- posted on
- March 12, 2008
- by Liz Danzico
Rain or Shine: Zappos and the Art of Consistency
On Sunday, SXSW Interactive brought the unexpected: inside, the first onstage marriage proposal, and outside, a downpour. Austin typically gets just over two inches of rain in March, but Sunday, just in time for thousands of web people to descend on the downtown area for lunch, it poured. And while a few came prepared for the weather, most did not.
Of all people, Zappos, the online shoe seller, stepped in to help. Zappos representatives, posted at key doors to the conference center, handed out perfectly packaged Zappos-branded ponchos. Attendees — the fashion-conscious and fashion-carefree alike — pulled on the oversized plastic protectors en route to their respective lunches. The result: downtown Austin became a venerable Zappos billboard, and hundreds and hundreds were both dry and thankful. “We have no idea what Zappos.com does online, but their raincoats rocked,” posted cogdogblog to flickr.
Known for their unfailing customer service, Zappos consistently just seems to really get it. Protecting humans from inclement weather conditions is surely not something you’d find in their mission statement, but I’d bet “protecting customers” is. Therefore, somehow having them take care of us — being able to depend on them for support in the unexpected — didn’t seem that odd at all. I might even say it was on brand.
From Zappos’ almost too-good-to-be-true shipping and return policy to their now-legendary personal attention, it does appear that customers come first. And while there’s no doubt that the ponchos’ purpose was advertising, pure and simple, the move came off as a considered campaign that put people at the center.
There’s nothing wrong with handing out flyers and postcards, but without a secondary utility, most serve to quickly inform us, then end up in a nearby garbage can. Thanks to Zappos for coming forward with a simple strategy that was unexpected, yet unquestioningly consistent with their brand.
A final note: The ponchos were pretty successful. While most of me stayed quite dry, my sneakers, ordered a few weeks ago from (I’m not kidding) Zappos, got soaked.
My name is Brian, I head up Creative Services and Marketing over at Zappos.com! I was happy to hear that you found some usefulness with the ponchos!
I wanted to take this time to let you know that we are sorry the ponchos did not cover your feet and if you need replacement pair of whatever was on your feet I would be happy to send you a pair courtesy of Zappos! Just say the word!
Brian: Thanks for writing. You’ve triple-confirmed my thoughts about the company’s customer service. My sneakers were wet, but are still in top shape. Thanks for the offer though (and again for the ponchos)!
My hat goes off to Brian at Zappos for the brilliant planning! I didn’t manage to get a hold of a poncho, ended up soaked from head to toe (didn’t matter, was staying at a hotel so close, I could go get changed after lunch), but could see the great big grins on the faces of those who acquired a poncho!
Great thinking, simple goodie and definitely a powerful impact when your logo all of a sudden is visible on a thousand people at once!
As a fellow marketer, it’s good to be reminded that you don’t need to look too far to find good schwag people will want to get their hands on!
Cheers,
Vero aka thatcanadiangirl.co.uk
I agree that it was great thinking and planning by Zappos. In fact, I had never heard of them before that day. When I went back to the hotel room I looked them up and am seriously considering purchasing my next pair of feet coverings through them.
Most handouts I get at SXSW I tend to briefly glance at, if at all, before it hits the trash bin. This one really stuck in my head.
I’m bummed that I missed out on my Zappos poncho (I had already taken shelter in the Hilton) but I love this story. Brian, can you go work at American Airlines?
Thanks for the information. Zappos panchos for free, great way to show your customers your product when they need it most.