Pleasing hors d’oeuvres and drinks prepared and presented with pizzazz are complemented by soothing music which is also an integral part of the ambience and ranges from classic music to smooth jazz or chill-out rhythms. The attractive, smiling and well mannered staff is dressed stylishly.

All of these elements combined will, undoubtedly, seduce the senses and generate good vibes along with positive memories created. This principle applies equally well to business establishments and brands and includes boutique hotels, restaurants & bars, fashion boutiques and other upscale business establishments. In marketing, a multi-sensory approach is proven to increase sales.

To be effective, the use of an integrated approach is essential across various touch points with the purpose of engaging customers.

Today, consumer purchase decisions are increasingly driven by consumers’ hearts. With ambiance marketing, a custom designed attractive setting – yet alluring with captivating style, invites customers to truly feel the brand experience by adding character. This is accomplished by connecting the emotions to a product or service, and infusing it with a tangible and intangible essence that remain in the customers’ minds.

The ambiance you create is one of your best marketing tools. The aesthetic appeal to human senses, the feel of your business and the brand you create is your image. Along with great service, it is one of the most important reasons customers will choose you over the competition.

What should you consider when developing ambiance?

In keeping with the spirit of our five senses, you can exploit them entirely to create a favorable experience in synergy, for guests and clients alike. Below are some of the most important factors:

SIGHT – choice of lighting, décor, colors and an ergonomic layout. You can get a real sense of movement using these elements. Lighting is also very helpful when it comes to the overall event and low intensity lighting such as dimmed soft halogen or LED lights along with the presence of lit candles create a stress free atmosphere. In addition to your building materials and lighting, the art you choose to put on your walls will make a huge impact on overall ambiance.

Local art, modern art, renaissance art or a hodgepodge of all of them will help convey the ambiance you are trying to define.

LISTEN – music, effects, volume and vibrations. The tone and the energy of the room can be set with the right music selections. Think about using a “signature” sound effect to draw attention to different happenings throughout establishment or event.

Upbeat music that would be appropriate in the evening may not appeal to your morning customers who have just gotten out of bed. If you have an Italian-themed bar, you may want to interject some Italian music from artists like Zuccero or Eros Ramazotti. If your theme/branding and ambiance is geared to a very hip, young audience, it will likely suit your customers to include songs with a driving beat from cutting-edge alternative and electronic artists.

TOUCH – textures and comfort. This is all about how your guests and/or clients interact with the environment. Plenty of emphasis should be placed on this when designing the layout. It should be ergonomic. The more comfortable the space, the longer guests/clients will linger in any given area.

The materials you use to build out your operation will be a major component of the ambiance of your business and the choices are many. Countertops can be granite, frosted glass, laminate or of exotic wood. Floors can range from acid-etched concrete to terrazzo to granite. The use of wood can evoke a feeling of warmth. Exposed pipes and air ducts can give your business an industrial feel. Draperies can dampen sound and add texture.

TASTE – finding the perfect balance between sour, salty, sweet, and bitter during menu designs and beverage selections with the intention of pleasing most taste buds. Presentation is equally important which has an impact on the overall image of the setting.

SMELL – it is all about fragrance which aids in creating emotion. This sense is usually neglected yet of all our senses, the sense of smell is closely linked to emotion and memory. You can use something as simple as burning incense or candles to something far more complex like computer controlled scent machines to enhance your environment.

This could just be the icing on the cake, sort of speak, in complementing the overall mood. If it is a French bakery café style of operation, the smell of roasted coffee and baked items sold will induce clients to make and increase their purchases.

A case in point in terms of a successful establishment, which implemented the above principles spot on, is a popular upscale “member’s only” bar in Dallas, Texas called “Candleroom”. It did not become renowned simply by accident.

This has been accomplished by developing and executing the perfect atmosphere for young professionals seeking to socialize in a dramatic and spacious setting – a progressive urban lounge modern in design and decorated with bold, sensuous colors. The ultra swanky décor with its velvet, leather and fine furniture are lit by candles and dimmed chandeliers.

DJs spin house, rock, hip-hop and dance for those that are interested in a little more of a dance club setting, while the attractive staff working behind the bars mix exotic drinks for the patrons. As a result, it is considered by many discerning clubbers to be one of the most handsome drinking destinations in Dallas.

Focus groups: Uncovering your customers’ specific desires for your success

As companies grow larger, they commonly hire a market research firm to determine what their customers like, dislike and what additional products or services they desire. This is often uncovered through the use of focus groups.

There is no reason you cannot poll customers in your area in the same way large multinational companies do with great success. Focus groups can be helpful if you are already open or just beginning to plan your business. Rather than simply assuming, it is in your best interest to know if you are giving your customers the products, services and ambiance they desire.

Feedback is important, hence you need to find out what your customer’s needs are and fulfill as many of them as possible. After you analyze the information you have received from your focus group, try to incorporate the best and most workable ideas into a motif that will define your business and create the ideal ambiance to attract and keep your customers.

On a side note: Branded CD compilation

Designing and implementing custom music and visual strategies that emotionally anchor a brand to its clients, should be considered. The goal of branded CDs is to turn your listeners into disciples of your brand. Every aspect of your custom CD says something about your brand, therefore, custom CD’s place equal importance on print, media, and visual elements in addition to the music.

Specialty music compilation companies such as Sonodea and Custom CD Corporation oversee all logistics related to custom branded CD music compilation and development. They work closely with clients on everything from the music themes to the packaging to the visual content. This ensures that the music, look and feel of the CD resonate with their customers’ clientele and target demographic.

In some fashion, all business is show business and storytelling. Brand image is all about the experience, perception and differentiation you create in the customers’ mind.

Ambiance marketing takes all this into meaningful consideration by applying its multi-sensory approach to attracting and retaining clientele to your brand and business establishment.

I welcome your views

Learn more about Dot Kite’s Total Consumer Experience (TCE) services.
Photo credit: River Restaurant by Dot Kite

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The Total Consumer Experience (TCE) turns an experience into one that is fully integrated and of high quality. Each part of the experience consumers will have is met with the same branding and excellence in service that make the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) so special.

The most ideal firms to apply the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) to, are those who operate in the luxury and tourist industries and also to consumers oriented firms who are in tough markets. The Total Consumer Experience (TCE) will help set you stick out from the rest when the market is saturated or very competitive.

To reiterate, the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) is applicable to a vast array of companies, but the most appropriate partners are those in the tourism and luxury industries. The hospitality sector in general is also on par with the two other sectors mentioned. It is mentioned separately because if someone decides to go out for a meal near their own homes, they are not tourists.

The least applicable instances for the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) are historic locations. The previous paragraph mentions the hospitality industry as being one of the most suitable for the Total Consumer Experience (TCE). However, if you have an old Irish pub, for example, this would not be the best case for the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) because it could be considered a historic location and it fits into the market the way it is. Its identity lies in traditional appearance.

Hotels, airlines, restaurants, café’s, consumer oriented companies other luxury (and not) businesses are the most suitable candidates for the Total Consumer Experience (TCE). Again, if you are another service-based firm in a tight market, then the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) will bring you ahead of your competition. The Total Consumer Experience (TCE) has already added value to other firms, proving its value beyond the most obvious of companies to benefit from it.

A selection of examples of Total Consumer Experience by Dot Kite:

- Apolis Restaurant
- SOLO Gateway
- Olive Country
- Velvet Airlines
- River Bar Restaurant
- IT Center
- Jenny
- Best Western | Hotel Selene

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In that case, would there have to be a new name? Handicraft is not necessarily fast. It takes time to do things right with the utmost care for quality. At any rate, we would like to attest to the total control over quality, design, and branding that can create not a grade A brand, but something exclusive.

The value added in design, craftsmanship, branding and overall quality can elevate an ordinary product into something special. Take the case of acorn-fed Iberian ham, for example. If you go to the stores that offer such ham, you will find yourself paying as much for a leg of ham as an intercontinental flight.

You can also look at certain brands of cheese, pesto, and wine, for example. Of course you can come up with some brands In these, and many other cases, it is possible to create a world famous brand using skilled craftsmanship, quality design, and the right brand identity. A few examples of exclusive (as opposed to top) brands are:

• Jamón Gran Reserva Joselito Premium
• Prosecco Spumante Cirotto DOCG – Extra Dry
• Château Mouton Rothschild
• Olive Country

So, are you in the food industry? Do you think you can add extra value and create an exclusive brand? Of course you can. It just requires the right ingredients, craftsmanship, and branding so that you will have customers flocking to you to taste the glorious gastronomical quality food that you created.

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There are companies that stand out and differentiate themselves in all product and service categories. Take cars, for example; you can buy those that are cheap, luxurious, sporty, safe, funky, large, small, etc. With airlines, you can fly with one company that is just marginally different than another. You have economy, business, and first class, but everyone can provide those. What happened to great services is like what happened to great hotel experiences.

Sometimes regular carriers can be cheaper than budget airlines for the same route, so how do you choose who to fly with? If you are at the top of an airline company, just ask yourself: why would someone fly with you? You will probably say that your cabin has an inch more of legroom, you have higher quality Spam, and that your air hosts are friendlier. That may be black and white, but it can’t be far from the truth. All I can say is that these things will not set you apart from the competition.

So, are there people who will get excited about flying? Of course there are always a few who will be, but I mean large groups of people. Do you think about it as just going from point A to point B? I would argue that this is not the case for everyone. Going back to the car example, there are people who buy the most expensive cars they can afford to go from point A to B as well. The difference is the experience along the way. You simply need to know that good design can improve service.

How do you make people excited about flying again? You have to create a new identity. Of course this will not be possible to maintain for every route, but on busy transatlantic routes for example, you could find a market for your high quality services.

How do you do this? You simple have to look at history and see what happened during the pioneering days of passenger air travel. The services provided would be considered extremely luxurious today. Some people called airplanes flying restaurants. Would you say the same today?

Furthermore, you have to create a whole new identity such as Velvet Airlines. Having a charismatic face leading the company will also help. You simply have to have people identify with the greatest airline services they could imagine. With this, I do not mean marginally different, but to create a whole new league of air travel. People have to experience services they cannot experience with the alternatives. Do you think there is no market for such services? Well, the Bugatti Veyron gets sold, so why not have people excited about flying?

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For one, your location may influence your design. There are two aspects to this. The first is that the climate, city (or countryside), and other surroundings could be a factor influencing your restaurant design. The second concerns the competition. You do not want to have the same theme as a competitor around the corner. The case of the Apolis Restaurant illustrates this well. This because it is located in the hills above Athens and the style is unique.

Once you know what your theme will be, you should think about the layout. Your tables and chairs are the foundation for where customers sit and enjoy their meals. Take the example of the The River Bar-Restaurant. It has a simple, yet elegant layout, supporting high traffic with wide aisles where necessary, and with the bar being in a central location. You should also select the design according to your theme. If the tables and chairs are designed by someone famous, then you may have some guests recognize the designs or recognize the name if they ask who designed them.

Another part of the layout that is important is exactly how your tables and chairs fit into the space. They must not just be arranged in a nice way, but if you can arrange them so that waiters can walk with ease while carrying loads of food, then you will have less accidents and a more exclusive feel. Of course, you can look at the revenues per square meter, but with a good design, you can charge more per square meter. Lastly, designing the layout of the entire restaurant so that waiters do not have to make extensive journeys to the kitchen will also be a plus.

After you have your layout decided upon, then you will want to create a unique atmosphere. Besides the tables and chairs, you need to have attention put into:

• Full branding applications
• Furniture style
• Clothing/uniforms
• Art
• Windows/lack thereof
• Lighting
• Additional decorations
• Cutlery and plates

What we are talking about in this post relates to the Total Consumer Experience (TCE). In the case of restaurant design, it is all about adding value from before guests decide to go to your establishment to the time they leave your eatery.

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It is understandable that you should have a good combination of high quality:

• Service
• View
• Food
• Surroundings
• interior design

This will lead to good word of mouth, and from there, you will attract more guests. However, what do you do if you happen to only get a certain type of guest?

This is not a problem, right? Well, not if you look at your short-term revenues. We have already discussed about what comes after best hotel design, but this is even a step further. You will have a good income if you happen to have a certain type of guest attract a lot more of the same type of guest. However, this may have a negative influence on other guests who may feel out of place. Of course, this notion is not valid in all cases, but in hotels where people stay and spend a great deal of their time, the types of guests you have and their respective proportions could have a strong influence on your future earnings.

You or someone you know may have had a negative experience somewhere along the lines of ‘all of those (certain type of guests) are really irritating; they do this and that, etc.’ So, if you happen to have a growing group of one type of guest at your hotel, then others may feel averse to the situation and feel like outsiders.

In the long-term your other guests will not return and you will only be left with one type of guest. Your hotel may be defined by its homogeneous guests more so than the hotel defining itself. This is not necessarily bad, but it’s never good to put all of your eggs in one basket.

So, before you start making executive decisions about your hotel, you must be able to answer a few questions. Who do you want to attract? More importantly, how do the guests you attract have an influence on your company and its future revenues? Also, how do you attract who you want to attract? How do you keep a unique hotel experience?

We have already shown that the best hotels in Amsterdam have the best design. However, in order to have the most fitting guests, you need to make strategic plans, and implement tactical branding and communication as part of the Total Consumer Experience (TCE). A good example of how this is done is the Hotel Selene.

To summarize, you need a strategic plan, and from there you must specify what the design of you hotel will be. This will have an influence on who you attract. Nonetheless you must strive to avoid having one type of guest by having the correct form of branding and communication.

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We are planning on implementing the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) into various companies in the industry. Through preliminary research, we feel that there is room for improvement where others downstream can benefit from this. An example of great packaging is the Nera Kritis. A recent Total Consumer Experience (TCE) for Olive Country also focused greatly on package design.

Let us not forget that the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) is not just about packaging, but is a holistic approach to designing a new identity from the smallest details such as clothing to corporate brand images. An example of this can be seen in the Apolis case study.

A previous post about a partnership directly links Dot Kite to the B2B food industry. It concerns Q Food and how Dot Kite designed everything from plates and uniforms to business cards and the company logo up to the online presence and experience. If you are interested to know more, we can set up a dialogue with you if you simply mail us at info@dotkite.eu

For more information on our TCE projects you may download our pdf TCE brochure.

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- photo credit here

Plainly stated, good design attracts people to it.  Think of designer products; the way in which they are designed and the materials used in the design make them appealing.  The same goes for services.  The manner in which services are designed, as in the usefulness, efficiency, and effectiveness, affect the way in which the services are perceived.  Good service design will portray luxury and exceed the expectations of the client.

There is a special way in which designers get to the point of delivery. The way in which Dot Kite works is separated into four phases. They are as follows:

• Observation
• Brainstorming
• Prototyping
• Implementation

The first step is to observe how the current situation is: what works well, what can be improved, and what needs to be totally changed. From there, ideas are generated in a complex process done in groups where ideas are generated and discussed. The best idea(s) are then prototyped. A lot goes on during this phase to ensure that the final product is designed well and meets the requirements found during the observation phase. Lastly, the final product is implemented. This is not just setting the product out onto the market, but done in cooperation with branding and communication.

If you have trouble imagining how design is an integral part of the value chain, then have a look at the following bullet points as examples of how design is a part of the value chain:

• Operations – how you manufacture your design (who to choose and which materials to use)
• Procurement – make or buy (or do something in-house or outsource it)
• Marketing and Sales – how your design will appeal to clients and be marketable (communication and branding strategies must be designed)
• Service – designing your product or service so that you can continue to have a profitable, long-term relationship with updates and new developments clear to the customer

As you can see, design is indeed an integral part of the value chain.  Again, it is not explicitly stated as being a part of it, but it is what connects the independent parts together.  This is because you cannot just put design emphasis on one part of the process and expect to have a great outcome.

For example, if you have the best design for a product but you choose the wrong materials, the value of the great design will be diminished.  You must therefore have excellence in all areas of the value chain.  This relates to the The Total Consumer Experience (TCE) where each part of the package is integrated so that what end consumers get is defined by a high standard of quality and personalization.

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Cupid & Shu is an Amsterdam based photography agency that provides its related services to local and international clients.

To reiterate, Dot Kite carried out the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) for Cupid & Shu, focusing on branding, communication and online experience. In the coming days, this Total Consumer Experience (TCE) will be rolled out. Stay tuned.

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Defining the Brand
We start with the idea of what we want the product, service and its respective company to be perceived as. What do you want it to represent? Specifically what category does it belong to that will be in the consumers’ mind? Defining your target market too will help to strengthen the brand’s effectiveness. Explain what your brand stands for and why it is better than the competition. This is where you execute your brand communications. Commonly used methods of brand communications include advertising, events, sponsorships, promotions, direct marketing, customer relationship management programs and public relations. In defining who your brand and your audience is, you create the foundation for all other components to build on. This requires a distinctive brand vision, positioning, personality and affiliation for the product/service. Those are crucial factors that will make it truly unique. Proper branding can also get you out of the commodity trap and attract value in terms of higher pricing.

Customer Experiences
This is what truly creates differentiation from mass and from competing brands. The key objective is to create a relationship of trust. The world’s powerful brands establish trust and friendship with their customers. They develop emotional capital, and gain passion. This is what makes them great. A brand’s image is how consumers perceive it and this may not be the same as how the owner wants it to be seen. It is important to note that without a premium product or service quality, a strong brand image is difficult to create.

Every customer contact (“touch points”) should be handled with the utmost care to ensure that the total brand experience a person has is consistent. This involves properly training and occasionally evaluating employee performance and when necessary, changing strategy, systems, technology, methods, services, products and even physical premises to produce a positive customer experience. Complacency should be replaced with continuous improvement.

Standing-out from the Crowd
Brands can’t stand out by blending in. They need to be distinctive, compelling, create buzz and call for action. Advertising in almost every industry appears to look the same. Visually distinctive brand features enhance customer recall and positively influence intent to purchase. “Advertising” creates attention and promotes an image and the brand. On the other hand, “Marketing” compels someone to buy. Since we’re constantly bombarded with advertising, it’s important to cut through the clutter. You only have one or two seconds to grab the attention of your intended audience. Compared to your competition, take an unusual approach by being first, different and bold in the way you create and deliver your message.

Marketing campaigns should have elements of:
 Imagination
 Mystery
 Memory

Whether a product or service is a luxury brand or falls into another category, it is how you stand out from the crowd that distinguishes you. Know your target audience, get inside their heads and understand how they think and feel. What are their fears, emotions and anxieties? It’s not just about demographics, it’s about neuro-psychology. Once you have this down pat, you then manage the brand consistently.

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