Great piece on NPR this morning ( > http://n.pr/wvcmzR) about the growth of car-sharing and the expansion of new models of experience built around individual car owners “renting” their cars to strangers through companies like Wheelz.

The evolution of this business offering over the past decade is a great example of creating a new experience that reflects changes in consumer behaviors and attitudes (e.g., more urban population, eco-consciousness, recession). What’s fascinating (as the story reports) is how established brands like GM are staking a claim through investments rather than seeing such businesses as a threat. That’s good experience brand thinking. 

photo source: NPR

I’m not one to pile on, so this will not be yet another Netflix screed. The chorus of people saying “Netflix can’t do anything right” is already big enough (just a bit bigger than the one that used to say they couldn’t do anything wrong).

Netflix still has a lot going for it as a brand and as a business. That’s not to underestimate the challenges, for example, matching the quality of available on-demand content with that of its DVD business. But even after the well-known errors of recent months—to which CEO Reed Hastings owned up in a New York Times Magazine interview—there’s a lot build on:  

#1: It’s an experience brand

Netflix is at heart an experience brand: what was great before it wasn’t was how carefully they seemed to have thought through the ways people interact with and consume their service, and how consistently they extended and innovated their experience. Every touchpoint felt like it delivered on a core brand promise. I’d argue that Netflix has a really strong platform to build from, and that by applying more disciplined experience brand thinking, they’ll recover their momentum.  

#2: People feel passionately about the brand

Remember when you got to watch every episode of West Wing season 2 just when you wanted because of your Netflix subscription? Or when your son hooked up your Wii so you could watch Netflix on demand and your life was changed forever? I do. I also know my colleague Leesa is very proud of having been a Netflix subscriber from the beginning. Even after 800,000 people canceled their subscriptions, Netflix still has 23 million subscribers—and most of them, I’d argue, want it to be successful. As a company, Netflix doesn’t seem too interested in traditional marketing, but I’d recommend some nontraditional investment in their creating experiences to show their customers some love. It could tap into the passion people feel for the brand and fix some of the bad optics of their regrettable emails of late.

#3: Even weakened, Netflix still offers a better experience than the competition

The stock is declining even as I write. It’s lost two thirds of its value in three months. But really people, show me a better experience.

Apple’s release of iCloud is yet another reminder of the value of creating a consistent brand experience across channels and touchpoints.

Apple users formerly had to grapple with a seriously contradictory set of experiences — or at least those Apple users dumb enough to pay 100 bucks a year for its MobileMe service. Since I’m one of those users, I can call us dumb.

On the one hand, our brilliant iPhones and iPads create an expectation that we can go anywhere and bring our media world with us, both recording and sharing with awe-inspiring seamlessness.

But on the other hand, our bone-headed MobileMe platform restricts us to a frustratingly isolated universe where our different media orbit independently, syncing neither with one another nor the many other channels out there (e.g., Flickr). Plus, despite being beautifully designed (like all Apple products), MobileMe didn’t actually work very well (a bad precedent to set for Apple products).

Judging by the coverage, iCloud is not deemed perfect—but all agree that it’s much better. My hope is that iCloud delivers a brand experience that’s consistent with the best of Apple. Oh yeah and if I could only get that $100 back…

Brands make themselves cut through and differentiate when they demonstrate some kind of unique relevance and carve out real, useful roles in consumers’ lives.   Lots of long words in that sentence that smack of marketing-speak, right?

Try thinking of brands in terms of happiness.  What makes you happy?  Are there any brands or experiences that really lift you up, that make you want to keep coming back just because they make you smile?   Chances are those brands are the ones you want to give your business, time, and money to. 

Art student Catherine Young’s project, “Draw Happy”, has captured what makes people happy all over the world - by ambushing them with a pad and pencil and making them draw happiness on the spot.  She’s aggregated the results in an ongoing project.   There’s a great article on Brain Pickings about it. 

There’s a great infographic at the end that’ll just make you smile. 

Brand managers, what is your brand doing to make the world a happier place?   

I was inspired recently by an NPR Music podcast about “breaking up” with a once favorite band and it got me thinking about the strong relationships we have with brands and what makes us break up with them. It can be lots of things:

Long Distance. Some brands are so entrenched in a local geography that when you move away, you just kind of forget about it. You may see them when you’re home visiting your parents, and you remember why you liked them so much—but you’ve moved on…literally. (“It’s not you, it’s me, White Hen Pantry)

Age. Some brands mean the world to you at various ages but as you grow older—they just lose their resonance. (Esprit. I’m looking at you.) The fun thing is if you have kids, you get to dip back into some childhood brands all over again (oh Duplo! I’ve missed you!)

Dishonesty. Disappointment. This is the most egregious break up as it usually happens when a brand stops delivering on it’s promise. I recently made up (with an experience brand!!) that I had broken up with years ago: I wore NIKE shoes all through grade school and high school sports. I was a loyal (athlete) customer and have fond memories of my Nikes and big wins. But then NIKE stopped making good shoes. They hurt, felt flat and no matter how I tried to sell myself on them (“they’ll be different this time, I know it”), they stopped making the quality product that I had come to love. And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

Recently though I went to the best running store in the world in my hometown and decided to try them again. Low and behold—NIKE won me back. They put the focus back in their running shoes and won back a customer who had been lost for years. (It feels good. We’ve both matured.)

It’s a good lesson. No matter how much a brand puts a lot of flash on advertising, retail design or online experiences—if they don’t make a quality product and deliver on their brand promise—it’s time to break up.

What brands have you broken up with? Are you on the verge of a break up?