Differentiation throughout All Touch Points

I love having insightful weekends like this -- what a comparison/contrast in brand experiences!

First, I encountered four pieces of disappointment with Hilton:

• Receiving double beds after requesting a king
• Being placed at the very farthest room (felt like walking half a mile) from the elevator
• $20 fee for parking when the dedicated lot immediately next door charges $13.95
• $14.95 internet (wi-fi or hardwire) when nearby coffee shops and restaurants provide it on a complimentary basis

My point about the latter two concerns service focus. The parking place has NO other offering. Hopefully Hilton would see that my main need for them is lodging, and they shouldn't be charging ANY MORE than the next-door place. Between that and the internet access, my sense is that they feel they can "screw over" the captive customer.

Bad karma -- anytime.

And especially in today's competitive environment.

Then... I experienced the Virgin brand out of the UK, which I had heard of but had no particularly positive or negative expectations. I know you know what's coming, but I have to mention it anyway... I'm no longer a virgin to Virgin American airlines).

At every point along the process, I was impressed with Richard Branson's "human touch" -- professional and anything but "me too".

• Web site - bold red and clever "Brit-ish" sayings
• Customer service (called with a question about flight accommodations) - surprisingly friendly and welcoming to/acknowledging of "virgins"
• Boarding pass - bold red and non-standard size
• Cabin experience - entire plane has black lights emitting a purple glow instead of the traditional cold-white fluorescent lights (makes one feel "evening", disco (first class even has news-announcer-like microphones emitting up and around the seats, what a feeling of control)
  ...and...
• (the best for last) AC Adapters at every seat! (no more running out of laptop battery power in the air).

This has definitely ingrained positive associations in my gray matter for the brand. I'll be intrigued to see what happens in my eval process next the next time I fly (better yet, what happens the next time I experience United, Northwest, et al).

A good place to begin is mapping all your touch points (email me if you'd like an example doc to work with) then look objectively (through the customer's eyes) at how your actions at each either support or deflate your brand goals.

Good modeling to you!