I found this on Digg a few weeks ago and thought it’s a great example of what I’m referring to. Recently Dominos started aggressive marketing campaigns for a new product of theirs called the Dominos Pasta Bread Bowl (on a side note, I’m a bit of a health nut and looking at this things makes me feel uneasy, but that’s beside the point). I’m sure you have all seen commercials or ads for this new bread bowl, if not, let me remind you what this so called food item looks like…according to Dominos.
mmmm delicious right?
So this product looks great after it’s been photoshoped, air-brushed, and perfected to bits. But, what does this thing actually look like when you order it?
Well here’s what a Dominos customer received when he ordered his “bread bowl”
Remember that movie “the blob?” that’s all I’m going to say…
Does every Dominos bread bowl look like this? I sure as heck hope not.
So what’s the point of all of this?
Oftentimes when we create a product or service we look at it through color corrected and perfected eyes, aka the eyes of the company. What we see and experience and what a customers sees and experiences can be two very different things. This is a problem for obvious reasons. Whether you’re a consultant or work for a fortune 100 company you have to remember to look at things from the point of view of the customer. The problem you THINK you are solving or the service you THINK you are providing may not actually be the same one that the customer sees.
Applying this directly to social media, this means asking your customers what they want and where they exist before you begin creating a social media campaign. If you start joining twitter and facebook just so that you can send out discount offers to your product then you might think you’re giving your customers something great, but guess what, from the customers point of view, you’re giving them a whole lot of nothing.
Have any other examples? What are your thoughts on this?
Ouch. Just when you thought Domino's couldn't suffer another set back? They pull this garbage? Ridiculous.
ya seriously, ah well what can you do. thanks for the comment as usual man and hope the new gig is going well!
The Blob! or how about “The Stuff”?
It's so true.. and this is a great example of a physical product, but services are no different.
Making sure that you deliver what they expect is crucial…. it's the ole “over-deliver” cliche…
cliche or not, it's true.
Thanks for finding “The Blob” for us… it was a great laugh in the office.
Matt
whatever you want to call it…it’s weird and not something I would eat!
elll that does not look gud
elll that does not look gud
Lol I had one of those yesterday and it looked just like the picture
For one thing…Domino's does not put “AMERICAN” cheese on their breadbowl pastas…so this is an outright lie unless you ordered that American cheese on top!!!???
I had one of these the other day. I kid you not it looked like they took it straight out of that picture and delivered it to me. Let me tell you that was delicious too. Seems like the Domino's in that area is horrible.
That actually looks delicious. Unlike the standard bread bowl in the picture, this one actually looks like you get more for your money. I’d happily have a breadbowl like this every time I order. I order extra alfredo sauce for no extra charge (as least where I’m at) all the time, but this would be a generous treat. One that the bread could actually be ripped and dipped in. Call me a glutton, call me what you will, but more the merrier.