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May 06, 2010
How to humanize your brand
If you travel for business frequently, take this quiz:
Think of the hotels you've stayed at this year. Can you name even one employee by name?
I can. Felix from the San Mateo Marriott. I stayed there a few weeks ago and noticed this poster in all of the elevators:
Curious, I stopped into the Marketplace Cafe and sure enough, there was Felix.
Friendly, approachable and mostly resembling the man on the poster, Felix told me he has worked for the hotel for 12 years. He said he loves his job and loves meeting people. He recounted the story of a man he met from Europe who, on his second stay at hotel, remarked that we was surprised that Felix was still there. Felix asked him when he had visited the hotel the first time. The man said "seven years ago."
A now-departed manager had thought up the idea eight years ago for putting Felix on the posters. Felix said there used to be a life-size cardboard cut-out of him in front of the cafe that was so life-like that it would stop people in their tracks to say hi. That is, until someone stole it.
I travel alot and for the most part, hotels are nameless, faceless places that aren't very memorable. But I won't forget the San Mateo Marriott because of Felix.
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Jackie -
Great story, thank you for sharing. I was actually just getting ready to write about personalization with Starbucks as an example. With the Starbucks model, you get personalized attention if you are a regular, and the people that you know are there. But what happens when they, change locations, are off for the day, or you come in at a different time. Your experience can be greatly altered. One day my drink is waiting for me by the time I get to the front of the line to pay, the next day the employee is asking me for my name.
So the question becomes, with personalization, how do you make your entire business, employees, web presence personalized?
There are many tricks you can use like personalized email. And sending out cards for various occasions like birthdays, and all the major holidays. Try not to send out the same generic message. Use their real names. It may take time if you have like a thousand clients. But it will show your clients that you care. I think there are more tips here: http://sn.im/vlo18
Ack! I forgot to write it in my previous comment. This is a great idea btw, humanizing the brand. Coke has done this in their ads for the longest time and they are brilliant in putting human element in their ads. I agree we should strive to do more in our own businesses. It shows that we're not just about the money.
This is actually really quite cool, I love the likeness of the cartoon.
Great story there, and it's good to see that Felix is happy where he works!
Not sure how much of a likeness that picture is though...
This is actually really quite cool, I love the likeness of the cartoon.
Talk about a Linchpin... Go Felix!
I think it's really important to remember that Felix humanizes the brand because he is such a great representative of the brand.
A remarkable recent stay in the Embassy Suites (a Hilton Hotel) at LAX airport was a powerful reminder of the important role that individuals play who represent the brand to the public. Every single person my wife and I had contact with at Embassy was extraordinarily friendly and helpful. It was diametrically opposite to every opinion I had of the 'Hilton' brand as represented by Paris!
I think the strength of the message in this poster is that it is an artistic rendering, rather than just a photo. That someone felt it was worth the additional time and cost expresses a higher level of commitment on the part of the brand. Also, for someone who has not yet met or seen Felix, the caricature adds and element of (almost subconscious) humor that seems to make the real Felix even more approachable. Perhaps because it allows for a more comfortable introductory talking point?
Great story. And the amazing thing IS the fact that Felix is still there, loving his job and doing it well. That is so rare these days that it really speaks to the leadership of the hotel I believe. Yes this may be an anomaly of the right person for the right job and Felix may be the one person with a good attitude...but putting him on the posters gives him ownership and shows they trust him. And that is the key to a great worker.
thanks for the post!
-Michael
This kind of thing is hard to replicate especially given the turnover of most hotel employees. Nonetheless, it shows that if you give store/location managers of multi-location businesses (e.g. hotels, restaurants, chain stores) some freedom to personalize their place, it can pay a lot of dividends.
A perfect story for small business owners. This kind of stuff creates RAVING FANS of the hotel and people will remember and talk (or blog) about it.
Agreed that this specific example is difficult to replicate, though the question is for any business (not just hotels), how can it create RAVING FANS and ultimately benefit from the resulting word-of-mouth buzz? It takes creative thinking (like the mentioned hotel manager) to come up with an idea. And, of course, it takes having someone (like Felix) or something to work with. But, when it comes together... magic happens.
The real key concept here is, "What is Felix's real value to the hotel?" It goes far above and beyond his salary that's for sure. And clearly, the hotel must have recognized that value (and hopefully is paying him enough to honor that value).
That's the other issue for us, I think--what are we really willing to do to scout/find/retain employees like this?
What an excellent story! This is a company that gets it. Brands stand out when the people behind them do. As this article (http://www.upyourservice.com/learning-library/customer-service-innovation/how-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd) points out, customer service leadership can make one company stand out from the pack. Your hotel really gets it!
