"I didn't know my computer (or phone, or car) could do that!"

A story in today’s Marketing Daily covered the success that resulted in a partnership between Ford and Best Buy… whereby consumers were basically invited to a hands-on demo of the Ford Sync system. Because of the results they enjoyed during the pilot project in Dallas, Ford is expanding the program to select markets in California and Pennsylvania.

Implications: Once upon a time, when you bought something complicated—say, like a computer—it came with an owner’s manual. I confess to seldom reading one… but it was nice to have a point of reference if you ever ran into a question. Today, when you buy a computer, you generally get an over-zealous web support link which provides all of the answers… except the one you’re looking for.

It seems to me that we’re buying increasingly complex products, with a decreasing level of explanation about how those products work. In contrast, Ford has presented Sync with context and clarity.

Context. Sync is not an automotive product. It’s a technology product, which lets you make phone calls on your cell phone, play songs from your music library, get directions to where you’re going, and run diagnostics on your engine… all through the “dashboard” of your vehicle. Heretofore, they had shown-off the system at their car dealerships. But now, they’ve started showing it off at a technology store—Best Buy—which benefits tremendously from the traffic generated by Sync clinics… as well as the relative position of “authority” they gain by helping show-off leading-edge technology. But another very important thing is happening here.

Clarity. In a world absent of “owner’s manuals,” Ford has found another way to invite people—er, um, I mean, Consumers—to stop in, put their hands-on, and play-around with the system. Test-drive the technology, just as you would test-drive the car. Eliminate the fear factor, and help folks realize the value proposition. This is experiential marketing at work: Prior to the pilot owner clinics, a combined average of 28% of Ford owners said they knew the ins and outs of Sync’s features. After the clinics, nearly 69% of Ford owners reported that they would use these features. And when you think about it, in an age when consumers are trending away from “what I have,” and trending toward “what I have done,” Ford and Best Buy are offering an experience.

These days, it is not uncommon for someone to discover a new feature on the computer or mobile phone they’ve owned for years. Their first reaction is often delight: “Wow! I didn’t know it could do that!” But almost immediately, their face falls to a frown, and they say something like, “I wish I’d have known it had that capability sooner!”

In an economy where consumers are being more judicious about every dollar they spend, are you giving justice to all of the benefits your product or service provides? Or do you just hope customers will figure it out for themselves? Would a clinic be in order? Or simply… an owner’s manual?

The owner’s manual was never as sexy as a technical support website, but it was consistent: Almost any manual had a table of contents at the front, and an index in the back.

Mike Anderson