January 29, 2005

Apple’s post-purchase branding

This is only the second time I’ve bought some­thing from Apple, and the first time I’ve bought some­thing from them online. And I must say, they need to work on their post-​purchase branding.

I’m not a mar­keter, so that might not be the right term. I’m talk­ing about the inter­val between when I plunk down my credit card, and when the thing arrives at my door.

We know that Apple’s pack­ag­ing and prod­uct design is lick-​a-​licious.

And if you have a prob­lem after you’ve gotten your new prod­uct, and happen to live near an Apple Store, you can avail your­self of the Geniuses.

But in that expec­tant time after I’ve paid my hard-​earned cash, and I’m wait­ing for this great pack­age to show up after my door, Apple’s got some problems.

First off, let’s talk graphic design. What’s this… Times New Roman? Large and ugly… how’d that sneak into the Apple visual identity?

apple.status.thumb.012805.gif

Then take the e-mail com­mu­ni­ca­tion I got from Apple. I got the stan­dard, text-​based, invoice of what prod­uct I ordered includ­ing the var­i­ous build-​to-​order options, price, order number, etc. No prob­lems there. But how about a follow-​up note with a little pizzaz?

Maybe check your cus­tomer data­base and see if I’m a new Mac buyer… if so send me some­thing about join­ing the Mac com­mu­nity, and won­der­ful life that’ll be spyware-​free. Or if I’m a return­ing cus­tomer, why not rein­force my inter­est and com­mit­ment to the brand?

Once my iMac finally shipped, I got a sim­i­lar text-​based invoice, order number, expected deliv­ery date, note.

No prob­lems with that, but again why not follow up and have Apple’s servers tie in with the pack­age track­ing system and send me a note when­ever it’s status changes. Some­thing like “4 days till the com­puter of your dreams arrives.” (I’m not a mar­keter, don’t ask me to write ad copy :-) ).

The point is, Apple does a great job build­ing excite­ment around its prod­ucts. Once you’ve pur­chased one, they should help rein­force that excite­ment in the customer.

Make each user think that when their FedEx box arrives, it’s a moment as mem­o­rable as when Steve lifted the bag off the first Mac.

Filed under: Business,Technology,Web design

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