PR TIMES AFRICA PRTimesAfrica (March 2016) | Page 47

WOULD YOU LIKE ICE
CREAM WITH YOUR
OMELETTE?
HOW TO SURPRISE,
DELIGHT & BUILD LOYALTY
By Diane Schwartz
It’s not every day that you get a free scoop of
ice cream with your bacon and eggs, unless
you’re eating breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s. The
iconic Chicago diner has been surprising first-
time customers and delighting return diners
with this extra touch. When the waitress hand-
ed me the check, then asked if I wanted some
ice cream, I looked around as if I had won the
lottery. The last thing I really wanted was ice
cream after a hearty breakfast but I didn’t re-
alize how much I loved being surprised by the
offer.
Surprise: it’s surprisingly powerful!
When was the last time you offered your
brand’s version of ice cream with breakfast?
When you provided an unexpected benefit or
show of appreciation for your stakeholders, be
it a customer, a reporter, an employee, an in-
vestor, a client? Even the most beloved brands
shouldn’t assume they are good to go with
their customers, who are just a click or step
away from turning their attention to your com-
petitor. MasterCard is just one of many smart
brands employing “surprise and delight” to
build customer loyalty. Through its“Priceless
Surprises” campaigns, cardholders have ran-
domly received a gift, such as a meeting with
Justin Timberlake, and are encouraged to send
surprise gifts to friends and family (using Mas-
terCard).
When Tania Luna, co-author of “Surprise: Em-
brace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Un-
expected,” keynoted our PR News Digital PR
Conference earlier this month in Miami, attend-
ees expected her to talk about how to commu-
nicate via surprise tactics given the name of
her new book. What the audience didn’t expect
was to be handed a pack of Pop Rocks and
asked to place the fizzy crystals in their mouth
and create a symphonic sound with fellow at-
tendees, with Luna as the conductor. “At the
count of 3, this side of the room should start
swirling their Pop Rocks in their mouth,” Luna
instructed. Amazingly, the attendees exploded
with glee and there was a communal sense of
pleasant surprise at the activity, the nostal-
gic quality of Pop Rocks and the silliness they
found themselves in. They weren’t expecting
this activity at a PR conference. Surprise!
In a recentinterview with PR News’ Steve Gold-
stein, Luna offered 9 surprise tactics and im-
plored communicators to remember that act-
ing human is different than being human. She
suggests that communicators “scriptease” to
build trust with stakeholders, especially with
the media. Put your scripted pitch aside and
just have a conversation with the reporter like
you would with a friend.
And never stop surprising and delighting: To
wit, if you’re waiting in the long line at Lou
Mitchell’s or as you’re leaving the restaurant,
there’s an endless bowl of fresh donut holes
for the taking. Just another way for this brand
to sweeten the experience.
Follow Diane Schwartz on Twitter: @diane-
schwartz
Culled from: http://www.prnewsonline.com
47 | PRTIMES AFRICA MARCH 2016