These brands are *nailing* the SUPER Model right now...
I always get excited when I stumble upon stories of brands putting the SUPER Model into action. In today’s newsletter, let’s dive into the most SUPER examples I’ve encountered over the last few weeks. Remember, we’re all living in an experience economy, so there are lessons to be learned from brands in every industry and vertical. Here goes!
S: Start With Your Story
Boot brand Wolverine launched a new campaign, “Woman-Made,” to celebrate the achievements of women in skilled trades and to advocate for more inclusive language for all. The spot highlighted many notable women and their iconic accomplishments, including Emily Warren Roebling, engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, and Anna Connelly, inventor of the fire escape.
Alongside the TV spot, Wolverine launched a petition on Change.org to add “woman-made” to the dictionary.?
Director of Brand Marketing, Lauren King, explained: “...we hope to inspire girls and women around the globe to have the confidence to pursue any passion, especially within the skilled trades where women are drastically underrepresented.”?
As a brand that takes pride in embodying the spirit of the American worker, Wolverine recognizes that it can’t accurately tell its story without acknowledging the unsung contributions of women in skilled trades.
U: Understand Your Customer’s Story
Basma Beauty, a cosmetic brand founded by burn survivor and pioneer of the Scar Camouflage procedure, Basma Hameed, launched one of the most customer-centric campaigns I’ve seen in a long time.
After going viral on TikTok with its inclusive Foundation Stick (that comes in 42 shades!), Hameed decided to collaborate with her fans on the development of a new blush product. Basma Beauty shared product samples with followers and asked for their feedback on the formulation, shade names, marketing plans, and recommendations for influencers to help with the launch. As a result, the brand received more than 10 million social views of the blush pre-launch.
Collaborating with customers on product development offers invaluable insights into their needs, preferences, and pain points, ensuring the final product resonates with the target audience. Furthermore, by including followers in the process, customers feel like they’re a part of Basma’s success and have a stronger emotional connection to the brand.?
P: Personalize
The new MyLowe’s Rewards loyalty program is helping the retailer personalize its offerings to customers for the first time. As part of the rollout, Lowe’s incentivizes users to share their preferences in exchange for more points. They’ve even created “affinity groups” to segment their audience by interest, including pet lovers, first-time homeowners, decorators, and more.
Sr. Vice President of Marketing, Jen Wilson believes the MyLowe’s program will allow the brand to create a more tailored experience for its customers.?
She explains, “...we can start to serve up the right products, the right services, the right offerings and the right offers to be able to speak to you in a way that we know is meaningful. This is most certainly the spine for how we will become more personalized in our conversations with our consumers.”
E: Exceed Expectations
If you’ve heard my keynote or read my book, Creating Superfans, you know I’m a superfan of Chewy. I don’t know of any other brand that goes viral for amazing CX with the regularity of Chewy. At least a dozen people have told me about Chewy sending flowers after the loss of their pet. One customer told me Chewy had refunded his credit card for a purchase of more than $1,000 for super-pricey medicine after his cat passed away. Countless people have told me about receiving toys and treats (and sometimes even clothes) for their pets unannounced, always accompanied by a sweet note from a member of the Chewy team.
This weekend, I discovered yet another way that Chewy goes above and beyond for its customers. An X user posted that Chewy converted her late pet’s profile into a memory page. ??
Putting intentionality into the smallest moments shows your customers that you truly care about them. Instead of painfully deleting her late pet’s profile on her Chewy account or being awkwardly greeted with her late pet’s name upon login, Chewy got ahead of the negative interaction and instead created a heartwarming moment for the customer.?
It’s not just the grand gestures that people remember. If you want to design experiences that your customers will tell their friends about, you are bound only by your creativity.
Side note: notice that Chewy responded with, “Emmy is no longer by our side.” Not “your side.” Connecting your story to every customer’s story is a formula that works 100% of the time.
R: Repeat
If you’re a fan of Target, you’ll love this! Last week, Target officially launched Target Circle 360, a paid membership program that offers unlimited free same-day delivery for orders $35+ and free two-day shipping.
While the brand will still have its free Target Circle option and the Target Circle Card program, this new paid tier will rival Amazon and Walmart and drive even more sales. With speed and convenience at the center of the program, Target is making it as easy as possible for customers to come back again and again.
Bonus points for the ad pros at Target ~repeating~ perhaps the most iconic Target media of all time: Kristin Wiig’s beloved SNL portrayal of “Target Lady.” The commercials are SO GOOD! I hope they repeat them forever.
If you’ve seen other great examples of companies implementing pillars of the SUPER Model, be sure to send them my way!
There’s a good chance you know about this podcast already because it’s one of the most popular in the world. But, I just discovered it a couple of weeks ago — and I’m obsessed!
It’s called Everything Everywhere Daily. In 10-12 minute episodes, host Gary Arndt gives you the history of… well everything, everywhere. Even if you’re not a history buff, it’s a blast! There are more than 1,300 episodes, so feel free to binge your favorite topics. I’ve listened to his deep-but-in-a-really-accessible-way dives into at least 20 different space-related topics and dozens of fun episodes on ancient Rome, Egypt, and Greece. Want a really fun one to start with? I bet you never knew any of this about homing pigeons!
In the last two episodes of The SUPER AMAZING Show, Shepard (Shep) Hyken and I posed two challenges to you. Here’s a quick recap??
In honor of the second 'Get To Know Your Customers Day' of 2024 coming up this Thursday,?get on the phone with your clients and ask them, "What is one thing you can think of that would make doing business with us better?"
For more on this task, watch episode 16 of The SUPER AMAZING Show:
Last week, we shared the most common mistake companies make when they fix problems: they take care of the issue at hand without addressing whatever system, process, behavior, (or lack thereof) led to the problem in the first place. They move so quickly from fire to fire that they fail to notice there's someone on the team throwing lit matches.?
Our challenge to you: identify the problem you are asked to solve more than any other problem. This will be your roadmap to adjusting your systems and making incremental improvements for your customers.?
Check out episode 15 of The SUPER AMAZING Show for how to handle this initiative with your team.
“The best way to control your customer experience is to intentionally create it.”
-Elle Robertson