Blog 3 - Customer Experience

The world of marketing is transitioning from one of pure selling to being focused on individual customer experiences. By creating valuable customer experiences a company is building a database of loyal customers who will pay a premium price for the company’s service or product. Creating the right environment and setting further drives a company’s brand and value position.
When on-line match services introduced themselves to society most people were too apprehensive to test the sites. People wondered if they would actually find love and what kind of people would actually use such a service. On average, customers believed that a dating service was used for a depressing, lonely, and older crowd. An on-line dating service was thought of as a last resort. No one was ever particularly excited about signing up or even admitting that they were contemplating the decision. Initially, singles in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s were starting to ‘mingle’ over the web and eventually couples were starting to surface. The process was working but Match.com was unable to pull a younger demographic into the mix. The potential customers in their 20’s and 30’s were not willing to subject themselves to the world of online dating. It was becoming clear that the 20 and 30 something’s were scared about what their peers would think and what they would think of themselves for going as low as joining a dating community. Match.com realized the potential in the younger market and came up with a marketing campaign to calm some of these fears.
I think the best example of the company effectively appealing to the younger customers is the commercial of a young woman (profile name CuteBritChick) who is lying on a table. The commercial is in black and white and the camera is zoomed into the woman’s face. She does not say anything, but she is slightly turning her head, smiling and softly giggling, while her username appears at the bottom of the screen. After a few seconds the Match.com slogan, “IT’S OK TO LOOK,” appears on screen followed by “MATCH.COM.” The commercial itself is relatively short, only lasting for about 20 seconds.
The commercial demonstrates how Match.com is using the customer experience framework showcased in the article “A Framework for Managing Customer Experiences.” Using the strategic experience model, Match.com appeals to the younger customers through different types of SEMs. First, ‘sense’ is used to create visual and audio in the commercial. The young woman is clearly not above the age of 30 and she is very pretty. While she really does not say anything, her soft giggle and other mannerisms portray a non-intimidating yet desirable woman. The black and white effect adds to the care-free nature of the commercial. The sense aspect of the commercial is what Match.com is using to pull viewers in. The consumers become intrigued by the sound and visual and immediately they are engaged. Second, ‘feel’ is used to evoke a young viewer’s inner emotion. The target consumer, a single yet apprehensive customer, sees this commercial and hopefully feels better about wanting to experience online dating. “It’s ok to look” calms fears and apprehension and makes viewers feel like they should test out the service. Viewers start to feel like they aren’t the only ones who want to try the service, and they begin to feel confident in their curiosity. Last, the commercial uses ‘relate’ to calm anxiety viewers might have about their social group rejecting their online dating service curiosity. The image of the young woman shows beauty, desire, and a certain level of cool. Viewers can relate to that image because in reality we all hope to embody those characteristics. Now viewers are not shunning the online daters out there, rather they are aspiring to be more like them. Now Match.com seems more like a social community group, not a place for desperate people taking desperate measures.
I think that Match.com is doing a very good job at targeting a younger audience. I would have never in a million years considered looking at an online dating service. I had the idea that only no-bodies went online to find a date, and I figured if I ever had to join a service like that there was something wrong with me. After viewing these commercials my attitude has completely changed. I am not a user of online dating services but I no longer have the same assumptions and attitudes toward the people that do. I think that Match.com could improve even more by continuing the same initial customer experience throughout the dating process. They are doing a great job at capturing attention and reeling in younger customers, but they should reinforce this attitude throughout the search process. For this assignment, I do believe that it was challenging to reflect on customer experiences. When you experience something it’s hard to take a step back and pinpoint why you felt a certain way. Sometimes it is difficult to understand what the company did to drive a certain feeling. As a result, I went through many examples before I chose this one. Although I would still probably never use a dating service, I think my flip in perspective about the idea is exactly what Match.com was trying to do. Turn apprehensive viewers into consumers. Now, along with many others, I am not completely opposed to a service like Match.com and would not fear trying it at some point.