Above and Beyond Customer Service

We always hear of stores that allow their customers to go above and beyond when it comes to customer service (Nordstrom's springs to mind). Clearly there is inherent value in treating your customer like a friend and helping them achieve their goals, even if they're not sure what those goals are.

I stumbled upon this website that is full of back and forth interactions between one man and customers that frequent the stores he works at. Whether they are true or not, this one stuck out as an example of dealing with a bad customer through empathy and thoughtfulness that not only changed his day, but his life:

http://notalwaysright.com/a-heady-proposition/1226

Candy + Soft Serve = Amazing!

As my friend Josh was paying for his morning caffeine fix, I noticed some bright blue, yellow and red tinfoil wrappers that came out of his pocket. "Cadbury Creme Eggs," I thought to myself (fully forgetting that we are now in full Easter swing in the US). We got to talking some more and, knowing his interests, I suggested that it might be interesting to make some Cadbury Creme Egg ice cream. I believe his exact words were, "I find it hard to get excited about something I'm not excited about eating." Boo, I said. For pretty much my whole life I have always looked forward to my one Cadbury Creme Egg a year. The gritty feel of the sugar dough in globular yellow and white that oozes from the cracked shell, what a treat! While I can never bring myself to eat more than one without feeling like total crap, I do cherish that single, chocolate covered magic that the wizards at Cadbury dreamed up in their Wonka lab so many years ago.

Turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks it'd be good with ice cream. Thanks to our friends over at Buzzfeed, I stumbled across this post on McFlurrys of the world. And oh, what a wild and varied world it is. From Bluberry/Oreo in Japan to the Chips Ahoy version found in Mexico, the McFlurry has a universal appeal boosted further by McDonald's ability to tap into native desires and whip them into a delicious treat.











So what's the branding/marketing twist on this story: Know your customer. Could McD's push M&Ms and Butterfinger everywhere? They sure could. But it wouldn't be nearly as successful as tapping into the Brits' desire for Cadbury confections. Or the Japanese yearning for green tea. That's what makes this today's cool thing.

As an added bonus, I bring you the genius (IMHO) ads Cadbury ran to promote Creme Eggs in the days of your. A rabbit laying eggs and clucking like a chicken. Beautiful.