The document discusses how brands can orchestrate customer experiences through touchpoints like parking lots, entrance areas, changing rooms, and checkout processes. It argues that focusing on these experiential aspects is more important for building a brand than traditional advertising methods. Examples are given of how retailers have enhanced experiences in their parking lots, entrance areas, and checkout processes. The document encourages brands to find creative ways to engage customers and create "talk-worthy" and memorable interactions at every step of the customer journey.

1. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
Your shopping
bag is more
important
than your
Radio spot
Orchestrating your brand experience

2. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
”Customer experience needs to be thought
of as a strategic agenda item on par with
and actually integrated with corporate
strategy, managing the brand, and new
product development”
Michael Kanazawa & Dr. Robert H. Miles, Big Ideas to Big Results

3. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
You’re in the business of entertaining your audience and engaging them
in meaningful behaviour. If you do it well enough, they will not just buy
your products and services repeatedly, but they will tell their friends
about it. (Given your products and services are top notch.)
And we all know that a recommendation from a friend is worth so much
more than any radio spot in the world, no matter how clever the spot is.
It’s how brands become market leaders. Period.
You’re no longer in the business of selling stuff.

4. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
What conversations does your brand start?
The million dollar question is:

5. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
In our current experiential economy, people are looking for brands that
deliver experiences and they’re ready to pay a premium price for it. If
you work for a museum, recreational destination, spa, or for a retail
brand, you have a huge advantage. Those brands are inherently experi-
ential in nature.
Viewing the brand experience as a sequence of touch points will help
you connect with your audience. It will enable you to orchestrate your
brand experience for every encounter and interaction with your audience
to maximize the impact of your brand.
Do you create a talk-worthy experience?

6. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca

7. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
The following section deals briefly with a number of touch-points that
exist for most retail brands. The examples are meant to get the creative
juices flowing. Once you go through them you get the idea and can de-
velop your own tactics and strategies to improve your overall brand ex-
perience.
Some examples

8. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
For most experiential brands this is the first physical touch point. Ask yourself: How can I
create a remarkable moment that reflects on our vision and our values?
Canada’s Mountain Coop, a chain of stores that caters to outdoors and trekking activities
has reserved a limited number of parking spots right in front of their entrance. Those spots
come in handy during the long and cold Canadian winters where -30C is not uncommon.
But you can only park there if you have an electric car or if you participate in a car-shar-
ing plan. Since I participate in a car sharing program here in Montreal, I was pleasantly
surprised and loved the idea so much that I mentioned the idea and of course the brand to
many of my friends. The idea is out of the box, yet totally aligned with the values of the
brand.
Parking lot – The journey begins

9. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
Entering a building, a space or a room can be seen as the initiation to the experience that
follows. The entrance area should clearly communicate that the audience is leaving the
outside world, the mundane, the day-to day business behind to embark on a journey of a
different kind.
Walmart has a retired person that greets you upon arrival. At Ikea you find the room filled
with colourful balls for kids to dive into and have fun. These two (albeit weak) examples
show how the entrance area can be transformed into an opportunity to engage your audi-
ence. If you manage to create a space that clearly indicates the transition in a way that
surprises people, you have successfully created another opportunity of your brand experi-
ence to be talked about in a positive way.
Entrance area - Leave your worries behind

10. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
There are several ways to turn this space into something more remarkable, more enjoy-
able. Let’s focus on two:
More and more stores consider the real live situation of their customers when design-
ing the changing booths and Canadian retail chain Reitmans uses the area in front of the
booths to create a lounge where friends (and husbands) can sit down, flip through maga-
zines and take a brake while the girlfriend/wife is trying on the clothes.
Another approach, gaining momentum among retailers takes inspiration from hotels where
every room has a different theme. Apply the principle to your changing rooms. As a result
each little changing booth has a different and surprising character, so that your customer
can discover a different little universe inside each changing booth.
Consider adding an audio aspect to the equation to engulf the people even more but be
subtle. The wrong execution of the audio aspect can turn a cosy place into a nightmare
that drives people out instead of creating a remarkable experience.
Changing rooms – My private Idaho

11. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
Ask yourself how you can create a ritual based on the following sequence: client hands
over the merchandize - getting a shopping bag/box ready – wrapping the merchandize –
adding a free item (which can be as simple as a postcard with a design from a local art-
ist) - closing the bag/box – handing over the bag/box in exchange for the payment. These
steps offer a great opportunity to engage the customer, creating a talk worthy experience
that adds to the overall retail experience and help it to stand out. If you find a way to
close the bag/box, tightly with a sticker, stapler, etc. you force the customer to unwrap the
items in a similar fashion like a Christmas or birthday gift. In essence you create a ritu-
al in the store and a ritual for the customer at home. Rituals help distinguish your brand
from your competition, and enable your audience to have a deeper relationship with your
product and brand.
Wrapping and shopping bag – It’s my party!

12. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
In the same vein like Reitmans’ waiting area, Ikea Australia has created a space where the
women can “drop off” their husbands and boyfriends, while they do their shopping. It’s an
area where men can be man, play foosball and Xbox or enjoy free hotdogs. Though mostly
a PR stunt, it shows that the retail experience offers many hidden opportunities to surprise
your audience, create value for them while communicating your vision and values in an
entertaining and engaging way that leaves your audience wanting to talk about it.
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/ikea-debuts-m-nland-daycare-men-while-women-shop-134978
Food for thought I - Ikea’s play room for men

13. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
• How can you present your merchandize in a way that is surprising? Stack boxes or products
to build a high tower or create another shape that stands out.
• Instead of in-store communication, why not invite a local artists. The vernisage will offer
another opportunity to invite your customers back and engage them in your world.
• Think about freebies and giveaways, that are not part of your actual merchandize. Pick the
busiest day of the week and have models give away nice chocolates or home made lemon-
ade on a hot summer day.
• Think of in-store events that create value for your customers. Keep in mind, value comes
in many forms, not just monetary: educational, inspirational, entertaining, etc. Invite an ex-
pert to speak about a subject that is aligned with your brand and offers valuable insights.
Food for thought II - Various

14. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
The successful orchestration of your brand experience is a first step in
the right direction to leverage the full potential of your brand. Think of
every intervention and interaction with your audience as a small stone
you throw into a pond. The more stones you throw the more ripples you
will create and the more impact your brand will have on your audience.
Your turn!

15. brauweiler.ca
Orchestrating your brand experience
Your shopping bag is more important than your radio spot
Your shopping bag is
more important than
your Radio spot
Orchestrating your brand experience
Achim Brauweiler - President
achim@brauweiler.ca
website: www.brauweiler.ca
blog: www.achimbrauweiler.wordpress.com
Tumblr: www.brauweiler.tumblr.com