“I went to school on Tom’s ideas!”
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com
A Clear Eye.
On customers, brands and marketplace success
by Tom Asacker
“I went to school on Tom’s ideas!”
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com
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"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment."
What's the difference between wandering and traveling? Traveling implies intention; consciously setting a course of events. In contrast, wandering is an aimless, casual affair. Today's marketplace is overflowing with wandering consumers looking for distractions; e.g. opulent, self-gifting ice cream parlors, identity-enhancing coffee houses, and treasure hunter friendly, discount bazaars. Most of the rest of the marketplace is made up of folks wandering on auto pilot, moving from one non-decision to the next on the unchanging path of comfort that we call life.
If you're trying to appeal to the wanderer, you had better be located squarely on their path of least resistance (real or virtual), and pray to the marketplace Gods that no one distracting sets up business along side of you. Or better yet, make sure that you are that very shiny distraction, glistening from the precisely cut facets of a remarkably enticing business model.
So, what's left? Get on their map! Become a destination brand for which people are willing to go out of their way to fulfill their deepest desires, solve their most pressing problems, or transfer, by proxy, their most private and anxious decisions.
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Tom,
Interesting post. What are your thoughts - Can a brand start as a destination brand or must it first be a wandering brand and then by word of mouth becomes a wandering brand?
Pinkberry, the frozen yogurt company in CA and NY seems to be a brand that others travel long to experience (though it may just be a fad). Now they are focusing on opening many, many store this year. Do you think that some of the magic of the destination brands is the destination itself? It seems that my kids love the anticipation of Disneyland just as much as being in Disneyland. Can too much of a good thing ruin a destination brand?
So, basically I have two questions – How does a brand become a destination and how does it stay a destination?
Posted by: Bill Gammell | June 22, 2007 at 02:45 PM
Sorry. My last comment did not make much sense. It should read:
"Can a brand start as a destination brand or must it first be a wandering brand and then by word of mouth become a destination brand?"
Posted by: Bill Gammell | June 22, 2007 at 02:48 PM
Great question Bill. And the short answer is: It depends. It depends on what type of product or service it is, how much it costs (relative to alternatives, etc. But I can assure you this: In any and all cases, innovation is the key to remaining relevant to today's consumer.
Posted by: Tom Asacker | June 27, 2007 at 08:52 AM