Pizza Guy Marketing

An interesting article on marketing over at the Freelance Switch blog. The writer talks about an experience he had at a pizza place he hadn’t been at in over 2 years, and how they still remember is exact order after all that time.

The fact that the pizza store remembers him, even to ask about his daughter, reminds him immediately to why he used to be such a loyal customer before he moved away. The pizza place wasn’t just selling a slice of pizza (there are tons of places that do that), but they’re selling the friendliness and personality of the staff. You leave there with a slice of pizza AND a smile.

So the moral for marketers is this: your product should be more than just a product. You need to bundle that product (or service even) with an experience that your competitors are too lazy to match.

The local Coffee Time has trouble competing with Starbucks because Starbucks makes you feel special. Starbucks invests a lot of money in their “cool” environment, with the jazz playing, and the 100 different ways to order your coffee (which makes you feel special because your coffee is not like the coffees other people are having around you). They have sofas, Internet access, magazine and newspaper racks. You can buy Starbucks branded coffee mugs, shirts, and even $200 cappuccino makers to show the world you are connected to the “cool” brand.

Perhaps what some companies need to do to improve their marketing efforts is look at their stores, their products, their employees, and figure out what they can do to make the customer’s experience more special.

Perhaps like the pizza guy is starts with remembering the customers order? (There’s a McDonald’s across the street from me where I swear I have been going there once or twice a week for 3 years and they still don’t even smile or say hello to me when I place my order. McDonald’s does nothing to make me feel special.)

Or perhaps you have to go farther, and change your menu, renovate, get your staff nicer uniforms, put in fancier lighting, put on more of a show when preparing the food or drinks… anything that would improve the customer’s experience compared to your competitors.

And whatever you do, definitely get your employees to smile and say hello each and every time. BlockBuster does that, and whatever you think about the declining business model of DVD rentals, BlockBuster will say hello to you as soon as you walk in the door no matter how quickly you walk and turn down the nearest aisle. Plus 1 for them.