My mother received an iPad from the family on Mother’s Day and when she opened the box I noticed there was no user manual but there was an Apple sticker. How amazing I thought that customers are accepting of being marketing vehicles for a company – and in this case accept getting a sticker instead of instructions – or headphones for that matter.
This week I had my MIS team get me a Griffin Technology PowerBlock Wall Charger for the iPad as I read it was the fastest way to charge the device. When I opened the box, again I was presented with a sticker which I just took a photo of.
Is something changing in the world of marketing? It seems that customers are becoming more and more loyal to brands. And I can see why people would use the Apple sticker because the company has done an amazing job creating an amazing brand. The company’s retail stores for example evoke the same feeling you get walking into any high-end designer store. But Griffin Technology? Are people identifying themselves with their wall chargers as well? Maybe they are or this could be wishful thinking.
I was reminded of sticker-mania when I saw Parature is sponsoring a TMCnet webinar on Why Customer Service is not enough. What sparked my curiosity was the following from the description, “Go beyond average service to a relationship.”
And this got me thinking about how brands have evolved to develop deep relationships with customers through retail stores, social networking and email marketing. Your favorite brands reach out to you constantly and have transcended corporate relationships to become friends – in the social sense of course.
I will be sure that Parature sees this post and adds some of these ideas to their webinar. It should be worth participating in.
Fring
May 14, 2010 at 11:34 amThis is not new. I have Apple stickers from every box – 9 in total, going back to 1987
Rich Tehrani
May 14, 2010 at 11:58 amI should have pointed out this is not a new idea but it does seem to be gaining ground.
Peter
May 14, 2010 at 1:58 pmApple has had stickers for quite awhile. My old Jeep still has the rainbow sticker from my PowerMac 8500. I don’t remember if my roomate’s old iBook came with stickers, but I think her new Mac mini did.
Note that the Xserve does not come with stickers.
Somewhere in my closet, I still have the “I’d rather be driving a Macintosh” bumper sticker from back in 1984…
W. Amen
May 14, 2010 at 10:27 pmGuess stickers stick around much longer than brochure or manuals.
medyum
May 17, 2010 at 4:24 amI should have pointed out this is not a new idea but it does seem to be gaining ground.
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