Consumers these days are clearly favoring experiences over messages. Think Apple’s interface. Think warm chocolate chips cookies from Double Tree.  Think of the scent of a Singapore Airlines airplane.  These are what we’d call brand defining experiences. They’re memorable, unique and emotionally resonant. And they demonstrate the promise of the brand without having to actually say it. This is where brand and marketing are heading and for good reason. Saturated marketing channels are making us deaf. Instead, give us a test drive of what we can expect from you and then we’ll decide if it’s something we want or not.

When I saw Ann Taylor, Gap, and Urban Outfitters announce their quest to beautify fitting rooms it also occurred to me that focusing exclusively on these types of experiences can be dangerous.

There is real risk in creating experiences that are disconnected from the rest of your customer experiences. If a customer has a fantastic experience in your dressing room but then waits too long in line at the check-out counter, your effort could be lost.  Inconsistency breeds confusion, and it’s hard to build a brand amidst confusion.

To help safeguard your investment in your brand defining experience, follow these three rules:

1)      Make sure these experiences are well rooted in your brand, not just a gimmick designed to garner attention. This means the experience will feel authentic, like a natural extension of you. It will also help ensure that over time the experiences themselves build on each other and all contribute back to the building of the brand.

2)      Look at the entire customer experience, not just one piece, and from the customer’s perspective. How does this fit in? Is it consistent with what the customer expects or needs? Is it helpful or does it get in the way? How does it relate to the rest of the experience we provide.

3)      Examine all the potential roadblocks, especially those related to staff, in your ability to deliver this experience. If this experience requires you to have super smart staff who are prepared to answer any question, but you’ve consistently underinvested in training, then this might not be the experience for you. Experiences are harder to deliver than messages because they take serious training, investment, and the right people to pull them off. Be honest with yourself about what you’re team is capable of doing.

Taking these three steps will help ensure your brand defining experience is more than window—or dressing room—dressing.

- Bianca Abate

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