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Zia Zareem-Slade's Blog

WOW marketing: The difference cultural values can make.

Fancy  hitting $1 billion in gross merchandise sales despite what’s going on in the economy? Or how about debuting at #23 on the FORTUNE Magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies To Work For’ list? If either of these sound interesting to you, then ask yourself what are your company’s core cultural values?

Is your first thought about where you might find them? In the employee handbook perhaps? Afraid not.

Zappos have achieved great success in their 10 year existence,  not only financially but also by creating a company that is much loved by their customers –  all 10 million of them that is! So loved are they, that on any given day circa 75% of their orders are from repeat customers. Impressive to say the least but at the heart of this success are their core cultural values – that they clearly apply:

-  deliver WOW through service 
-  embrace and drive change
-  create fun and a little weirdness 
-  be adventurous, creative, and open-minded
-  pursue growth and learning
-  build open and honest relationships with communication
-  build a positive team and family spirit 
-  do more with less
-  be passionate and determined 
-  be humble

At this time of economic turmoil are you and your organisations focusing in on what will drive both short term and long term relationships with your customers?

If you’re still looking for that list of cultural values then one would presume not….

Customer Testimonials_1239097941029

Source: Latest edition of Contagious

Comments

 

Topics about Merchandise » Archive » WOW marketing: The difference cultural values can make. said:

April 7, 2009 13:22
 

dean.wilson said:

I'm becoming increasingly convinced by the example set by brands such as Zappos, Google, Asos... that a clearly defined and easily expressed set of values or principles is a must have.

I also believe it's not enough to simply repurpose the brand values, though there is and obvious correlation between the two. Actually, I think I would go as far as to say what we are seeing in such examples is an evolution of brand values.

Brands should use their personality or values as a start point but then expand on these to set expectations, help guide the response to customer needs and promote the continuous development of products and services. In a way I think the values of brands like Zappos exist in a sweet-spot between marketing communications and what we tend to refer to as 'user experience'. There is so much more to the total customer experience than what brands say in their advertising and how well the forms are designed on the website.

The example of Zappos is also noteworthy because it also serves to demonstrate how the cultural values of the brand serve as rallying point for employees, and in the case of Zappos, help empower them to act as individuals in the interests of customers while further building on the brand. This is something further highlighted in their recruitment process - Zappos offers to pay candidates $2,000 at the end of the recruitment process to quit (see http://tinyurl.com/cm2qg5).

June 12, 2009 10:07
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