye with genuine smile8 15

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Positive Feeling

Emotion

Be Yourself.

In-store decoration

Smell and background music

Seat comfortableness & tidiness

Feed yourself with milk, sugar

Price quite expensive

Cash coupon to buy coffee in 15-day

Accept credit cards

Coffee varieties

Store location and appearance

Limited magazines, no Internet kiosk

Free trial of new products

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Neutral TimeWarm greet by staffWashroom is so so

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Curve

2001-2012 G-CEM All rights reserved.

A long queue Not easy to find a seat

Long wait to get your coffee

Internet kiosk5

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Bad

Horrible

Negative Feeling

Unacceptable Levels / Minimum StandardsUnacceptable Levels / Minimum Standards