The Paradis' invade New York
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend the day in New York City with my family. We made the trip from Central Massachusetts to NYC along with my youngest daughter’s Girl Scout Troop. The weather was on our side as it was a sunny, warm, breezy day. Our bus dropped us off right in Times Square and we had the day to ourselves to explore.
I’ve made the trip to New York a few times over the past few years, but solely on business endeavours. This was the first time on a leisurely trip since college. With three children and seven hours, my wife and I tried to do as much as we could without over extending ourselves. We journeyed up to the observation deck at the GE Building in Rockefeller Center, visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral and took a Handsome Cab ride through Central Park. We also hit up some of the many thematic stores including: American Girl; Disney; The NBA Store; M&M’s World; Toys R Us.
Lunch atop a skyscrpaer
After visiting multiple destinations, a theme came to mind. Many of these places were selling us on the “experience”… some more convincingly so than others. As we entered Toys R Us at Times Square, an employee stopped us at the door to take our photo. Next, as we rode the ferris wheel inside the store, our picture was taken yet again. Upon exiting the ferris wheel and the store, we were prompted to purchase the photo so we could remember the experience. It struck me as a bit odd. Sure, the store was more elaborate than the one down the street in my hometown, but it wasn’t something I necessarily wanted to pay for a photo of. When we went to the Observation Deck at the GE building, they too made us sit for a photo a la “Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper”.
For me, the photos here seemed forced. It didn’t seem to gel for me as part of the experience. The two places that left a bad taste in my mouth (unfortunately pun intended) were M&M’s World at Times Square and TGIFriday’s. (Now, yes, we were in NYC with all of it’s variety, but with three young children in tow, we were looking for something “safe”, i.e., something we know they’d eat.) To me, and this may be my OCD speaking here, an eating establishment must be clean through and through. I think a good barometer is the restrooms. TGIFriday’s on 5th Ave., you failed miserably. ‘Nuff said about that.
The other destination was M&M’s World at Times Square. I was curious what it was going to be like. When you enter, it was every kitschy type of New York souvenir with an M&M character on it. When you journey to the second floor, you’re able to fill your own bags of candy by color. It seemed interesting at first, but the layout was chaotic… too many people all trying to fill their bags while there was no clear flow of traffic. Mix that with the hustle and bustle of shoppers surveying the chochkis and the loud music thumping like a hip night club made for a harried experience. The culmination for me was after having spent what seemed like and inordinate amount of time in line at the register (four registers, two cashiers, why?). With three bags of custom chosen color M&Ms and a tshirt for a niece, the total came to about $70. I was a bit shocked and asked the girl to repeat the total and for a breakdown. Turns out it was $13/lb for the candy. This was not posted anywhere. Anywhere. I politely declined to purchase candy and asked how often she was met with sticker shock. “All the time” she answered. Hmmm. Doesn’t sound like a great business strategy.
Note to readers: I am a fan of Disney. I have been to Disney World and am smitten. I will try to be unbiased, but…
One of our last stops was in the Disney Store. Each Disney store is unique in it’s merchandise and decor. Something in particular struck me about this particular experience though. While in the checkout line, a boy who had to have been seven perhaps, was at a pin display adjacent to the registers with his family. The boy was wearing a lanyard adorned with a number of Disney themed pins. A store employee, quite animatedly, approached the family, but addressed the young boy, “Excuse me, sir? What is your name?”. The boy replied something inaudible to me. The employee proceeded to write something on a clipboard and then presented it to the child. It was some sort of collection of pins that the employees presented to the boy for free. He and his family were estatic. They had seen the boy with his lanyard enter the store and knew that this would make for a memorable experience. With a simple gesture of giving this boy this gift with his obvious love for the brand, they have cemented his loyalty as well of the loyalty of his family… not to mention the ripple effect to their extended family and circle of friends.
I see this as a huge learning opportunity for all brands. I’ve heard people just recently mock the phrase that the store employees utter, “Have a Magical Day”. The thing is though that they deliver on that line through small gestures that reinforce the brand identity. For that boy and his family, Disney is Magical.
I took these experiences to heart on a number of levels. No matter what your industry, whether it be B2C, B2B, high tech, consumer or other, there is an opportunity to solidify customer experience. Reaching out to customers and making connections to people is key for establishing brand loyalty. I have been on the recieving end of both positive and negative experiences and try to emulate the positive ones myself.
Final note: It was getting close to our bus pickup time. I had seen a sign for restrooms in the Disney store and took the kids. They were immaculate. Disney is Magical 
