Kerry Bodine, Author at Bodine & Co.

Your Brand Is An External Expression Of Your Corporate Culture

Oct. 7, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

Who in your company talks about your corporate brand? My guess is that it’s only the marketing folks. In far too many organizations, I see people in roles like customer service, operations, and finance who view the brand as an elusive concept — one seemingly (and thankfully) controlled by the CMO and ad agency execs. (Read More...)

My Head Just Exploded: Capital One Acquires Adaptive Path

Oct. 6, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

It’s not often I hear news that makes me scratch my head for hours on end. But Adaptive Path’s announcement last week that they’ve sold to Capital One really got my wheels turning. Even Jesse James Garrett, Adaptive Path’s Chief Creative Officer, admits that the match is a weird one. Here’s what’s rolling around in (Read More...)

How Loyalty Program Earning Schemes Impact Customer Perceptions

Sep. 29, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

Loyalty programs have gotten increasingly complex in recent years. As companies fight for share of wallet, simple sandwich punch cards have been replaced with complex point earning schemes, tiers of status upgrades, and labyrinths of prize redemption. The result is that loyalty programs have grown as a proportion of the overall interactions a customer has (Read More...)

The Connection Between Loyalty Programs & Customer Experience

Sep. 12, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

Over the years, I’ve talked a lot about customer loyalty — the type of behavior that results from great customer experiences and drives additional revenue through repeat purchases and word of mouth. What I haven’t talked about so much are loyalty programs — initiatives that are specifically created to encourage repeat business. Loyalty programs and (Read More...)

Experiences That Matter: A Focus on Enjoyability

Aug. 14, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

Earlier this summer I flew from San Francisco to Tokyo with an upgrade from economy to business class. I was excited about my flat-bed seat and the nice snooze I’d be able to take as we crossed the Pacific. But I was even more excited about the opportunity to order the Japanese in-flight dinner, which (Read More...)

Once Again, It’s Time For SXSW Voting!

Aug. 8, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

I’ve submitted two really fun sessions for SXSW 2015. The first, It’s Time To Design Better Smartwatch Interfaces, will share the results of a wearables research study that I’m collaborating on with the talented folks at AnswerLab. The second, How Kids Changed The Way We Design For Adults, is based on the amazing design work (Read More...)

Experiences That Matter: A Focus on Easiness

July 25, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

In a recent post, I presented the first of three core pillars of great customer experiences: usefulness. In short, customers spend money because they’re trying to get something done — a job, a task, a goal — and companies must focus on providing that utility. But while being useful is essential, it’s not sufficient. In (Read More...)

Q&A About Brand, Marketing, & Customer Experience

July 16, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

Last week I did a webinar with the fine folks at the Society of Digital Agencies about the disconnect among brand, marketing, and customer experience (CX) that exists in many organizations. My advice to the attendees, who were (unsurprisingly) mostly from digital agencies, was to strive to connect the marketing promises that they create with (Read More...)

Experiences That Matter: A Focus on Usefulness

July 7, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

In 1995, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (DoT) commissioned a Penn State professor to understand how the state’s residents perceived the organization and to identify the drivers of residents’ satisfaction. The results were interesting, if not terribly surprising. It didn’t matter how friendly the state’s workers were or how easy it was to get in (Read More...)

Ignite A Customer-Centric Culture With Customer Insights

June 20, 2014 by Kerry Bodine

If you read my last post, you understand the importance of supplementing quantitative customer data with insights gleaned through interviews and observational research. But as shocking as this might sound, deep customer insights aren’t the ultimate objective. Your real aim is to deliver a customer experience that drives customer loyalty, revenue, and cost savings. And (Read More...)