YES. Make that a loud, bellowing, resounding yes. Hans Willems reminds us in his report, “Customer-Driven Online Engagement” that the customer is king. Especially in this age where e-commerce is the standard.

Little MOO Makes a Big Impact

In a Fast Company article, “Customer Engagement: Why All Companies Could Use a Little MOO,” Shawn Graham discusses the importance of “adding a little punch” to the customer communication process. He specifically discusses MOO’s superb engagement with their customers.

MOO is a company that designs, prints, and ships eco-friendly and unique business cards. Not typically a business that screams customer engagement. But according to Graham, the process of purchasing business cards from MOO is engaging and different from most e-commerce check out processes.

Upon the completion of a purchase from MOO, the customer immediately receives an email confirmation, something that is very typical when shopping online. However, the confirmation is from “Little MOO,” a character created by the company for the sole purpose of making customers smile and engaging them. Graham discusses how this sweet little nudge can “upsell happiness” and thus increase brand equity. Below are the first few lines of Little MOO’s note. Cool idea, right?

One point that Graham makes in his article is the importance of keeping customers excited about the product they purchased. Most online purchases are made my customers who are genuinely excited about receiving their item. Graham pushes companies to make sure that the people who receive your product are excited. Looking at MOO’s packaging, which is bright, fun, and reads “Your MOO cards are inside, how very exciting.”

I hadn’t heard of MOO before I read this Fast Company article, but after perusing their website, this is an extremely innovative and generally cool company. I would definitely consider purchasing cards from them in the future. Why? Because they’re different. The online design process is different. The online checkout is different. The packaging is different. I like different.

What are your thoughts on customer engagement? Have you ever been engaged with by a company? Did it change your opinion of them?

{This post is part of a series pertaining to an Integrated Marketing Communications class at Elon University.}