Actions Speak Louder Than Words

 
This morning I was struggling for what I wanted to post today so I revisited some old writings for inspiration. I reread this one and thought it would be a great one to share. It was originally written six years ago, not too long after the birth of my third child Hayes. Give it a read and then you let me know if you don't agree that the message is even more important today than it was back then.

Last year my wife gave birth to our third child, a beautiful baby boy. Unfortunately for us, we were about to enter the world of “other people” as in, bad things only happen to “other people.” We would learn the next day that our son was born with multiple congenital abnormalities of they left eye and would require surgery on the eye, maybe more than once. Worse, there was a possibility he may never see out of the eye. We then began the long search for a surgeon that we could trust and scheduled the first surgery. There was just one big problem. While we wanted to have the procedure done at our local children’s hospital, the surgeon was strongly recommending a local hospital with which both my wife and I had had a terrible previous experience. After much soul searching and many late night discussions with friends, we finally relented and agreed to allow the procedure to be done in the “bad hospital.”

We arrived at our appointed time, exhausted because we had not slept the night before, full of fear because we had no real trust in the hospital and in general on edge. And then it began – “Hayes Martin” came the call from the nurse. What would follow in the next 5 hours was simply the most important branding lesson I’ve ever learned.I was about to understand the power of brand experiences to alter brand perception first hand.

What we experienced that day was nothing like we expected. Instead we were fed a series of carefully orchestrated clues, which together would force my wife and I to alter our current brand perception.

First were the technological clues. There was no “chart” instead everything was entered into laptops connected wirelessly to a central database. If we asked a question or needed to see someone, the message was sent via text page to the person, who would then come to the waiting room.

Second were the organizational clues. At each surgical station, a nurse would guide us through that part of the surgical procedure and prepare us for our next station. Prior to moving us, the nurse would send our “chart” ahead so that when we arrived, our new nurse was ready and fully informed. Handoffs were seamless and information flowed freely. It was more akin to a well-choreographed ballet than a surgical procedure.

An additional organizational clue was time management. Over the previous six weeks we had seen four different specialists in three different hospital systems and had wasted at least 30 hours in doctors’ waiting rooms. It was if the medical profession was incapable of doing anything on time. After a while you begin to equate the quality of the medical staff to how well the office runs. Here again, a clue was signaling to us – this is a well-run, professional hospital that will take care of you and your family because we do the little things like start on-time.

Next came the personal clues. The people were all polite, gentle and genuinely seemed eager to make this experience as easy on my wife and myself as they could. We expected a clinical feeling but instead found one of warmth bordering on friendly.

And then there were the environmental clues. The waiting room was spacious, not opulent but big enough that you could spread out away from the other families. This was important because my wife, her parents, and myself were all on edge to say the least. The last thing we wanted was forced contact with strangers. The generous space combined with the constant flow of communication from the desk nurse (organizational/technological clue), informing us of major milestones in the surgical procedure gave us a feeling of reassurance. And all of this was delivered by employees that seemed to understand our situation and truly wanted to make this moment as stress free as possible.

What this episode taught me was the power of positive experience and experiential clues. Over the course of one five-hour experience I went from Brand Terrorist to Brand Ambassador – and people that know me will tell you I don’t change my mind easily.But why was one experience able to accomplish what years of advertising and public relations hadn’t achieved, because actions speak louder than words. What I witnessed was an obvious ingrained attitude and dedication to providing a world-class surgical experience. How did I know this? I knew it based on the clues the hospital fed me. From the big clues like the use of technology to the small clues like starting on time, I was constantly immersed in a good experience that reinforced a predefined brand perception that the hospital wanted to communicate to me. The end result was it forced me to set aside my previous feelings and adopt a new set of feelings based on a slew of new data that I was receiving.

And therein lies the power of a systematically managed brand experience. I had been exposed to countless advertisements for this hospital. My former employer was even the Agency of Record while I was employed there. But none of the advertising, PR or direct mail I received was powerful enough to dislodge my brand perception that the “bad hospital” was incapable of delivering high-quality medical services to my family. A brand perception, remember, that was completely driven by one previous experience – a bad one.

As a consumer, I am going to have an experience with a brand. The question we as brand managers must ask is whether we’re going to leave that experience to chance or see it for what it is – one of the most powerful branding weapons in our marketing arsenal.

I’m not suggesting that managing the brand experience is a replacement for traditional marketing activities. I am suggesting that if you are not currently applying a systematic approach to the clues your brand and brand experience are emitting then you are missing one of biggest brand management opportunities currently available to you as a brand manager.

So what do you think? Still valid?