Bonding with Customers: Insights from PDMA Global Conference

 A couple of talks from disparate companies at the PDMA Annual Global Conference on Product Innovation Management, one a long established innovative company (3M) and a new startup, Local Motors, both stimulated thought about how important “bonding” with customers can be.

It is very unusual for 3M to hire someone from outside to a senior position, though recent senior executives from GE broke the paradigm. This talk, by a senior designer from Italy, discussed incorporating design into the functionality, the traditional focus. Local Motors is breaking the paradigm of car manufacturing platforms and involving the customer in car design in an intimate way. Their process is very similar to that used by a home builder, but more intensive.

Both of these approaches raise the issue of how we involve customers in product development in an emotional, intimate way such that they “bond” with the product in a way that overrides price. They “co-create” the product in the case of Local Motors. At 3M, the new products are based on mental linkages with product appearance and aesthetics in addition to performance.

These presentations built somewhat on that of Pillsbury yesterday, trying to get their cookie dough customers to “bond” with their memories of making cookies with their mothers from years ago.

Our PDMA award winner, Kennemetal, talked about a breakthrough technology utilizing the cutting fluid port as the lubricant and cooling port, eliminating the need for an exterior, separate coolant system. (As an aside, this invention demonstrated a long standing TRIZ inventive problem solving principle of “upward system integration” which makes me wonder why this took so long to figure out…). This invention, though technical, I suspect created a “love affair” between Kennametal and the aircraft customer whose life was made so much more productive and simpler. The more breakthrough and simplifying an invention is, the more likely it is there will be an emotional bonding with it.

The day closed with a presentation about an even higher level of “bonding”, and that’s between women and their handbags. As a married make with 4 daughters, I am well aware of this bonding and emotional response to handbags. In describing personal market research (following a real customer around), Janet Carr from Coach noted that the explanation from this customer as to why she spent more than her market research allowance permitted, simply said, “I fell in love with it”. Now that’s emotional bonding with a product!

Emotion is a strong motivator for good and bad. So the question for product developers is how can we use emotional bonding to improve product design? This requires an understanding of emotion, something not taught in business or engineering schools. Some people are emotional by nature, but many are not. In many cases, managers try to remove emotion from decision making (statistical analysis, etc.). Maybe we need to move back in the other direction and not only encourage the display of emotion, but figure out how to use it---proactively. It can provide value that can’t be calculated with any software program.