Cruisin' Your Way to a New Type of Marketing

I recently time-traveled to the 1950s on a giant cruise liner. Don't worry--I haven't become delusional. I've just been crusin'.

My husband, George, and I just returned from our first ever cruise (in our case to New England and Canada on board the Celebrity Summit) and in many ways it was like going back in time. There was formal dining. Dress up nights. Slow dancing. Old-fashioned library books. Variety shows. Eat-till-you drop cholesterol-laden meal. A doo-wop band. Lily white audiences of traditional couples. Lectures by professors. And the old standby bingo. Of course there were some au courant touches, including a computer room filled with spanking new Macs (all for sale mind you) and a talk on Facebook and digital cameras. But the overarching feel was oh so safe, secure and white picket fence--yes, even at sea.

All that was missing was an ice cream social and Lassie. Oh, did I mention the midnight dessert night, a before-bed orgy of sugar and chocolate that we somehow passed up?

And can I fess up? George and I had a blast. It was all so relaxing, and even romantic, since the only thing we had to do was show up and enjoy.

The cruise's secret to its success is that it provides a transformative experience making you feel like you've been transported to a nicer, easier time, where everyone may not be above average, but certainly friendly. The cruise's staff with a touted ratio of nearly one staff person for every two passengers outdoes itself in saying "hello" and being friendly with guests. And that in turn seems to encourage everyone to put on their best manners.

Yet while it was old-fashioned, it was also good marketing. Marketing in fact that is now ironically being touted as new. We're talking about what's called CEM for Customer Experience Marketing. A recent article by Theodore Kinni in strategy + business defines it as the ultimate purpose of marketing, which he says is creating a valuable customer experience.

He goes on to detail what goes into a customer experience.

Customer experience is the total value proposition provided to a customer, including the actual product, and all interactions with the customer--pre-sale, at point of sale and post-sale. This value includes experience attributes such as on-time delivery and the quality of products, as well as the experience attitudes, such as the emotional engagement created during interaction with customers."

Given that definition, our cruise seemed to be doing just that.

All of which brings me back to today's workaday work. So many companies in my experience ignore the customer experience. I'm guilty of that myself.

Does it make sense for companies to have a formal customer experience policy and deliver it? By this, I don't mean larding with hyperbole and the usual shibboleths about caring about the customer. But doing something that is actionable? I bet Celebrity Cruises for example requires all its staff to greet its guest every time it sees someone. It's those little things of course that ultimately affect the customer experience.

What do you think about creating customer experiences? Any stories you can share? I'd love to hear from you.