It’s one thing to make a promise, it’s another to deliver on it. Today, more than ever, your brand’s strength lies not in the quality of the logo that you develop but in the experience you create. There is a misperception that brands need to create a wholly unique signature experience – but doing so is not only a daunting (and expensive!) task, it can lead to a very loud brand experience. Rather, the key is to develop a few “signature moments” within your experience. How do you pick the right signature moments for you? Let’s look at one of the strongest brand experiences out there: Virgin America.
Eliminate a pain point. When Virgin launched, it promised to transform airline travel from a dreaded to a fun and relaxing experience. One way in which the airline did this was by identifying simple pain points in the flying experience and eliminating them. One such pain point: having your elbows bumped by food and drink carts as they bounced down the aisle. The solution: Virgin implemented on-screen ordering for all food and beverages.
Make it authentic. Virgin’s most well-known signature moment is its safety videos. Virgin took a touchpoint that no one paid attention to and injected humor and personality to gather the attention of its impatient flyers. Of course, every domestic airline from Delta to United, has now copied Virgin with their own take of a humorous video. Those videos, however, come across as forced and any humor comes from laughing at the airline rather than laughing with it. Why? Because humor is not indigenous to their brands. These copycat moments create negative, not positive brand value.
Be relevant. One of the aspects of Virgin that I appreciate the most is the degree to which they communicate with me as a customer. They only send me content that is relevant to our airline/flyer relationship. Compare that to most other airlines (or brands for that matter). How many do you receive a birthday card from? As a passenger, I'm not looking for my airlines to be my friends – I want them to fly us safely, and hassle free, from point A to point B. Your brand's signature moments need to be relevant to the relationship that your customers want to have with you as a brand.
While visual design elements are essential to any brand creation, it’s also important to create a few signature moments throughout your experience. With the right strategic planning and creativity, you can devise a few moments that are wholly your own.