What’s Your Tactcile Delight Item?

Every company needs a delight item.

An unexpected, tactile surprise for every
customer who buys.

But not just the same old chotchkie,
gift card, thank you note, free sandwich or chance to win a thousand dollars.

Something worth noticing, worth
crossing the street for, worth standing in line for, worth taking a picture of,
worth paying extra for, worth showing off, worth socializing around, worth
blogging about, worth sharing with others, worth being tired for, worth getting
yelled at for, worth being sore for, worth sitting trough traffic for, worth
coming back for, and worth saving forever.

And that takes considerably more intention and attention.

Lululemon, the athletic apparel company, gives its customers
a letterpress poster with a scientific diagram of all the excuses not to go to
yoga class. It’s funny as hell, completely unexpected, brand consistent and most
of all, content based. Which means it delivers value through education and
inspiration. Unlike every other company who hands out brochures, as if to say,
“Here, you throw this away!” the yoga poster example is a value forward item,
something that makes the customer healthier and smarter.

Most companies would never do this. It’s too expensive to
print and too labor intensive to design. But Lululemon knows their customer,
and their customers see value in tactile delight. And as a result, thousands of
their customers have published, hung, scanned, copied and uploaded that very
poster, all around the world.

And I bet that doesn’t surprise their company at all.