In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Aransas Savas, Joe Pine, and Dave Norton discuss the economic power of experience strategy in various industries, focusing on an article in the Wall Street Journal on the Atlanta Braves and their innovative approach to sports business through the Battery Atlanta.  They explore the concept of Disneyfication, where businesses create holistic experiences that enhance customer engagement and economic impact. The conversation also delves into the potential for reimagining healthcare facilities as experience-driven environments, emphasizing the interconnectedness of experiences, goods, and services in today's economy.

Takeaways

• The Atlanta Braves have revolutionized the sports business model through experience strategy.
• Experience economy prioritizes experiences over goods and services.
• The Battery Atlanta serves as a model for mixed-use development.
• Sports venues can act as anchors for surrounding retail and experiences.
• Disneyfication is a viable strategy for various industries.
• Healthcare can be transformed into experience-driven environments.
• Cities can become experience hubs to attract tourism and business.
• The economic impact of sports venues extends beyond ticket sales.
• Creating holistic experiences can lead to community engagement and economic growth.
• The experience economy is reshaping consumer preferences and business strategies.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Experience Economy Podcast
02:11 The Atlanta Braves: A Case Study in Experience Strategy
12:47 Disneyfication: Transforming Industries through Experience
15:14 Reimagining Healthcare and Other Industries: The Disneyfication of Everything
20:31 The Interconnectedness of Experiences, Goods, and Services

Read More:

https://www.wsj.com/sports/baseball/truist-park-battery-atlanta-a3698b69?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1

Register for a free pilot program with Feedback Now

https://marketing-info.feedbacknow.com/free-pilot

Learn more about Stone Mantel

https://www.stonemantel.co

Sign up for the Experience Strategist Substack here:

In this episode, we dive into the intriguing world of integration therapies within Silicon Valley's tech culture. Inspired by a Wall Street Journal article, we discuss how psychedelics are becoming mainstream among tech workers, leading to the rise of integration therapists. These professionals help individuals process their experiences with substances like ayahuasca and psilocybin, aiming to combat burnout and unlock creativity. We explore the therapeutic potential and unintended consequences of this trend, including the phenomenon of workers leaving the industry after profound experiences.

Takeaways

• Psychedelics are becoming mainstream in Silicon Valley.
• Integration therapy is essential for processing psychedelic experiences.
• Many tech workers face existential crises after psychedelic use.
• Therapeutic use of psychedelics is viewed positively by some.
• Reflection is crucial for meaningful transformation.
• Journaling can enhance personal agency and clarity.
• Travel can provide new perspectives for personal growth.
• Integration helps sustain the benefits of transformative experiences.
• Companies can benefit from encouraging reflection among employees.
• The conversation around psychedelics is evolving and complex.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Psychedelics in Silicon Valley
02:09 The Role of Integration Therapies
05:57 Therapeutic Uses of Psychedelics
09:57 Moral Perspectives on Psychedelics
14:10 Transporting vs. Transformative Experiences
18:20 The Power of Journaling and Reflection
21:44 Encapsulation and Integration in Transformation
23:57 Conclusion and Reflections on the Discussion

Read More:

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/so-you-took-ayahuasca-the-therapist-will-see-you-now-eee7476b?st=8GRcX3&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Register for a free pilot program with Feedback Now

https://marketing-info.feedbacknow.com/free-pilot

Learn more about Stone Mantel

https://www.stonemantel.co

Sign up for the Experience Strategist Substack here:

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Joe Pine, Aransas Savas, and Dave Norton discuss the Wall Street Journal article about Cracker Barrel's recent transformation efforts aimed at attracting younger customers while retaining their core base. They explore the challenges and opportunities of modernizing a legacy brand, emphasizing the importance of experience strategy over mere aesthetic changes. The conversation highlights the role of employees in successful transformations, the impact of economic factors on customer behavior, and innovative ideas for enhancing the dining experience.

• Cracker Barrel is attempting to modernize while retaining its nostalgic appeal.
• Transformations often fail when they ignore the core customer base.
• Experience should lead brand decisions, not the other way around.
• Employee involvement is crucial for successful transformations. 
• Economic changes can create opportunities for brands like Cracker Barrel.
• Experience strategy can be a powerful tool in attracting customers.
• Innovative dining experiences can differentiate a brand.
• Understanding customer needs is essential for effective transformation.
• Merchandising strategies can enhance the overall experience.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Experience Strategy Podcast

01:05 Cracker Barrel's Transformation Journey

04:05 Understanding Cracker Barrel's Nostalgia and Experience

08:10 The Role of Aesthetics in Experience

10:06 Employee Engagement in Transformations

14:07 Navigating Economic Challenges and Customer Needs

18:04 Innovative Ideas for Enhancing Customer Experience

20:16 Conclusion and Future Insights

Getting a customer is one thing, but keeping them is the hard part.  In this episode, Aransas and Dave speak with Heidi Bowman, a 30 year veteran in Marketing and Business Development and the VP of Marketing & Business Development at Silex Financial Group, a residential and commercial mortgage broker, about ways to keep customers connected to companies through experience strategies.  

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [02:30] How mortgage brokers differentiate themselves through their services and product offering.
• [06:00] Heidi says Silex sets itself apart from the competition by offering exclusive services to their clients.
• [12:00] Heidi describes the homebuying process for their clients by analyzing the wants and needs of each particular client.
• [14:30] How the mortgage company adjusts to today’s housing market by becoming the “home buyer advisor” for clients who may be overwhelmed and battling buyer’s remorse. 
• [18:00] How they extend their relationships beyond just the mortgage buying process to cultivate repeat customers and referrals.
• [24:00] How Heidi utilizes tactics like storytelling and social media to differentiate Silex from other companies and connect with their clients and potential leads.
• [29:00] Aransas and Dave give tips on how Silex can continue to connect with their customers in different ways as social media and marketing evolves.
• [36:00] Dave suggests collecting stories from Heidi and her customers to help people connect to the company and for Silex to get a deeper understanding of customer needs.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Marketing is important for growth, but loyalty is the byproduct of the experience. 
• There’s a big difference between advice-giving and understanding. Relationships are built on trust and understanding. People want advice, but they need understanding in order to hear it.
• Authentic stories focused on the experience are powerful ways of creating connection and loyalty and allowing individuals to see new possibilities. 

Links Mentioned:

Bringithomewithheidi.com

BIO:  

Heidi is a 30 plus year veteran in Marketing and Business Development and the VP of Marketing &  Business Development at Silex Financial Group, a North Jersey-based residential and commercial mortgage broker. At Silex, her focus is to drive growth in existing and new markets. She is also a self-proclaimed  First Time Home Buyer Experience guru.

Heidi also manages the  “Bringing it Home with Heidi” brand which is a web-enabled platform that focuses on topics from home buying to a family cooking channel and everything in between. “Bringing It Home With Heidi” provides a valuable lifestyle and business resource through blog posts, podcasts (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts), and more. You can learn more at bringithomewithheidi.com.

Heidi is also a mom to a "special abled" young man named Alexander and an advocate of post-21 special needs adults. She loves all things Italian = fashion, jewelry, food, the country, and her husband Joe, and is a CrossFit enthusiast.

SHOW NOTES:

The experience of food shopping is fundamentally about reliability and consistency, but standout brands like Trader Joe’s use powerful Experience Strategies to differentiate their brands, add meaning and value for consumers, and build loyal fan bases. In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, NYC-based blogger Halle Sarfin chats with Aransas and Dave about her love for grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and what keeps her coming back

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [02:00] Halle shares what motivated her to create a platform for sharing positive and motivational vibes that could help her connect with others looking to lead happy and healthy lives.
• [04:30] Food shopping is a hobby for Halle and she describes her love for Trader Joe’s by sampling and sharing new items. 
• [06:30] Halle describes what her typical shopping experience is like when she goes to Trader Joe’s to get her “regular items” and also how she decides on trying new things.
• [09:30] Halle describes the “Trader Joe’s Customer Identity”. 
• [17:40] Dave shares the coordinated strategy of “Theming” and how Trader Joe’s uses it as a key part of their brand to make the shopping experience for consumers very powerful.
• [21:00] Discussion on how important the brand loyalty experience has been at connecting customers who share a love for shopping at Trader Joe’s.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Every industry has the potential to add meaning for their customers: Through experience strategy, the mundane task of food shopping can instead be a form of self-care. 
• Brands can build loyalty through experience: Food shopping for people is fundamentally about reliability and consistency, but standout brands create surprise and delight to differentiate and add value. 
• “Theming” an experience is a way to bring a brand story to life and connect with consumers.

Links Mentioned:

Halle’s Instagram - http://instagram.com/thetoogoodlife

BIO:  

Halle created her own brand called thetoogoodlife when she discovered her passion for the health/wellness industry. She posts all things health, fitness, and food but puts an emphasis on balance. She lives in NYC and loves discovering new workouts and local farmer’s markets. She loves iced coffee, sushi, avocado toast and can most likely be found on a spin bike or taking a walk along the water. She is in the process of becoming a certified health coach where she hopes to help people live happier and healthier lives. She loves to inspire and motivate others and believes the too good life platform is the perfect place to do that. Check her out on Instagram @thetoogoodlife.

Your hosts, Aransas and Dave, recently had the opportunity to speak with the true pioneers of Experience Strategy, Lou Carbone, Joe Pine, and Bernd Schmitt for a previous episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast. These pioneers shared so much valuable information that Aransas and Dave decided to sit down together and thoroughly unpack the ‘aha moments’ from that episode. Tune in to hear a breakdown of the key lessons these Pioneers shared.

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [01:22] Lou Carbone discusses how experiences can transform companies and their employees.
• [03:00] Dave unpacks Lou’s description of the experiences he had as a strategist in the 1980s, learning different marketing execution approaches from companies like Disney, and how the pioneers decided to do something more transformational for companies.
• [07:00] Dave and Aransas discuss the importance of analyzing what the customer is experiencing and how companies can improve that experience for them. Favoring the comprehensive viewpoint as the customer is key in accomplishing this.
• [10:00] Aransas discusses Bernd’s opinion about looking at the consumer's sensory experience and how that goes into the consumer experience design.
• [14:00] Aransas and Dave discuss using customization in service of the consumer’s experience rather than the brand experience.
• [18:00] Data and technology has been a driving force in moving customization forward to create personal connections to consumers. Aransas and Dave discuss ways companies like Netflix and Stitch Fix have tailored their customers’ experiences through premium memberships.
• [23:00] Dave discusses “Journey Mapping” and delves into Harvard Professor, Michael Porter’s five forces, and how companies used these strategies to create their business models
• [26:30] Aransas discusses the change that’s taken place for businesses and consumers to connect with the advancement of technology and social media.
• [29:08] A clip from Bernd discussing customer experience management. Dave shares what that means and how companies can manage the customer experience by examining it holistically and innovatively by using measurement and analytics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• The pioneers were part of a revolution in consumer experience by examining what big companies were doing for their consumers and then taking that information and transforming the experiences for other companies to utilize.
• Once companies started to market their services by looking at consumers' viewpoints and sensory experience, they could create a more targeted approach towards marketing to their ideal customers.
• Consumer experience changed heavily with technology and customization. Companies that were able to use data and technology to tailor to the customer’s specific needs were able to capture more positive experiences with their customers leading to more sales or premium service subscriptions.

Links Mentioned:

The Experience Strategy Podcast Episode 4 - Experience Pioneers

BIO:  

Lou Carbone

Lou Carbone is founder and CEO of Experience Engineering®, Inc..

Since the late 1980’s, Carbone has continuously been at the forefront of studying, exploring and developing value creation through experience management and is often referred to as the Godfather of Experience Management. He is recognized as a thought leader in the field as well as an experience management futurist, continuously innovative, hands-on academic/practitioner.

He wrote the book “Clued In: How to keep customers coming back, again and again, published by FT Prentice Hall which won Fast Company’s Reader’s Choice Award. 

Lou originated the concept of Emotional and Unconscious Clue Based Experience Design and Total Experience Management® and a robust proprietary methodology and perspective called Experience Engineering®. 

Joe Pine

B. Joseph Pine II is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike. He is cofounder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. In 2020 Mr. Pine and his partner James H. Gilmore re-released in hardcover The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money with many new ideas, frameworks, and exemplars plus a new Preview to their best-selling 1999 book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre; Every Business a Stage. The book demonstrates how goods and services are no longer enough; what companies must offer today are experiences – memorable events that engage each customer in an inherently personal way. It further shows that in today’s Experience Economy companies now compete against the world for the time, attention, and money of individual customers. 

Bernd Schmitt

Bernd Schmitt is Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business and Faculty Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School in New York. He is widely recognized for his major contributions to branding, marketing, and new technologies through his unique focus on the customer experience and innovation. He has published in the major marketing journals and written nine books which have been translated into 25 languages, including, among others, Experiential Marketing, Customer Experience Management, Big Think Strategy and Happy Customers Everywhere. Schmitt has consulted and developed brand, experience and innovation strategies for clients in consumer packaged goods, automobile, electronics, software, financial services, pharmaceuticals, beauty and cosmetics, hospitality, and media industries.

Welcome to this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast! Aransas and Dave are joined today by Kylie Sachs, the owner of two thriving Milk Bar Cafes in Brooklyn, New York. Kylie’s café venture started in 2016 as a significant career and lifestyle change. Prior to making the switch to café/restaurant life, Kylie spent more than 20 years in management and finance at growing companies. Tune in to this episode as Aransas and Dave talk with Kylie about her “Team First” approach to running a business and how she achieves positive customer experiences.  You don’t want to miss this insightful episode! 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [01:30] Kylie’s life-changing career transition from working in  finance to owning and operating cafes.
• [06:00] The big surprises of running a business 
• [10:00] How Kylie redefined success for herself and engages her team.
• [15:00] How Kylie creates an outstanding experience for her employees with her “Team First” approach, which benefits not only her employees, but also her customers. 
• [20:00] Kylie describes the steps she takes to ensure her customers have a remarkable experience from the moment they approach the cafe
• [24:00] Instead of feeling like she must continually be innovative and creating something new, Kylie explains why she is solely focusing on where her business is now and perfecting that.  
• [27:19] Dave shares the research he’s done on the influence of trust and authenticity in relationship building between brand and consumers
• [30:00] How Kylie’s team has built strong relationships with their customers, extending to life outside of the cafe. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Kylie’s “Team First” approach with her employees has created happy employees who are equipped to provide customers with top-level service that keeps customers coming back. This approach has kept team members working there for years and former employees returning. Kylie and her employees have come to depend on each other and solve problems together. 
• The influence of integrity and consistency Kylie and her team have designed at Milk Bar is demonstrated in contented employees who connect with their customers, building a community within their neighborhood.
• Focusing on the simple elements of her business, Kylie has created a meaningful and trustworthy environment for employees and customers. Prioritizing reliable consistency and steadiness, making the cafe a part of customers’ daily lives.

Links Mentioned:

Milk Bar

BIO:  

In 2016, Kylie bought two cafes in Brooklyn and in 2017 built a third. They are neighborhood favorites, serving breakfast and lunch in lovely settings. As a result of Covid-19, she shuttered one of them; happily, the other two are operating and thriving through this challenging time. Kylie’s café venture started in 2016 as a significant career and lifestyle change.

Prior to making the switch to café/restaurant life, Kylie spent more than 20 years in management and finance, bringing together skills in financial leadership at growing companies. She has broad experience managing functions including finance & accounting, legal, human resources and investor relations. Specialties include business modeling, strategic planning and plan execution. She has significant industry experience in for-profit education and high transaction-oriented businesses.

From 2010 – 2015 Kylie was CFO at Frontier Payments, a leader in point-of-sale and dispatch technology for more than 10,000 taxi drivers across 40 cities. Under Kylie’s financial leadership, Frontier processed more than a half a billion dollars of transactions. From 2003 to 2010, as a venture capitalist at Ascend Ventures, Kylie focused primarily on the Education and Media sectors. 

Before joining Ascend, Kylie served in several operating and managerial roles at PRIMEDIA Inc. Prior to her tenure at PRIMEDIA, Kylie served as a Director of Corporate and Business Development at 360HipHop, a media company founded by Russell Simmons. Kylie also has a background in investment banking, having worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Peter J. Solomon Company. Kylie earned a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Welcome to this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast! Aransas and Dave are joined today by tech executive Liz Grausam, who shares her personal experience consolidating her finances. Managing personal finances has become an epic chore for many consumers. Big banks, burdened by outdated technology, aren’t making it easier for consumers to choose them in an increasingly competitive market. In this episode we look at the cost of tech debt on the customer experience, and ways businesses can use omni-channel experience strategies to create lasting loyalty.

In This Episode:

• [03:00] After Liz left her job, she felt it was imperative to investigate her own financial situation. Examining the variety of bank accounts she was using and consolidating those accounts to ensure efficiency, convenience and satisfaction.
• [05:11] When Liz had to navigate the digital experience with Merrill Lynch, she felt it was like travelling back in time, reflecting an archaic and arduous software.
• [08:34] What are robo-advisors? Liz explains what they were doing for her when she tried to consolidate all of her accounts into Merrill.
• [10:25] Which financial companies have the best robo-advisors? 
• [11:06] Liz’s positive digital experience consolidating her accounts with Fidelity. The overall usability and user-friendliness Fidelity provided to her.
• [18:39] Navigating Merrill Lynch’s systems between the lack of intuitive response from robo-advisors, to the challenges of speaking to an experienced advisor. 
• [23:00] Competitiveness between banks is contributing to providing customers with the  highest level of consumer experience.
• [25:00] The importance of channel strategy to building consumer relationships. 
• [26:03] Another issue with regards to Merrill Lynch and Bank of America’s poor customer experience is that they are most likely not using experience strategy to define their audiences.
• [28:11] The grade Dave gives Merrill Lynch based on Liz’s experience

Key Takeaways:

• Many well established companies are bogged down by legacy technology.
• The antiquated systems and poor digital customer experiences of these companies are pushing customers to pursue omni-channel solutions. 
• Competitiveness between banks is higher than it ever has been before. It’s crucial for those companies to learn how to keep customers and how to deepen their relationships. Banks have to be agile and customer focused in order to create loyalty. 
• It’s paramount that businesses use experience strategy to define their audiences, not just rely on marketing strategy. 
• Overall, online banks and financial institutions need to have a user centered and friendly experience that you can trust and feel confident using in order to be successful. Having good human interactions available as needed and the best technology is key to a great consumer experience. 

Bio:

Liz Grausam has spent her career analyzing and participating in the technology sector in a variety of ways.  She spent almost the first decade of her career on Wall Street as an equity research analyst, covering software and services stocks at Goldman Sachs. In 2008, her love of innovation and strategic problem solving drew her to work at Amdocs, one of the software firms she covered as an analyst. At Amdocs, Liz managed the Strategic Planning process for the company along with the Investor Relations program. With an itch to run a P&L, in 2015 Liz joined GLG, an early innovator in the expert network sector, to incubate their entry into the Tech Vertical after utilizing GLG’s service as a client.  During her tenure at GLG, she helped the company reinvent its service offerings for F500 companies, expanding the legacy offering tailored to the investment community into a robust B2B insights platform supporting strategic planning, innovation, and go-to-market activities at large companies. At GLG, she eventually became General Manager of the Corporate Markets business unit comprising the Tech, Consumer, Industrials and Life Sciences verticals.  Liz is currently on a professional sabbatical taking the spring and summer away from the grind and will be planning her next moves in the Fall of 2021.

Welcome to the Experience Strategy Podcast! Today we are shining a spotlight on Spotify. Spotify has completely transformed how we listen to music forever. Launched in 2008, Spotify has grown to have over 356 millions users and includes a free or premium membership to access exclusive features of music listening, offline access, and ad free listening experiences. Spotify has found a way to connect with consumers on a deep level of emotional response by noticing our likes and dislikes in music and even offering new suggestions for you to discover. Your hosts Aransas and Dave welcome guest Margaret Callcott to talk about her own personal experience using Spotify for herself and her family. Margaret holds a PhD in advertising and consumer behavior from The University of Texas and has a long career in TV and digital content development. Tune into this episode as we speak with Margaret about her user insights and understanding how Spotify creates meaningful experiences with consumers.

In This Episode:

• [02:31] Margaret’s background and start at HGTV, her main projects and goal to make sure that everyone in the family could enjoy the content
• [04:42] Margaret’s previous music listening experiences with Apple music, and Amazon’s Alexa echo. How they started using Spotify and what brought her and her family to continue using it
• [06:46] Spotify was an early adopter of AB testing and used that research to meet the needs across different generations in families as Margaret discovered on trips with her family
• [08:20] Margaret explains more about deciding to be a paying subscriber to Spotify and why that makes it worth the effort and commitment to create a really nice experience for all members of the family
• [11:00] How Spotify becomes personalized to you and your music preferences and how using it in your everyday life develops a connection to the music and feelings it gives you during that time
• [13:00] Spotify exposes you to new music that you wouldn’t normally listen to, but can guess based on your likes 
• [16:17] Aransas describes what Spotify has done for its consumers; collecting music, and giving ownership and making collections feel personal to them 
• [20:45] Dave talks about the term “Jobs to be Done” in Experience Strategy and how it’s used to approach consumers by assessing their needs and creating a solution
• [24:00] Music is used in everyday events in our lives and impacts us emotionally allowing us to feel and connect more deeply and how Spotify uses it’s services to facilitate those feelings

Key Takeaways:

• Early on, Spotify made it their mission to understand their customer and to create a product that provided a very satisfying experience and that’s a direct reflection of the fact that they did a lot of AB testing and user centered design. This helped them adapt and keep up with user needs  to focus on what was important to their customers. 
  
• Music gives humans a very emotional response to their everyday lives. Spotify has found a way to help their customers connect with music on an emotional level and also connect with other people by being able to share their playlists. Whether you need to destress, work, get ready for an event, or meditate, music is there to cultivate those modes. Spotify has done an excellent job at creating a meaningful experience for consumers with their music. 

Bio:

Margaret Callcott completed her PhD in Advertising and Consumer Behavior at the University of Texas, and was present at the creation of Home & Garden Television, the springboard to her career in television and digital content development for Scripps Networks and Discovery.  As our television viewing experience was transformed by a succession of digital innovations - including the Internet, the mobile phone and social media - Margaret developed a passion for consumer-driven insights and the creation of meaningful experiences in all the places where consumers interacted with their brands.   

In this episode, Aransas and Dave are joined by the experience strategy pioneers, Lou Carbone, Joe Pine, and Bernd Schmitt to take us back to the birth of Experience Strategy, Design and Marketing. In this episode we dig into the cultural and business forces that drove the experience revolution, explore how experience strategy has transformed business development, product design, and marketing, and discover what these pioneers predict is on the horizon.

In This Episode:

• [03:12] Lou Carbone talks about his career background in advertising [08:55] Aransas speaks with Bernd about creating and selling consumers an experience, not just a product,  while adding value to their lives
• [11:00] Experiential marketing to influence how people think, feel, act and relate to product features
• [17:27] Joe sharet how we enable differentiated experiences and how they adapt and change over time 
• [25:00] Lou digs deeper into the the influence ofconsumer’s environments [32:39] Joe speaks about the progression of economic value
• [34:10] Bernd explains more about the project/customer experience management framework. Focusing on how customers see things rationally, emotionally, and experientially and creating value-based experiential platforms
• [44:00] How experiences have changed from the early 2000’s digital revolution and how technology has been integrated into our daily lives. 

Key Takeaways:

• Many companies are bogged down by Industrial Age ideas that prioritize process over experience
  
• Goods and services are not enough anymore in this day in age- companies must emphasize the experience for their customers in order to create lasting relationships with consumers. Focusing on how customers feel and relate and how the business can help them with any pain points in their lives and solve any problems is key to creating a connection. 
• Fusionomics is the exploration of how consumer experience will continue to change with developing technology and how this integrates into our lives. How companies and businesses adapt and change to keep up with technology will be the key to creating a positive experience for consumers. 
  
• The future will belong to companies that create platforms integrating services, products, and meaningful experiences

Bio:

Lou Carbone

Lou Carbone is founder and CEO of Experience Engineering®, Inc.. Since the late 1980’s, Carbone has continuously been at the forefront of studying, exploring and developing value creation through experience management and is often referred to as the Godfather of Experience Management. He is recognized as a thought leader in the field as well as an experience management futurist, continuously innovative, hands-on academic/practitioner. He wrote the book “Clued In: How to keep customers coming back, again and again, published by FT Prentice Hall which won Fast Company’s Reader’s Choice Award. Lou originated the concept of Emotional and Unconscious Clue Based Experience Design and Total Experience Management® and a robust proprietary methodology and perspective called Experience Engineering®. 

Joe Pine

B. Joseph Pine II is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike. He is cofounder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. In 2020 Mr. Pine and his partner James H. Gilmore re-released in hardcover The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money with many new ideas, frameworks, and exemplars plus a new Preview to their best-selling 1999 book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre; Every Business a Stage. The book demonstrates how goods and services are no longer enough; what companies must offer today are experiences – memorable events that engage each customer in an inherently personal way. It further shows that in today’s Experience Economy companies now compete against the world for the time, attention, and money of individual customers. 

Bernd Schmitt

Bernd Schmitt is Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business and Faculty Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School in New York. He is widely recognized for his major contributions to branding, marketing, and new technologies through his unique focus on the customer experience and innovation. He has published in the major marketing journals and written nine books which have been translated into 25 languages, including, among others, Experiential Marketing, Customer Experience Management, Big Think Strategy and Happy Customers Everywhere. Schmitt has consulted and developed brand, experience and innovation strategies for clients in consumer packaged goods, automobile, electronics, software, financial services, pharmaceuticals, beauty and cosmetics, hospitality, and media industries.

Welcome to the Experience Strategy Podcast, the only podcast focused on the challenges of creating and executing an experience strategy.

In this debut episode, your hosts, Aransas Savas and Dave Norton welcome you to their new podcast. Aransas is a coach and Experience Designer who has worked with leading consumer brands for the last 20 years. Dave is an Experience Strategist and the founder of the Insights Consultancy, Stone Mantle and author. Listen in to learn a little more about Dave and Aransas and the ways this show is going to tap into smart consumers, small business owners and big business experts to understand what makes an impactful experience strategy. 

In This Episode:

• [01:00] Getting to know Dave and Aransas and how they met
• [04:18] Aransas’s start in theatre and her love for storytelling that led her to became interested in Experience Strategy
• [06:20] Dave’s PhD work and time at a design firm where he led design research 
• [08:00] The influence of Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore’s book, The Experience Economy[09:20] The thrill of redesigning a resort private island and cruise lines experience industry
• [11:27] The genesis of The Stone Mantel Collaborative
• [13:00] Stories of working with CocoaVia, Disney and the Smithsonian
• [15:00] Creating meaningful experience strategies in 2021
• [17:17] The goals of the Experience Strategy Podcast
• [20:00] How we will grade companies that we dig into on The Experience Strategy Podcast

Key Takeaways:

• There are hundreds of Customer Experience Podcasts out there, but this is the only one designed to help companies big and small design experience strategies that deepen brand relationships
• The show will feature small business owners, big names in experience strategy and smart consumers to create actionable impact 
• The hosts main hope for this podcast is to help a business think about things from the consumer’s standpoint. Questions like, Did the consumer feel like this was time well spent? Did they reach their target audience? What are different techniques that can be used? 

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Aransas Savas, Dave Norton, and Joe Pine discuss the evolution of the podcast, introduce new co-hosts, and explore the concept of experiential retail through the lens of Scheels, a successful retail store. You might have seen in The Washington Post that Scheels is conquering middle America. During a downturn and with tariffs on the way, how will people shop at retailers like Scheels. They emphasize the importance of community, trust, and contextual design in creating meaningful experiences for customers. The episode wraps up with key takeaways for strategists looking to enhance their experience strategies.

• The podcast has an additional co-host! Joe Pine

• The Washington Post did a great article about marketing experience retailer, Scheels.

• Scheels is a successful example of experiential retail.

• Experiential retail can drive sales for surrounding stores.

• Community involvement builds trust with customers.

• Charging for experiences can turn marketing into a profit center.

• Design experiences with the customer's context in mind.

• Companies that reinvest in communities earn sustainable trust.

• The importance of creating third places for community gathering.

• Experience strategies should focus on customer systems.

• Engaging in local experience excursions can provide valuable insights.

• This episode brought to you by The Experience Strategy Collaboratives. Enter to win a free one-person membership in the Collaboratives —a $35,000 value!

00:00 Welcome Back to Experience Strategy Podcast

03:22 Introducing the New Format and Co-Hosts

05:24 Exploring the Scheels Experience

11:01 The Importance of Context in Experience Design

18:06 Building Trust Through Community Engagement

21:11 Wrap-Up and Key Takeaways

In this episode, experience strategists Dave Norton and Aransas Savas speak with Blake Morgan, the “Queen of CX” and a leading futurist in customer experience, about her latest book and insights on the future of customer service. Blake explains why customer service levels are at historic lows despite post-COVID digital transformations and emphasizes the need for companies to remain customer-centric during economic uncertainty. She introduces her WAYS framework for building effective CX strategies and discusses the critical role of empathy and human connection in an AI-driven world. Additionally, Blake highlights the essential connection between employee experience and customer loyalty, showcasing how businesses like Trader Joe’s thrive by investing in their people. This episode offers invaluable insights for CX leaders and anyone passionate about fostering customer-centric cultures that endure.

To access transcripts to this episode, click here.

In this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast, we’re joined by George Barnett, strategy expert and author of The Strategy Toolkit, a newsletter that includes excerpts from his books on strategy, plus insights, analysis and strategy for the 21st century. We look at how business strategy has changed over the last 20 years and why customer experience is now so important for success. George shares stories from his work, showing how focusing on customer experience can help businesses grow and attract investors. Tune in to the episode as we discuss: 

• Why some common ways of measuring customer happiness might not work well

• How to use CX to attract investors 

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in making customer experiences better and ways to have a bigger impact on their company’s decision. 

For access to the transcripts to this episode, click here.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, podcast hosts, Dave Norton and Aransas Savas explore the rapidly evolving landscape of enterprise community building with Rich Millington, founder of FeverBee and a leading expert in community strategy. With nearly two decades of experience helping organizations build thriving communities for members, customers, and employees, Richard brings a wealth of knowledge from working with industry giants like Google, Facebook, Oracle, and Wikipedia. His insights challenge traditional notions of community management, advocating for supporting existing ecosystems rather than controlled forums, and offering practical strategies for mapping community landscapes and measuring real outcomes. Tune in to this episode for a fresh perspective on creating meaningful, collaborative experiences that drive genuine value for businesses and their stakeholders.

For access to the transcripts of this episode, click here. 

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, Sarah Dusek, an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, takes listeners on a journey through her remarkable career in experience-driven business. From founding the pioneering glamping company Under Canvas to her current venture in global regenerative travel, Sarah demonstrates how aligning personal passion with customer needs can create industry-shaping innovations. She shares valuable insights on the power of businesses to mold culture and drive positive change, emphasizing the importance of sustainability and community impact in experience design. Sarah's discussion of her upcoming book, "Thinking Bigger," offers a compelling perspective on women's empowerment in business and the significance of dreaming big when it comes to making an impact. Throughout the conversation, she provides experience strategists with practical advice on developing strong points of view, building conviction, and creating internal advocates for successful implementation. This episode is a masterclass in experience strategy, offering lessons on scaling innovative concepts, incorporating regenerative practices, and bridging the gap between visionary ideas and real-world execution.

To access the transcripts to this episode, click here.

In this episode, Experience Strategy Podcast hosts Aransas Savas and Dave Norton sit down with Brian Anderson, Director of National Outings at the legendary Sierra Club. With over 130 years of advocating for people, places, and the planet, Sierra Club has mastered the art of crafting transformational travel experiences that drive personal growth and global impact. Packed with insights on experience design, engagement strategy, and impact measurement, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to harness the power of transformational experiences. Tune in now and discover how Sierra Club is pioneering a new era of meaningful, impactful travel.

Click here for access to the transcripts of this episode

In the latest episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast, we’re dismantling traditional market segmentation and rebuilding it with the revolutionary concept of situational markets. Dave Norton, our experience futurist, gives us a sneak peak into his upcoming book that’s set to redefine how we create value. Joined by industry veteran John Gusiff, we discuss the power of jobs-to-be-done research, the limitations of demographic-based personas, and the critical importance of understanding evolving customer needs. From leveraging qualitative data to scale situational strategies, to anticipating your customers’ future selves, this episode is packed with game-changing ideas for forward-thinking experience strategists.

For access to the transcripts for the episode, click here.

In this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Dave Norton and Aransas Savas sit down with AR/VR trailblazers Spencer Cook from Continuum, and Bryan Searing of Stone Mantel to explore the transformative power of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in crafting captivating customer experiences. Fresh off the Experience Strategy Collaboratives program, where cutting-edge AR/VP concepts were tested with real customers, Spender and Bryan share exclusive insights ad real-world case studies that demonstrate the immense potential of these technologies in driving business growth.

Tune in and gain:

• Actionable strategies for leveraging AR/VR to create immersive, memorable customer experiences

• A deep understanding of how AR/VR are reshaping the future of experience design and marketing

• Practical takeaways and best practices for successfully integrating AR/VR into your organization’s strategy.

To access the transcripts to this episode, click here.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, we are joined by special guest Steve Usher, founder and host of The Experience Designers Podcast. We go deep into the core principles that drive success in experience strategy across both customer and employee offers. We challenge the status quo, pushing beyond played-out persona-based segmentation to explore the untapped potential of situational markets and context. Tune into this episode. It’s time to zoom out, see the big picture, and take full responsibility for executing on the complete job to be done.

For access to the transcripts to this episode, click here.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Aransas Savas, Joe Pine, and Dave Norton discuss the intersection of aging and technology, particularly focusing on how technology can be designed to support cognitive health as we age. They reflect on a personal article by Robert Fabricant in Fast Company that challenges the current approach to technology for the aging population, advocating for ambient adaptive technology that promotes dignity and agency. The conversation explores the need for AI design that accommodates cognitive decline, the importance of contextual awareness in technology, and the potential for transformational technology to enhance the quality of life for older adults.

This podcast is brought to by Feedback Now, the world’s best solution for real-time feedback.

Takeaways:

• AI Technology should be designed for aging well.

• Cognitive decline requires specific support.

• Adaptive technology can enhance dignity in aging.

• Ideally AI should passively support people in cognitive decline

• Contextual awareness can improve how people engage with tool.

• Designing for accessibility benefits everyone.

• Transformational technology can maintain cognitive function.

• Data can empower users to understand their health better.

• The future of technology lies in integration with life systems.

Chapters”

00:00 Introduction to the Experience Strategy Podcast

01:17 Reflections on Aging and Technology

04:12 The Role of Adaptive Technology

12:03 Contextual Experience Design

15:52 Superpowers and Cognitive Support

20:39 The Future of Health Technology

23:54 Designing for Resilience vs. Performance

Read More:

https://www.fastcompany.com/91350804/why-im-wishing-for-different-technology-on-fathers-day

Register for a free pilot program with Feedback Now

https://marketing-info.feedbacknow.com/free-pilot

Learn more about Stone Mantel

https://www.stonemantel.co

Sign up for the Experience Strategist Substack here:

In this episode, we jam with Neely Adkins and Kailey Savona from the RecogNATION Podcast. As fellow experience nerds focused on the employee side, we discuss the importance of celebrating milestones and micro-moments in the employee journey, emphasizing how vital it is to make every employee feel valued, connected, and heard. The key takeaway? In a world of increasing AI and automation, empathy and human connection will be true differentiators, and as experience strategists, our role is to champion and scale those human-centric cultures. 

To access transcripts to this episode, click here.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. David Willows and Suzette Parlevliet, co-founders of [YELLOW CAR], the world’s leading experience strategy and consultancy firm for schools. David and Suzette share their insights on transforming education through the lens of experience strategy, discussing the unique challenges and opportunities in the international school landscape. They introduce the Felt Experience Indicator, a tool developed by [YELLOW CAR] to help schools measure and understand the experience of their community members, fostering a culture of listening, feedback, and continuous improvement. With their diverse backgrounds and dedication to making experience strategy accessible to schools worldwide, David and Suzette are committed to helping educational institutions align mission, experience, and impact, ultimately redefining success and creating meaningful value propositions that resonate with their target audiences. 

For access to the transcripts of this episode, click here.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, we’re joined by Brian Edwards. VP of Membership at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), to explore the unique challenges and opportunities of applying customer experience strategy within associations and membership-based organizations. Brian shares his insights on establishing common ground around the mission to navigate the complex governance structures, developing a segmentation approach that honors members’ needs at different stages, looking outside the association space for inspiration on retaining members and driving satisfaction, and using experience management frameworks to prioritize initiatives and focus on core competencies. With his extensive background in customer experience and operations leadership, primarily in the healthcare industry, Brian brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for continuously improving the experiences of those around him.

For access to this episode's transcripts, please click here.

In this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast, we are thrilled to chat with Victor Chapela, co-founder and CEO of Suggestic, who shared how they are leveraging AI and data to dramatically rethink the intersection of lifestyle journeys and wellness. Tune in to this episode for Victor’s key insights: 

• Focusing on what people can do realistically do vs. what they should do to minimize friction

• Tapping into extrinsic motivation by allowing people to share progress.

• Using AI interfaces like LLMs as a universal UI to collect data, model behaviors, and provide personalized guidance. 

• The power of making something extremely difficult much easier to drive adoption and impact. 

This conversation exemplifies the importance of centering journeys on an individual’s unique goals and solutions, and provides a valuable model for using AI responsibly to enable personalized behavior change - leaving us energized about the implications for experience strategy across different industries.

To access the transcripts to this episode, click here.

Today we are revisiting our talk with Amy Shore, Chief Customer Officer of Nationwide Insurance, about how to lead CX transformation and drive customer-centric leadership. In this episode we look at Amy’s mission to transform Nationwide Insurance into a truly customer-centric organization. Tune in as Amy walks us through the 3 key stages of this transformation. 

To access the transcripts to this episode, click here.

In today’s episode, we had the privilege of speaking with Thales Teixeira, a leading expert on customer-focused innovation. Thales is the co-founder of Decoupling and the author of “Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption” 

Our discussion with Thales is a succinct masterclass in unlocking customer value by focusing on what matters most - money, time, and effort. We discussed how disruptive startups gain traction by decoupling and excelling at key value-creating activities while avoiding “value eroders” that waste customers’ precious currencies. Thales brought this concept to life by breaking down companies like Netflix eliminating the hassle of going to the video store, and Alibaba layering on services like payments to make shopping smoother. Whether an innovative startup or an established organization, prioritizing your roadmap to remove friction and create more time well spent is crucial for delighting your customers and staying ahead of disruptors.

To access the transcripts for this episode, click here.

Dr. Natalie Petouhoff is the author of the award-winning WSJ best-selling book Empathy in Action. She guides brands to see empathy as a business construct that helps them reduce costs and increase value because they are delivering great customer and employee experiences. 

In this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast, we explore the transformative power of empathy and its crucial role in shaping exceptional experiences for employees and customers. 

Check out Dr. Petouhoff’s book here. To dive deeper into the world of creating memorable experiences that drive customer loyalty and growth, follow Joe Pine and read his groundbreaking book, The Experience Economy. 

To access the transcripts for this episode, click here.

In this episode, we are joined by resilience expert, Simon T. Bailey, who launched his career at The Disney Institute. Listen to the episode to learn: 

• The importance of transitioning from ego-driven to eco-conscious leadership

• Practical strategies for building trust and fostering innovation in today’s organizations

• How to create environments where employees can thrive and customers feel valued. 

Tune in now to enhance your leadership skills and transform your organization. For access to the transcripts to the episode, click here.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, we are joined by Lee Roquet, the CEO of Finch, e-commerce marketing company. We talk about

• What Lee has learned in the shift from Chief Customer Officer roles to CEO roles- and what he now wishes every experience strategist knew. 

• How to lead companies with an experience mindset

• How to lead teams with a people-first approach.

Don’t miss this powerful and inspiring conversation! For access to the transcripts to the episode, click here. 

Tune in to this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, featuring Craig Langlois, Equity of Learning District Data Coordinator for Berkshire Public Schools, to peek at the challenges and opportunities our public school systems face when creating experiences. Alongside guest host Mary Putman we look at how a well crafted experience strategy can make all the difference in bridging the gaps between creativity, innovation, and education.

Click here, to access the transcripts to this episode. 

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Aransas Savas, Joe Pine, and Dave Norton discuss Airbnb's recent rebranding and its shift from a focus solely on home bookings to a more holistic approach that includes services and experiences. They explore the implications of this transformation for the travel industry, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, operational platforms, and the experience economy. The conversation highlights the potential for Airbnb to create unique, transformative travel experiences that resonate with customers' desires for connection and personal growth.

Takeaways

• Airbnb is evolving from just home bookings to offering services and experiences.

• Transformative travel is about creating lasting changes in identity and aspirations.

• Airbnb's operational platform can help travelers manage their entire itinerary.

• Authenticity in travel experiences is key to perceived value.

• Experience stacking allows for unique offerings that enhance customer engagement.

• The shift from a sharing economy to an experience economy is crucial for value creation.

• Vetting experiences builds trust and enhances customer satisfaction.

• Airbnb's community aspect deepens the travel experience.

• The future of travel will focus on personalized and bespoke experiences.

• Airbnb's approach could raise the standard for the entire travel industry.

Chapters

00:00 The Evolution of Airbnb: A New Era in Travel
03:24 Transformative Experiences: Beyond Just Stays
06:16 Operational Platforms: The Future of Travel Itineraries
09:12 Authenticity in Travel: The Airbnb Advantage
14:50 The Shift from Sharing to Experience Economy
17:33 Creating Value Through Experiences
20:34 The Role of Trust and Vetting in In Destination Experiences
23:27 The Future of Airbnb and the Experience Economy

Read More:

https://news.airbnb.com

Register for a free pilot program with Feedback Now

https://marketing-info.feedbacknow.com/free-pilot

Register for the free membership in the Collaboratives here:

https://www.thecollaboratives.com/contest

Sign up for the Experience Strategist Substack here:

In this episode, Sherif Mityas, a trailblazing leader at the helm of a conglomerate encompassing 57 distinctive restaurant chains, delves into the pivotal role of distinct value propositions and shared services in shaping the future of dining experiences. Highlighting the shift from convenience to a deeper focus on creating unparalleled experiences, Sherif explains how guest-centered leadership, blended with emotion, vision, and lots of data becomes a powerful recipe for innovation, personalization at scale, and business growth. This conversation offers a fascinating glimpse into the evolving restaurant industry, where technology meets nostalgia.

Learn more about industry trends in our 2024 Experience Strategy Trend Report.

Click here, to access the transcripts to the conversation with Sherif. 

If you’re a fan of the Experience Strategy Podcast then you’re familiar with the idea of time well spent- in today’s episode Alain Hunkins author of CRACKING THE LEADERSHIP CODE who has more than 20 years in leadership training, adult learning and organizational development, is joining us to explore what time well spent looks like specifically in the employee experience - and how leaders can ensure that the time employees spend at work is valuable.

For the full transcript of today's discussion with Alain, click here.

The cultural and economic forces influencing your customer in 2024 will have a lasting impact on your experience strategy. Join Dave Norton, Experience Strategy Futurist, and Aransas Savas, lead researcher for our Trend Report, for insights and guidance from our decade-long study into customer behavior and mindsets.

This episode isn’t just a glance at trends; it’s a deep dive into the interconnected tapestry shaping the future of your strategy. In this episode, we dissect the value of time versus money, the paradoxical impact of technology on time scarcity, the evolution of smart homes, and the prevalent loneliness amidst reduced physical interactions. But here’s the kicker – beyond just trends, we discuss the critical need for businesses to transcend superficial personalization. Discover how to authentically align experiences with customer desires and behaviors. Tune in for a roadmap to adapt, thrive, and craft winning experience strategies amid the rapidly evolving landscape.

In this episode, we’re joined by Will Kingston, Customer Strategy Consultant at Acquis Cortico-X and Podcast Host for The Spectator Australia. Together, we explore Will’s CX Manifesto and global CX trends, and make predictions on what’s coming in the upcoming 2024 CX landscape. Throughout our discussion, we emphasize how vital it is to set clear expectations, deliver on promises, and enhance customer performance – to build the foundation of a successful experience, trust. 

Today, we sat down with Joseph Michelli to explore the unprecedented challenges businesses face today, with customer satisfaction at a 17-year low despite the growing emphasis on customer experience. Listen in to learn actionable insights for experience strategists and business owners, including a clear roadmap to navigating these volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) times. Discover how to build trust, exceed customer expectations, and create lasting loyalty by crafting exceptional customer journeys, adapting to multiple possible futures, and simplifying your channel strategy for maximum impact.

Amy Shore spent most of her career in Sales and Operations. Three years ago she became the Chief Customer Officer of Nationwide Insurance with a mission to transform it into a truly customer-centric organization. In this episode, Amy will walk us through the 3 key stages of this transformation.

In this enlightening episode, we dive into the world of data ethics and user trust with our special guests, Andy and Michael Madson. With extensive expertise in data experience design, healthcare, finance, and user experience, they shed light on the critical aspects of clear data communication and empathic listening to counter the darker implications of data usage. Together, we explore strategies for democratizing data literacy and simplifying complex data concepts to ensure transparency and trustworthiness. As we navigate the complexities of data ethics in an era dominated by artificial intelligence, you’ll gain valuable insights into how to combat the dark side of data experience design and pave the way for a more trustworthy and responsible data-driven future.

Are you ready to elevate your business success by harnessing the power of collaboration?

In this episode, we sat down with Rich Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations to understand how he has driven Menlo Innovations to success through teamwork and innovation. Tune in to this episode to discover:

• Actionable strategies to transform your workplace into a hub of teamwork and innovation.

• Insight into Menlo Innovations’ collaborative approach and how you can apply similar principles to boost efficiency, quality, and innovation within your workplace.

• Real-world examples of successful collaboration across various industries.

Check out our blog for more ways to improve the impact of your experience strategy for your customer and company.

Satyam Kantamneni is Managing Partner and Chief Experience Officer of UXReactor, former  Managing Director of Product Design at Citrix and PayPal. He is the author of “User Experience Design: A Practical Playbook to Fuel Business Growth.” In this conversation, we talk to Satyam about AI as a force multiplier for companies who understand their customers’ needs.

Key Takeaways:

• Just because you can use technology to solve a problem, doesn’t mean you should. Instead use the technology or process that best addresses the problem.

• There are two types of companies: the ones that know their customer’s needs and the ones who are adopting technology.

• The valuable AI tools will give people superpowers, not replace them

• Yesterday’s delight is today’s expectation.

Companies with large sales forces are now building CX in an increasingly digital world: B-B selling today is less about personal relationships and more about value creation. As buyers evolve towards more digital interchanges they still want knowledgeable customer support to create the most value at each stage of the buyers’ journey. In this episode, we are joined by Kellie Glueck to hear how Kimberly-Clark Professional has adapted to customer and market changes to make CX a central aspect of its business-to-business model with customers.

In this episode of the Experience Strategy Podcast, hosts Aransas Savas, Dave Norton, and Joe Pine discuss fashion group Zara's innovative travel mode, which allows users to shop for products while traveling. They explore the concept of 'modes'—temporary mindsets and behaviors that influence customer experiences—and how Zara's travel mode can enhance customer engagement. The conversation delves into the importance of context, opportunities for improvement, and the potential for community building through social media. The hosts emphasize the dynamic nature of modes and the need for behavioral science to further explore this concept.

Takeaways

• Zara's travel mode allows shopping while traveling.

• Modes are temporary mindsets that influence behavior.

• Travel mode operates without internet access, enhancing usability.

• Anticipating customer context is crucial for effective modes.

• Supporting customer modes can create more buying opportunities.

• Zara's travel mode is a key conversion strategy.

• Leveraging community and social media can enhance customer experience.

• Zara should focus on its strengths in fashion.

• Behavioral science should study modes more extensively.

• The dynamic nature of modes offers opportunities for brands.

Chapters

00:00Exploring Zara's Travel Mode Initiative

06:01Understanding Human Modes vs. Technology Modes

08:45The Importance of Context in Customer Experience

14:49Evaluating the Effectiveness of Zara's App Features

17:43Leveraging Community and Social Media for Engagement

20:47The Role of Behavioral Science in Understanding Modes

26:46Future Directions and Listener Engagement

Do you want to excel through the stories you tell, but find yourself struggling to clarify your message and impact? Our guest today is Park Howell, known as The World’s Most Industrious Storyteller for his track record of growing purpose-driven brands by using the power of story. Listen to learn:

• Why stories are the most direct route to empathy

• How to make your customer the hero of your story

• How to use the ancient ABT (AND, BUT, and THEREFORE) Framework to cast a spell with your story.

Learn more about Park and his work at https://businessofstory.com/

• He also hosts the popular weekly Business of Story podcast, is the author of Brand Bewitchery, and co-author of The Narrative Gym for Business. 

• He joins us today to share one of his most well-knkown frameworks: The ABT framework. AKA AND, BUT and THEREFORE.

• Let’s go back to the beginning. What prompted you to look for this framework?

Want to deliver a more seamless patient experience but are challenged by organizational silos? In this episode you’ll learn how to get the research, partnerships, and innovation processes you need, so you can compete more effectively.

We are joined by Tiffany Mura, the Strategic Lead, Healthcare for Stone Mantel where she focuses on growing the practice and helping healthcare clients create transformational experiences for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. With almost 20 years’ experience across all key healthcare sectors - from life sciences to health insurance to digital/non-traditional -  Tiffany brings a cross-industry perspective and deep knowledge of the space to help clients tackle the most challenging problems facing healthcare today. She has worked on both the agency and the client side, giving her a first-hand understanding of the internal corporate challenges clients face when trying to drive innovation and effect transformative change.

Tiffany shares emerging trends, resources, and game-changing frameworks for succeeding in the competitive Healthcare industry.

Connect with Tiffany:

Email: tiffanymura@stonemantel.co

LinkedIn:llinkedin.com/in/tiffanymura

Wondering how to succeed in a subscription business? In this episode, you’ll hear from the authority in subscription business models. You’ll learn how to identify the long and short-term problems that your customer most needs your support with, the cost value of meeting those needs with your product or experience, and the impact that subscriptions can have on your customer’s experience, so you can provide continuous value with a forever transaction. 

Robbie Kellman Baxter is a consultant, instructor, author and speaker. She wrote two bestselling books The Membership Economy and The Forever Transaction, hosts the podcast Subscription Stories, and has developed ten courses for LinkedIn Learning. Robbie has more than 20 years’ experience providing strategic business advice to major organizations, including Netflix, Microsoft and the Wall Street Journal. She has been focused on subscription and membership models for the past twenty years. She earned her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and she graduated with honors from Harvard College. You can find more about Robbie on her website https://robbiekellmanbaxter.com/ 

Whether you are creating, managing, or simply using subscriptions, you don’t want to miss this eye-opening episode!

Do you want to have more impact as an experienced strategist? In this episode, you’ll learn how to drive more revenue, value, and customer satisfaction, so that you can have a greater impact for your company.

Each year we analyze millions of data points and conduct hundreds of customer and experience strategist interviews in order to understand the biggest challenges facing customers and companies. We then connect solution-oriented teams in a year-long research and innovation journey to research and launch innovative, paradigm-shifting solutions that drive greater impact for companies and their customers. We divide teams into tracks based on the most urgent and important problems each individual company has to solve in the year ahead. We are thrilled to announce our five 2023/2024 collaborative tracks:

• How to create a nimble experience in uncertain times

• How to drive impactful innovation for Healthcare

• How to become a digital experience company

• How to use behavior change to sustain impact for transformations

• How to create meaningful employee experiences

In this episode, you’ll hear Experience Strategy co-hosts, Dave Norton, and Aransas Savas unpack some of the biggest and most urgent problems experience strategists are facing right now, along with research and strategies for addressing them. You definitely don’t want to miss this episode!

Today we are joined by Dr. Paul Zak, professor of economics, psychology, and management His work has been ground breaking in the academic, public, business and healthcare settings. In his new book, Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness, Paul shares a scientific formula for consistently creating extraordinary experiences. Experience Strategists: You don’t want to miss this episode! It will change the way you create and measure experiences- and help you have infinitely more impact for your customer and company.

Dutta Satadip is the Chief Customer Officer at ActiveCampaign, former Global Head of Customer Operations at Pinterest, and Director of Customer Success for the Americas region at Google. Today he joins us on The Experience Strategy Podcast to share his predictions for the future of digital experience strategies and the role AI should play in customer experience in our roadmaps.

Tune in to learn the three phases of data design for CX

1. Understand the customer context

2. Automate based on context

3. Use that to predict your customers’ needs

While we won’t get it right for every customer every time, Hear how companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Google use AI-assisted data to be more right more of the time.

Experience strategists are navigating increasingly complex decisions. Customer journeys are increasingly complex, channels are proliferating, expectations continue to rise, and data is abundant. How do we help our companies make the best decisions about how and where to spend money? 

Craig Lutz is uniquely well positioned to help us answer this question. Craig has been a data scientist and researcher at Qualtrics since 2007 where he has conducted thousands of conjoint analysis projects with Qualtrics. He is also the designer of Qualtrics' conjoint analysis DIY technology, the author of Exploring Conjoint Analysis and a prominent thought leader on innovative quantitative research methods. We are thrilled to announce that he also recently joined our team at Stone Mantel as Conjoint Advisor!

In this episode, Dave and Aransas talk to Craig about how he helps teams like Google, Goldman Sachs, Uber and others make the decisions that really matter for customers, based on powerful analytics and what shifts when companies understand that time really is money.

You’ll hear:

• How Conjoint analysis can be used to get underneath what customers really care about and how it can be used to predict and change behavior

• How Uber used these tools to design a radical new rider loyalty program

• How Google: uses Max Diff to predict how customers will spend money

• How Goldman Sachs used it to inform their employees experience by optimizing their benefit packages - and tailoring them to each individual office in ways that saved money while increasing real and perceived value

• How conjoint could be a really groundbreaking understanding how and where customers spend their precious time 

• How Max Diff relates to Clayton Christensen’s  Jobs to Be Done Theory 

Check out the Experience Strategy Trend Report for more information on how to bring the power of context to your customer insight portfolio https://www.stonemantel.co/trendsreport