UnSelling: The New Customer Experience

Chapter 31The Impenetrable Brand

There are customer-company relationships that are tough to crack. Loyalty can be strong, and even when direct and moral offenses occur, many customers hang on tight. These companies seem to have achieved a status where they can do no wrong. This leaves us to wonder how far they would need to push us to lose business. We call these the impenetrable brands.

We could also call this chapter “Why Scott Says Alison Can't Have Nice Things.”

For example, Lululemon.

Some of you may not know this about me, but I actually don't do yoga. I know you're shocked, but I don't. I do have a pair of Lululemon shorts that the company sent to me a few years ago, and they are amazing, nonchaffing, and comfy.

Alison loves yoga and actually does it. So when we were recording a podcast and I let her know about Chip Wilson, former CEO of Lululemon and some of the horrible things he's said, she was pretty shocked. Here are my two faves:

Frankly some women's bodies just actually don't work for (wearing Lululemon pants)…it's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure there is over a period of time and, how much they use it. (Reply to a Bloomberg TV report about consumer complaints)

The reasons the Japanese liked my former skateboard brand, “Homeless,” was because it had an L in it and a Japanese marketing firm wouldn't come up with a brand name with an L in it. L is not in their vocabulary. It's a tough pronunciation for them. So I thought, next time ...