All that work and what was it done for? It’s a little line from a song I keep hearing on social and exactly what I was thinking all the people involved in elevating brands at Bloomingdales and Jo Malone would have thought if they saw this. As someone who has spent the better part of my career in branding, I understand it’s not one touchpoint that can make a brand, but all the experiences we have that form an opinion about a product or service. Imagine my surprise when I received a package that looked like this. The product was wrapped in a single piece of tissue, with a sticker, shoved in a purple and white envelope that had nothing to do with the product. The corrugated uninspired shipping box had industrial style brown paper that they couldn’t even bother to crinkle to fill up the box. Just tons of cheap packing materials. Here’s the thing. It wasn’t a cheap product. In fact, both companies spend a great deal on marketing, packaging, advertising, shops and experiences. We’re talking customer loyalty, elevated packaging, and great customer service. None of that was evident when this came. Which is a shame. Because my perception has changed. I won’t go back, or order online. I’d be afraid to send something as a gift out of concern for the way it might be delivered. Which brings me back to my first statement. All that work and what was it done for? Companies need to realize that every single person that works with your product reflects that business. My guess is that someone in the warehouse just threw it in a box and didn’t care about all the work that went into creating these two companies. But they should. Considering this product is sold elsewhere, that’s exactly where I’ll be going next time.
