June 16, 2010 2:59 am Feeling Fresh

Fresh is a cosmetics company that professes to “seek out unique, natural ingredients used in time-honored rituals from across the globe.” Some of the ingredients in their product repertoire are sugar, Umbrian clay and soy – each one comes with a personal and inspired story. I especially love the one behind their line of sugar products:

“Both of our grandmothers used sugar, a natural antiseptic, to heal our scrapes.  Wanting to pass this effective ritual on to the world, we bottled our shared tradition, pioneering the use of sugar in the beauty industry.”- Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg, Fresh Co-Founders

The lovely story, along with the rapturous sweet scent that spills out every time you open the jar, almost takes the sting away from spending $60 on a body scrub (!)

By weaving stories like this one into their product development, operations, employee training, and marketing, Fresh is effortlessly proving their authenticity while creating a powerful bond with customers. They make me feel…fresh.


April 28, 2010 7:49 pm “Try before you buy” is a brand ritual to live by

Kiehl’s opened its doors in the East Village over 150 years ago, and one of the brand rituals that started with the founder himself is still prominently pleasing customers today – product sampling.

At any customer’s request (often my own), Kiehl’s provides hand-mixed samples of any product. But it doesn’t stop there. Product samples are enough to last a customer for three days. It’s purposefully just enough to give the product a proper trial before buying an entire bottle. Not only is it a feel-good experience to walk out with a coveted freebie, it’s also a ritual that’s been ingrained in what it means to shop at Kiehl’s.

When the ritual of product sampling started over a century and a half ago, Kiehl’s motto quietly became “Try before you buy!” and it’s amazing that it’s still practiced today.

Sure, anyone can give out a prepackaged bit of moisturizer. But there’s something about a hand-packed vial of Kiehl’s that makes it all the more special. Plus, it makes spending $17 on a bottle of Creme de Corps just a liiiiittle bit easier to swallow.


April 27, 2010 2:08 am Vapiano says “fresh” without uttering a word

Seeing the name Vapiano on the fast-casual restaurant door immediately calls to mind an Italian kitchen with warm, savory dishes. Yet when you first walk into the German-born restaurant, one of the first things you’ll notice is a tiny little unexpected detail. The cooking and eating surfaces are adorned in potted herbs — no, not flowers, not wine displays, not shelves full of antipasto and crusty breads — just herbs. Fresh, minimalist, fragrant, potted herbs tastefully placed on the tables, the counters and the prep areas where chefs prepare your made-to-order meals.

Not only are the herbs there to tempt your senses of sight and smell, they’re also there to tempt your sense of taste. In Europe, where Vapiano calls home, diners are encouraged to pick herbs straight from the plants on their table to garnish the dish in front of them. Although US food laws do not allow such an amazing branded ritual (touch and smell, yes; eat, no), Vapiano locations in the US encourage their patrons to specify to their chef exactly “how they like their herbs.” Me? I’ll have the pesto pasta with extra oregano and a few basil leaves, please.

And the most amazing part? After a quick skim of their website and their menus, nowhere could I find the phrase “fresh herbs.” Without saying or typing a word, Vapiano successfully communicates in their stores exactly how fresh their foods are through simple branded rituals, visual messaging and by tapping the core of your human being — your five senses.


April 10, 2010 4:38 pm I love a silver spoon!

Iced coffee used to be just ice coffee until La Colombe. La Colombe is a Philadelphia based coffee chain that has taken the coffee house experience up another notch. (There are two locations in the city that I know of – one on Lafayette/Prince, the other is in Tribeca). All of their coffee products are outrageously good, but their iced coffee is downright sinful. Their house version of iced coffee comes with a shot of espresso added to their already robust regular coffee blend – making for an unforgettable taste experience (and quite the morning buzz!).

But beyond the amazingly good coffee, La Colombe stands apart for me in other ways. At Brand Synchronicity, we’re big on brand touchpoints and rituals. La Colombe’s use of extremely tasteful hand painted black and white china pottery creates a feeling of uniqueness, authenticity and artisinal craftsmanship (it’s a hard working touchpoint, trust me!).

But the real differentiator for me is their ritual of placing a little plate with a long handled silver spoon alongside your coffee so that you can actually stir your cream (they use half and half – yum) with an honest to goodness, real live spoon! It’s such a small detail, but makes such a big difference in the experience of “dressing” my coffee. Instead of making me use some flimsy plastic or wooden stick, I am actually treated to this incredible moment of decadence in which I am able to stir my perfect coffee with a perfectly sized silver spoon.

The servers actually hand wash every plate and spoon after you’ve used them which is a massive commitment to this ritual on their end – but no one can compete with this place in terms of creating such a significant slice of coffee heaven in the morning. (The fact that the servers are pleasant is a lovely added bonus.)

La Colombe has ruined me for iced coffee anywhere else. The coffee is amazing, the aesthetic is inspired, but their “silver spoon ritual” steals a piece of my heart every morning.


February 15, 2010 3:07 am No thanks, I’m just looking for some chaos

“May I help you?”

“No thanks, I’m just looking.”

How many times have you had that same exact exchange? You’re browsing in a store, likely overwhelmed, yet when a store employee asks “the question”, you get annoyed and instantly shut them down.

If there’s any retail store to be overwhelmed in, it’s amidst The Container Store’s endless aisles of boxes, baskets, hampers and other organization necessities. Yet The Container Store knows and embraces this. Rather than having employees ask “the question,” they are trained to send the right message by truly engaging their customer’s with a specific, relevant question or solution. By tailoring the behavior of their employees to complement the behavior of their customers, The Container Store opens the door to a two-sided, positive branded conversation. In essence, not asking “the question” becomes a brand behavior.

Yet customer service means nothing if the store experience doesn’t provide efficient solutions to the everyday problems of the over 35, mostly female target. Accessible sale flyers? Check. Wider aisles for easy maneuvering? Check. Cozy carpeting? Check. Lower shelves for easier reaching? Check. Products out of the box for testing, lifting and measuring? Check. Knowledgeable, friendly employees that are there when I need them? Check.

It makes me feel like The Container Store understands me, what I need, and how I need it.

For me, this seamless combination of customer service + product + messaging creates a congruent brand experience. Chaos is usually what drives me to The Container Store in the first place — it’s fantastic that it’s the last thing I find in-store upon arrival.


January 30, 2010 6:04 pm Megan’s site is now live

Hello world and welcome to my blog. As some of you know, I left my brand consulting company, Starfish, at the end of last year to pursue my dream of writing a book combining the lessons I’ve learned from 25 years of marketing and strategic planning for some of the world’s greatest brands, with the latest findings in behavioral and neuroscience. My book is called “Get your Brand In-Sync: 7 Steps to Building Brands a Brain Can Love”.

This blog is meant to serve as a vehicle for chronicling my progress, and for giving me an outline to post insights and observations as I go.

Thank you for visiting me here. I hope you come back again soon.



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