Posted on 7 September 2010 by Hurol No Comments

BOOK REVIEW: Do you matter?

Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company

Why is it that millions of people would fall into deep depression if Apple closed its doors tomorrow – yet barely notice if most of the other brands they buy on a regular basis disappeared in a puff of smoke?

The answer to this question is the central theme of “Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company”, by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery.

So why would there be universal outrage if Apple shut up shop? Brunner and Stewart argue it’s because Apple matters. And why does Apple matter? Because everything about the customer experience is designed to make customers fall in love with everything about Apple. Not just the end products, as impressive as they are.

The whole experience, from walking into an Apple store to opening up the packaging at home to using the gadgets themselves – it’s all designed to win your heart as well as your mind. And as anyone who’s ever fallen in love knows only too well, once your heart has been truly won, you’re a gonna. You’ll remain faithful through thick and thin, put up with a few annoying habits and think nothing of paying a little extra – because you care. A lot.

Okay, so the book says that Apple is a successful brand because it does a whole load of things to make people love it. But is that really anything new? Maybe not. But here’s what’s interesting: if everyone knows that the way to a customer’s pocket is through his or her heart, how come hardly anyone’s doing it?

The authors admit that many brands try from time to time to provide a complete, end to end customer experience. Where they fail is in not keeping up the good work. The small handful of brands that are doing it right – Apple, Ikea, BMW – consistently focus on the “customer experience supply chain”, strengthening the relationship they have with their customers at every single opportunity. The result? A bond so strong no other brand stands a chance.

Well, if you didn’t punch the air when you read the question, “Do you matter?”, while shouting out loud an unequivocal “Yes!”, it might not be a bad idea. As the authors say, “Businesspeople must understand how to design the customer experience or be laid to rest in the graveyard of irrelevance.” Or put another way, “Design or die.” Ouch. Happy reading.

Visit the Do You Matter? website