This is So Much More Than a Box

This time of year it is hard to resist a bit of Love Actually.

Alright, raise your hand if you, like me, feign with a violent gesticulated protest to watch it each year with your loved one! Afterall, it is actually quite lovely.

Rowan Atkinson’s character, Rufus, is the painfully polite, exquisitely slow jewelry salesman. In Atkinson fashion he creates a comedic moment that is hard to forget.

His wrapping is flawless.
His ritual is obsessive.
His empathy…well, it’s nowhere to be found.

Alan Rickman’s character is sweating bullets, trying to buy a very inappropriate necklace without getting caught. Rufus responds with “Ready in the flashes of flashes” as he meticulously wraps step by step by step.

It’s comedy, and it’s also modern customer experiences in disguise.

Too many brands behave exactly like Rufus. They fall in love with their process. They fetishize detail. They perform ‘service’ instead of reading the room.

Let’s unwrap a few lessons, no bloody holly included:

1.     Craft without empathy isn’t luxury, it’s self-indulgence.

2.     Process without context isn’t care, it’s captivity. Process should serve the guest, not the other way around.

3.     Details only matter when they enhance the experience.

4.     Customers don’t want you to show off, they want you to understand them.

The most rebellious move a brand can make today is to drop the script and break the ritual. Ad-lib like Mr. Bean. Serve the human moment in front of you because no one remembers the wrapping. They remember how you made them feel.

Happy Holidays.