So, what´s in it now.... where´s the WOW factor I was looking for?

With all the things I´ve heard, can I draw some conclusions on what´s the WOW?

Two things came up in all interviews: performance and emotions.

Performance of a brand is important to all of the people I talked to. However, it´s not the full story. There can be other products that perform better, have an even better functionality, might be cheaper and – let´s call it like it is – better. However that doesn´t matter all the time.

Interestingly, and this is something also the people I talked to didn´t fully realize (or realized it only after thinking about it), emotional binding seems to be even more important. If you look at the LEGO story, at the APPLE statement and the also the other stories in below posts, it´s clearly not readily (and easily)explainable.

So, one question to ask if it is a WOW-brand should be: Do they (consumers) feel good using it, do they feel supported in their lifestyle, maybe as well do they have something to show off with it? Does the brand transmit something of value which is longer term and can be taken from being young to older age? Especially in a world where each individual’s time is tight, responsibilities in making a living for family, job and getting all of that together, consumers have a strong stance towards the individual freetime choices to relax and re-energize, and if they have a brand that helps them doing so (even without them realizing...) - the better and they will be loyal!

A WOW brand has to play a role in that special part of the day! It has to give them the feeling that they can trust it; they can use it in exactly the way they need to in order to make the most out of their precious time for themselves.

And this is where both – performance and emotions – come together.

Offer the right thing, and make it perform to the needs! But you have to find the right balance between pure functionality and the way that people can connect with it and feel they are supported by it on emotaional level in their everyday life.

That´s definitely a WOW-factor for a brand, and somehow also a WOW-challenge for us!

 

 

 

Thomas Ferge, Product Centre-Europe

I interviewd myself....

Myself - Munich and part-time Bayreuthian

I thought about what would I say as well. Now, I´ve got two: Specialized and Nikon.

For me both brands are simply the best in their own segment. Granted there are other good competitors out there, but those two in their respective fields I believe are the most innovative and at the same time the most solid ones, always good quality and superior functionality. The premium I have to pay compared to others doesn´t matter because I know what I´m getting. No trouble, simply performance that I can use straight away. And the most important om that one, Mountainbiking and Photography is my way of expressing my freedom, my creativity and fun in life. And those brands are simply part of my life!

The boys answers.....

(5) Robert - another Bayreuth guy

Robert is not really a brand guy. But then after some thinking he came up with Hela, specifically the Ketchup they offer.

He says it´s simply the best he knows and he also is happy to pay the premium over others simply because the product meets his expectations.

(6) Timo - another Munich boy

He seemed to be hardest interview partner I had…. He simply couldn´t come up with anything brand related.

He said it´s hard for him to tell me a brand, because he always looks into functionality versus price regardless of any logo. What counts for him is purely the what and not the who.

However, it was an interesting chat as it gave a completely different angle to the topic in addition to what the others told me. Although he doesn´t have a favourite WOW brand, he´s a very passionate guy as came out during our talk. He loves to deep-dive into Product datasheets and compare every tiny bit of it and can delve into this for hours before he makes a purchasing decision. So for him communication form brands have to be honest and to the point.

The Munich girls

(3) Bianka - Munich

When I asked Bianka – a mid thirties Munich girl – she looked at me in a way as if asking, what question is this? But then thinking about it, she came up quickly with Tiffany´s and Basic, which are fundamentally different in themselves.

Tiffany´s for her is about style, but in a classical meaning, in terms of timeless beauty. When she thinks about Tiffany´s she sees the famous picture of Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany´s) and this translates 100% her feelings about the brand. And this for is true since she´s a child.

Basic on the other hand is an organic supermarket chain, which she trusts. The offers in the stores are simply fantastic, she´s got the feeling that they are honest and of superior quality and they as a supermarket chain take care about their consumers, the environment and everything else.

So, she feels she´s doing something good for her without leaving those big and bad footprints on society / environment etc…

 

(4) Munich Girl - anonymous

Now this is a short story and another Munich girl, I spoke to in the city centre. She was the quickest one in responding. “Prada!”.

They are simply the best because of stylishness. They seem to get products out all the time that completely suit her. She says she never had seen anything in Prada that she didn´t like.

Asked about the difference to other brands like Gucci / D&G etc… she said, it´s not comparable as Prada simply get it right, whereas the others are obviously not (although they offer from time to time good things as well).

For me - if I was working for Prada - she would be a WOW consumer!

Lego is my favourite

(2) Matthias - a German from Bayreuth

Lego is a brand that he uses / admires since childhood. It is basically still something he does on regular basis. For him it´s the combination of creativity, playing and with that a good possibility to escape the day to day stress from work / family etc…

He´s got a room in his house dedicated to LEGO, which is my island of privacy.

On the question why it is LEGO and not another equivalent brand, he couldn´t really fully explain it and was rather surprised that he could not do so. “Interesting question, I haven´t thought about it up to now….well I believe it´s what I grew up with and it´s simply a deeply evolved friendship between the brand and myself.”

The Interviews

When I started to do the interviews I thought "well, let´s see what people will come up with - should be easy".
However it was a surprise. Essentially, for most it was not that easy to answer, but they came up with interesting viewpoints, and interesting brands, Iwouldn´t have considered myself as being WOW - O some of the usual suspects are still there, but there were as well some surprises! OK, so here is number one:

(1) Simon - an englishman in Bayreuth

Me: What´s your WOW brand?

He: Apple, full stop.

Me: Why?

He: They got the balance exactly right between pricing and product, basically the product is just a perfect product.

It´s the way how they promote their company and products, I mean if you ask a techhead if it´s the best he can think of, he´ll find sth that´s not perfect, but in the end hey, it´s not the point….they understand their consumers, and therefore people in the end are willing to pay the price.

Offer is high quality and fulfils as well as generates consumer needs; they seem to have good insights and a well managed innovation pipeline, if you look at the generations of their product lines. They convince consumers and in the same time learn from them.