Best Buy uses the force . . . the #Twelpforce

How may I twelp you???

#474 in the Project comes from Jim Joseph of Lippe Taylor, author of “The Experience Effect”.  Jim is a big fan of Best Buy and how they’ve differentiated themselves by delivering customer service beyond the initial purchase.

Best Buy

“Best Buy created the Twelpforce. They assigned a customer service representative from the sales team for each consumer. A nice added value if you have any questions after your purchase.”

Two weeks after Jim submitted Twelpforce to the Project it won the Titanium Lion in Cannes.  Titanium awards the best integrated campaign. Here is a 100 second video that highlights the Twelpforce:

Marketing Takeaway – Customer experience just doesn’t stop once you’ve made the purchase.  Best Buy has differentiated themselves by scaling customer service via Twitter @twelpforce.  By doing so they’ve created added value and given that little extra something to both customers and prospects.

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – Twelp is a combination of two words (twitter and help). . . or what is uncommonly called a ‘portmanteau’.  More common portmanteaus include brunch (breakfast and lunch) and smog (smoke and fog).  In fact what I’m currently doing right this second is a portmanteau . . . I’m writing on my blog(web and log).  How about if you made a portmanteau of a portmanteau of a portmanteau?  This short video may describe a first:

Lagniappe defined: A marketing lagniappe,  i.e. purple goldfish,  is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a ‘little something extra’.  It’s that unexpected surprise that’s thrown in for good measure.

How do you stand out in the sea of sameness? Are you giving your customers something to talk, tweet, blog and post to Facebook about?