I find myself consumed of late with the topic of “customer-centric” brands and company cultures – or, rather, the claim of such vs. the reality of same.  Consequently I seem particularly attuned to the fine points of what it takes to deliver that corporate-speak Holy Grail of  “customer delight” not in a brand positioning statement (the easy part), but at ground level.

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC BRANDS DON’T MAKE YOU SWEAR RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX
Today I received a new headset as a gift, a Jabra Wave+. I have to admit that, while it’s a very cool Bluetooth headset, I was put off by the prospect of having to spend ten minutes trying to open the package – because that’s become my general packaging assumption.  I buy something, which is mega –packaged, either for purposes of POP appeal, or theft prevention, and before I even get to try the product I invariably find myself swearing at it in the most uncivil terms.  Not exactly the kind of brand bonding marketers hope to get once the product is actually in a customer’s hands.

But, much to this customer’s delight (see, there’s that coveted word), Jabra seems to have anticipated my dread by providing a small-but-critical detail not present on most packaging I’ve encountered (and certainly not on the nightmare of plastic encasement that is its principal competitor’s approach to packaging):

 CUSTOMER-CENTRIC BRANDS GO BEYOND THE BUZZWORD
As you can see in the photo, two adhesive tabs provide easy access by simply having the bottoms of the tabs loose, so that one can easily grab them and quickly free the object of desire.  No need to scrape away with your fingernails.  No scissors or crowbar required.  Instead, I had an initial brand experience that inspired an “ahhhhh…” rather than the typical “Ah, another #@&ing stupid waste of my time!”  It also pre-disposed me to liking what I took out of the package, setting me up to a) assume that the headset might be as easy to use as the package was to open and b) anticipate that Jabra might actually listen to me should I ever need to use the headset to call them for service (or order more products).  For once, being customer centric was more than a buzzword.  It was right there in plain view, on the package.

 Can you share a personal experience of a small detail that left you delighted with a brand?