Why can't retailers be this creative in touching consumer lives?
Every once in a while you need to step back from the frenetic pace of retail. One only needs to peruse the headlines this week to see all the stats on how Cyber Monday online shopping is up 20+, and Black Friday in store spending is actually down. In all the numbers and analyses it is very easy to lose sight of the “Magic of the Season”. Fortunately, I have three granddaughters who reminded me that the holidays are much more than “market basket”. Through their “Santa” videos from the Portable North Pole, I literally saw the magic of personalization light up their faces. Retailers could learn a great deal about the power of personalized experience from “Santa”. We all could … and need to.
Every week I’m confronted with finding a topic for this blog. We have a whole process of scanning publications for the retail headlines and trends. And this week, there are many potential topics related to the continued shifting trends of consumers and online retailing. But even with the PR buzz of Bezos announcing “Amazon drone strategy”, I wanted to find something else to write about … something more basic and fundamental to the roots of the retail experience.
While scrambling for a blog topic this Friday, my granddaughters absolutely could not wait to show me their “Santa Videos”. You can literally see the twinkle in their eyes as they described how Santa is talking to “THEM”. And, he has a “book” with their NAME in it. At three and four years old, this amazing little app on the internet has truly made holiday magic come alive, and has literally made Santa real for them. If you have a child or grandchild, I implore you to go try PNP – the Portable North Pole.com
PNP creates very simple but amazingly powerful personalization
My hat goes off to PNP for creating a very simple app that totally fits their business model. PNP is in the business of selling personalized things for kids. You can order personalized books or coloring books with their name and photos. You can also personalize videos, etc.
The absolute genius of their free Santa video is that they engage the parents and grandparents in creating the personalization for their child. You provide the child’s name, a photo of the child, a gift wish, and what they need to do to be able to get on Santa’s “Nice List”. The app then takes that personal information and creates a personalized video that is available for viewing on the web with any device.
Don’t believe in the power of personalization? Watch the faces of the children when they get to watch their video! They are absolutely gobsmacked … and they want to see it again and again. Which of course is exactly what PNP is striving to demonstrate so that parents will consider ordering other personalized gifts that they sell.
Why can’t retailers be this creative in personalizing experience?
There are a few retailers that have captured the magic of personalized experience in store. Build-a-Bear comes to mind as a prime example. Online personalization is much tougher. Car companies are letting consumers “build their car” and choose options online. IKEA has created the means to visualize rooms. Nike enables you to build personalized shoes.
But, I have to tell you that there is something entirely magical about the personalized experience created by the Portable North Pole. With a few simple ingredients, they have created a very powerful and scalable personalized experience for children. There is nothing more personal than your name! It absolutely grabs the child’s attention to hear it and see it. Maybe retailers could start by just getting our name right and using it both online and in store.
Retailers are stuck in the ruts of the past … Need to break the mold
As I work with retailers around the world I keep hearing all of the classics of why something can’t be done. Or, why it won’t work. I firmly assert that one of the major reasons traditional retailers are struggling is because they have stopped innovating. Bezos had a great line on his interview with 60 minutes: “complaining about the internet is not a strategy”.
PNP’s personalization Santa video for kids is a great example of thinking outside of the box. It cannot only apply to the December holiday season, but many other holidays. Imagine what could be done with holidays like Halloween … now there’s one that would work for kids as well as adults!
Just to be absolutely clear, I’m not advocating that retailers create the Santa video technology for their stores. I am preaching that they start applying the same principles of personalization even at the most basic level. Some ideas might include:
- Personalizing gift wish lists especially for weddings, graduations, baby showers, etc.
- Enabling a personalize gift message/URL message to be sent to someone you are giving an online gift to who lives a great distance away
- How about personalized demos or applications of how to setup your products?
- How about more options to personalize actual products like the Moto X?
- How about just using my name instead of “dear customer”?
It all starts with realizing the power of personalization
I can hear the C Suite cringing now! All of this talk about personalized service is typically seen in terms of “costs”. And yes, personalization requires some investment – especially in CRM systems to track consumers by name as individuals.
But, here in lies the fallacy and trap of traditional retail models. Traditional retail was product centric and based on making the sale today. Personalization is about customer relationships and creating experiences so compelling that consumers will return again and again.
I often make a call to action request at the end of a blog post. Hopefully, some of you go check things out or think about potential application. But in the case of this post:
Run don’t walk to your nearest search engine and go to www.PortableNorthPole.com
Go create a personalize Santa video for your child, grandchild, nephew / niece or even your spouse! You personally will discover the power of personalized experience … and the power of making a child feel very special and happy during this magical season.
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Sources:
- Personalized Santa Video: www.portablenorthpole.com
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