A unique marketing weapon
By Sarun ChantapalaboonPublished on August 27, 2008
Sarun Chantapalaboon is the chief learning officer at 37.5 Degree Celsius.
Dear friends, I am responding to your requests for some examples of creativity applied to real-world scenarios.
I visited one company that has applied creativity differently. They tried to think of a better way of building brand loyalty. They wanted to go beyond offering great service. They came up with the idea of creative solutions beyond the obvious ones.
Traditionally, such a perception was crafted among customers through marketing communications. But this company wanted to encourage staff to think creatively. We worked on matching customer perception of the service with the experience sales and service staff provide. Can you imagine what would happen when everything fell in place?
A customer walks in the showroom because she has the perception that this place offers creative solutions. She tells the staff what she wants. The staff offer solutions to her problem as well as some creative options. The staff may use one of the creative techniques, the 3-Q, by asking, "what?", "why?" and "what else?". Or the staff may use the SCAMPER technique (S: substitute, C: combine, A: adjust, M: modify, P: put to other uses, E: eliminate and R: rearrange) to conceive more options for the customer. Alternatively, staff may apply other creative tools.
Then, the staff will use PPCO techniques to tweak those options to be more practical and realistic. Staff and customer will discuss the "Pluses" and "Potentials" of those options.
Then, openly identify "Concerns" and explore "Opportunities" to resolve concerns found earlier.
The customer now has more practical options. And, the more choices, the better solution.
From the customer's point of view, we need to ask: is she impressed with the service? Will she talk to her friends about it? Will she be back to use it again?
From your point of view, ask: what do you think about this application of creativity? Do you think this company would be able differentiate itself from its competitors? Do you think it will surge ahead in its field? Would you try their services?
I visited one company that has applied creativity differently. They tried to think of a better way of building brand loyalty. They wanted to go beyond offering great service. They came up with the idea of creative solutions beyond the obvious ones.
Traditionally, such a perception was crafted among customers through marketing communications. But this company wanted to encourage staff to think creatively. We worked on matching customer perception of the service with the experience sales and service staff provide. Can you imagine what would happen when everything fell in place?
A customer walks in the showroom because she has the perception that this place offers creative solutions. She tells the staff what she wants. The staff offer solutions to her problem as well as some creative options. The staff may use one of the creative techniques, the 3-Q, by asking, "what?", "why?" and "what else?". Or the staff may use the SCAMPER technique (S: substitute, C: combine, A: adjust, M: modify, P: put to other uses, E: eliminate and R: rearrange) to conceive more options for the customer. Alternatively, staff may apply other creative tools.
Then, the staff will use PPCO techniques to tweak those options to be more practical and realistic. Staff and customer will discuss the "Pluses" and "Potentials" of those options.
Then, openly identify "Concerns" and explore "Opportunities" to resolve concerns found earlier.
The customer now has more practical options. And, the more choices, the better solution.
From the customer's point of view, we need to ask: is she impressed with the service? Will she talk to her friends about it? Will she be back to use it again?
From your point of view, ask: what do you think about this application of creativity? Do you think this company would be able differentiate itself from its competitors? Do you think it will surge ahead in its field? Would you try their services?
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