Romancing the Brand: How Brands Create Strong, Intimate Relationships with Consumers by Tim Halloran

Author:Tim Halloran [Halloran, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-12-30T14:00:00+00:00

Making the Consumer Feel Important

On May 31, 2010, a select few fans waited outside their favorite quick-service restaurant for an exclusive privilege. They were participating in the most anticipated sandwich launch by this brand in over twenty years. In fact, they would be among the first people in the world to try Chick-fil-A's new Spicy Chicken Sandwich—and they were there by personal invitation. Why had these particular people been given this opportunity?

Just ten days earlier, thousands of Chick-fil-A e-club members received an invitation to visit a special website to make a reservation, yes a reservation, to try the Spicy Chicken Sandwich sometime between May 31 and June 5. Starting on June 7, the sandwich would officially be available to the general public. (June 6 was a Sunday, and Chick-fil-A is famously closed on Sundays.) Chick-fil-A e-club members had to reserve a personalized time and a store location to try this new product. Once consumers made a reservation, two things happened: (1) they were required to print out the official invitation, and (2) they were given the option of announcing their reservation on Facebook and Twitter and recommending the reservation site to a friend. To try the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, they had to take the official invitation in their name to the selected Chick-fil-A store during the designated time. The employees at the store actually checked their ID before giving the sandwich to them. If they didn't have a reservation, they wouldn't be allowed to try it. Chick-fil-A wouldn't even let them pay for one. The sandwich was strictly off-limits to anyone who hadn't made a reservation ahead of time and brought in both his invitation and his identification.

This was a unique sampling program. “We are especially excited about the reservation-based sampling of our new sandwich with our loyal customers,” William F. “Woody” Faulk, Chick-fil-A vice president of brand strategy and design, said. “We want to invite our customers to taste the flavor and quality of this spicy sandwich, but we don't want a cattle-call setting where we won't be able to extend ‘second mile’ service to our customers. This reservation system provides a more personalized way to introduce our exciting menu addition.”1

The perceived exclusivity of this innovative sampling program generated a significant upside not just for the new product but for the Chick-fil-A brand as a whole. Think about that for a moment. We aren't talking about a new brand. We're talking about a strongly entrenched brand with a very dedicated consumer base. For years, Chick-fil-A's high service standards had made consumers feel important when dining in their restaurants. Now they were making consumers feel even more special in the way the sampling program was implemented.

We first discussed the concept of specialness in the context of introducing a new brand, Powerade, to a new user, but the principle applies here as well. If you want your relationship to survive, you don't just turn off the charm once you've got the guy or girl. You keep at it. By giving its

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