Customer Reviews

The Experience Effect: Engage Your Customers with a Consistent and Memorable Brand Experience

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a refreshing way to provide insight, humor, truth and applicability to marketing. It is unlike typical marketing books AND the students enjoyed reading and presenting from it. I plan to use it again this fall! Looking forward to Jim's next book as well! What a way to revolutionize teaching.

I've worked in the advertising industry for nearly 10 years and have actually had the pleasure of seeing Jim Joseph in action. He has an incredible ability to think on his feet regardless of the situation. His knowledge of the space is quite remarkable and he has a seemingly endless reservoir of experience to draw from.

He shares a great deal of that experience in this book, that squarely places the emphasis back where it belongs - on the customer and their experience with a brand. The concepts are easy to follow and he clearly outlines the steps those new to the advertising/marketing world need to master. That's great, but I've worked on countless campaigns over the years and his examples served as a sharp reminder to me of just how easy it is to get sidetracked while brand building (or destroying as sometimes the case may be). I've seen, first hand, too many advertisers (myself included) get lost in the "big idea" for a brand, that they forget to really consider what that ultimately means for how the customer relates to that brand (or how the disparity between a brand's offline and online experiences can create confusion and a serious disconnect for that matter).

I now actively pay attention again to my interactions with the various brands in my life and how they affect me. Not only do I find it fascinating to really ponder how those interactions impact my habits, but it will no doubt increase my effectiveness in the ad world moving forward. So thanks Jim for the reminder to pay attention again to all things, big and small.

Marketing professionals, read this book! Brand managers especially. In a world where the best-informed-consumer-ever makes new demands of your products and practices, and where they have access to far-reaching bully pulpits (social networks, consumer review sites, YouTube, blogs, and more) -- you need help! Read The Experience Effect.
Jim Joseph sets out by clearly defining what The Experience Effect is (it's the summary impact of your brand on a consumer based on the cumulative experiences they have with your brand every time they interact with it, whether shopping for it, complaining about it, using it, etc).
In fact, that's the best word to describe this book: clear. The concepts are presented in everyday language and supported by everyday examples. The conversational tone is perfectly appropriate, because Joseph is writing about consumers' everyday experiences and how they affect your brand's performance. As you digest the lessons and examples, you're suddenly remembering your own experiences with brands, and these connections give great clarity to the premise.
And there are plenty of examples. The Experience Effect isn't limited to sales. Joseph points out good and bad brand experiences that happen everyday in customer support, in product design, in web site design, in general service. The brands highlighted range from J. Crew to the local pasta restaurant. And they all resonate.
Then Jospeh walks you through the steps of understanding, strategizing and tailoring your own brand's Experience Effect. And as the rest of the book, it's super clear and informed by his deep marketing knowledge.
I was reminded of a Reuters story last year that started this way: "Americans are more loyal to their favorite soft drink, television show or car brand than they are to their employer, according to a joint Reuters/Ipsos poll." So how do you make sure your brand is on the loyalty list of your most important customer? I suggest you start by reading "The Experience Effect."

I'm not a "work" book person. When I leave the office, I really try to leave the office. I love what I do careerwise (media/marketing) but I like to read for pleasure. And to my great surprise, this book was just that. Pleasure! I finished it in two sittings because it was so much fun to read. Plus I learned, absorbed and digested the author's fresh angle on marketing in today's constancy of change. We are always experiencing the world of brands around us whether we realize it or not. We as marketers need to craft that experience so it's positive. Mr. Joseph lays out the entire brand marketing process with practical, relevant and current brand experience examples (offline, online, social, mobile, cust service, etc) to clearly illustrate his points. I even swore he was talking about me and my husband as the furniture buyers in one chapter - that's us! It just rang true for me. Marketing can be so frustrating with the overwhelming amount of research and opinions we gather - he cuts through it and refocuses us on what's important, know your consumer and shape the experiences they have so they feel good about the brand through their collective interactions. And he applies the methodology to services, cpg, cars, stores - even people. I am happy to say that my first "work" book was an incredible experience - changed the attitude I've developed over years of bandaging-up broken brands. Now I'm inspired to go to work and do it. I hope Mr Joseph keeps the titles coming. Great book for new grads or seasoned pros alike.

Branding: the next step
From: Dan Beaulieu
The Experience Effect
Engage your customers with a consistent and memorable brand experience
By Jim Joseph
Copyright 2010 by AMACOM Press
Price $24.95/ 222 Pages with index
I love this concept. The idea that your company's brand is a complete experience; rather than try to explain it to you I'll give you some examples: The three notes that represent NBC, anything Disney, Southwest Airlines, Pottery Barn, Apple, LL Bean, Harley and BMW get it? These are brands you can count on. These are companies' brands you can believe in. These are brands that create loyal and faithful followers. These are companies that have created very high expectations and who continuously live up to those expectations. A tough task that one and one that is not always easy to fulfill; if you have set high expectations and have a strong brand following then you'd better watch out because if you stutter, if you stumble for even one second then your brand image can be tarnished and your customers' experience lessened.
In this very clever and readable book marketing expert Jim Joseph shares his knowledge of building the brand experience from his many years of developing that branding experience for such companies as Kelloggs, Crafts and Cadillac. By using a clear and sincere step by step method peppered with very strong examples Joseph shows us how to build our own companies brand experience.
This is one of those books that you actually read for pleasure and learn something along the way. Learn a lot actually, a whole new way of approaching the subject of branding and hence uncommon customer loyalty. Talk about having fun while you learn something... how about this for a question? If your company were a celebrity, who would it be? Think about that for a while.
I cannot recommend this book enough, it represents a whole new way of thinking about marketing that none of us can afford to over look. Please pick it up and read it if you want to bring a whole new and productive approach to your company's marketing, branding and yes customer service.

As buying behavior and habits change, it is necessary for marketers to understand the reasons behind the changes and to adapt their approach so that it matches the consumer's wants and needs. A growing trend is that consumers are no longer just buying a physical product. They are buying an experience.

In The Experience Effect, Jim Joseph walks us through the steps necessary to create an experience effect so that our product/service connects with consumers and meets them where they are. If marketers do things right, they will create The Experience Effect which will build brand loyalty.

The book is well thought out and based on real world experience. The approach is step by step with lots of examples to illustrate the concept or point.

According to Jim, "The experience effect is so important to marketers because it:
Defines the brand for consumers
Positions the brand in consumers minds
Differentiates the brand from competitors
Helps consumers make good choices and purchase decisions
Builds brand loyalty
Justifies a price point - either high or low

The book takes a step by step approach to building the Experience Effect.

The steps are:
Know who you are as a brand
Understand your consumer
Build a consumer experience
Create that experience consistently and uniquely across all touch points
Consistently grow and evolve
Make good choices
Learn from examples in the marketplace

He goes into great detail about each step, telling you what needs to be done and how to do it.

This book gives you a lot to think about and a broad blueprint for you to develop your marketing so that it creates a unique Experience Effect for your target market. There are plenty of suggestions and real world examples to draw on. You will need to take the concepts and principles and adapt them to your product or service. But you are given a very good guide book on what needs to be done and how to approach doing it.

If you do not adapt to the reality of today's market, your product/service will be left behind. Consumers are basing their buying decisions on the total experience of the brand. There are so many competitors offering similar products or services that if you fail to deliver the experience the buyer is seeking, you will be left behind.

Great book. The author puts many marketing tools and concepts into simple and understandable language. Great read for anyone interested in getting a deeper understanding of marketing and/or seeking the principles to create a sustainable marketing plan. Awesome tool for entrepreneurs, business owners, students and any one in the marketing field. Marketing is truly a diverse field that requires right brain and left brain thinking and different skill sets; this book helps the reader understand the purpose of marketing and it's value when it is centered around the customer. Highly recommendable.

The Experience Effect was incredibly insightful and knowledgeable book I found easy to follow and institute into my everyday life. As an advertising sales professional I used this book to understand the marketing process before it got to the ad placement stage. From beginning to end The Experience Effect explained what before seemed like a difficult and complex process with great ease and real world connection. By using everyday terms and relative examples I was able to relate to each chapter and put the concepts into real world context. Step by step I began to understand how brands defined themselves and even got a better understanding of what a brand really is beyond the everyday advertisements and logos. I would highly recommend this book to anyone in the marketing or advertising field but also to anyone curious as to how the brands that play a part in our everyday lives are created.

The Experience Effect is a perfect book for all marketers. It helps you to know that turning your product into a brand is key for success. It is witty and engaging, using everyday brands and showing what they are doing right and wrong to market their products. Very enjoyable, and a must read for everyone in the marketing field.

Insightful, witty and extraordinarily helpful - I wish every marketing book was as solid as The Experience Effect.

Jim Joseph elevates the thinking, but takes the reader along for a grown-up, no-nonsense conversation that serves up illuminating examples. More importantly, the author engages the reader so that one feels an integral part of it all. It's almost as if he's saying "here's a smart way to look at things - get your head in the game."

As a seasoned professional, I enjoyed this book and have used it as a reference. But I also gifted a few college graduates with it. In fact, I plan on giving copies as holiday gifts to industry friends too - it's that good.