Tonic Account Supervisor Steve Wittkoff recently bought a Mini Cooper and was surprised and delighted by the CRM experience Mini provided.
Here’s what he has to say about it …
When well executed, the “surprise and delight” tactic can be a highly effective component in a brand’s CRM strategy, whether the objective is to drive incremental revenue, convert prospects or cement loyalty among your customer base. It can be built into every brand interaction – something as simple as an unexpected acknowledgement – and can even become part of your loyalty program’s identity. Whether it’s a free carwash on a customer’s birthday or premium seats to Cher’s show in Las Vegas for those biggest spending Platinum card members, properly executed, the “surprise and delight” should appear to be unexpected and with no strings attached.
One great brand that got it right was Mini Motors. Exactly 30 days after taking possession of my Mini Cooper, an 8” square package with an address label bearing the iconic Mini logo arrived on my doorstep. Okay, this was unexpected (rule 1 for the surprise and delight tactic). I opened it immediately to uncover a sleek black box labeled “Mini Adventure Field Kit.” And as I began to reveal the contents of the kit, I became more and more genuinely delighted.
It started with the standard “goodie bag” fare – a mousepad, a smart looking ballpoint pen, a small hardbound journal with a small Mini Cooper silhouette on the cover, and a foam 8-ball I could put on my antennae. Then there were the wittier, more “Mini” touches. Like a “Field Guide to Good Motoring” with such useful advice as how to choose your co-pilot, whether it’s your dog, significant other or best friend, with the pros and cons of each choice. Another useful tip — how to evaluate how sketchy a potential rest stop’s facilities are. The kit even included a roll of “Window Poetry”, decal words, ala refrigerator poetry magnets, which I can use to express myself in the window of my Mini.
Then there were the “Give Some Mini”, “Get Some Mini” cards. Mini understands that by nature of being a Mini owner, people will stop you in traffic and in parking lots and ask you about your car (it’s weird, strangers do this a lot). So they included a set of “Give Some Mini” wallet cards featuring beautiful photographs of various Mini model configurations, a few Mini bon mots, and the miniusa.com url to get more information and find a dealer. A great viral marketing tactic for the offline, on-the-road world. The “Get Some Mini” cards are to give to friends and loved ones with hints as to what Mini motoring accessories to give you for upcoming birthdays, holidays, etc.
What delighted me most about this package is how well it was in keeping with the Mini brand experience – playful, highly individual, slightly irreverent. I spent a good 20 minutes going through the kit. It put a big a smile on my face and made me chuckle. It was a welcome interruption to my day. I am guesstimating these kits cost Mini between $15 and $20 each. Calculating the ROI on these kinds of tactics is a tricky business and imperfect science. I’ll probably be a Mini owner for life, not because of this kit, and not just because they’re fantastic cars. But because of the whole experience and sense of community that comes with such a great car, including my Mini Adventure Field Kit.
