I have reached a point where I am (gasp!) considering making the Montreal Canadians, and not the Leafs, my favourite hockey team. I was born and raised a Leafs fan….so this move is serious business for me, and comes after prolonged deliberation. It is not just the performance of the Leafs– any team can have a bad season or two (and somebody has to be at the bottom of the league), but rather, it is my perception of value associated with the team, which is driving me away. I should also say that I am a ‘casual’ fan, so I welcome any errors in my logic below from those more knowledgeable than I.

In the economics of sport, it is generally in the best interest for any league to have a ‘balanced’ level of competition; that is, the outcome of any game is in question, and any team can be considered a contender for the ultimate goal of championship. This allows each team to promote itself as providing a high level of quality of play, and therefore, a high level of entertainment for consumers. In the case of the Leafs, they have not won the Stanley Cup in my lifetime (not since 1967!) and generally fail to come close. This essentially means that critical elements of the brand promise are simply not being met, nor have been met for a long time. We fans would like to think that our team is a contender- that our community of fans may have the opportunity to watch our team in the playoffs (or, even better, participate in a great street party once the championship has been won!). Sadly, it is been a long time since ‘consumers’ of the Leafs have been able to enjoy this pleasant daydream.

This performance is strangely coupled with a serious imbalance of supply and demand (the Leafs sell out every game), means that it is very difficult for non-seasons ticket holders to get seats. Certainly, one can engage in the ‘valuable’ services of a scalper, but this means taking a family of four to a game should run somewhere in the $500 range for rather poor seats…..and as such, the value of the experience is very much in question. When I think about the vast array of entertainment choices for a night out and the value associated for each, the Leafs are no longer an attractive option, especially if you are part of a large family.

Thinking about all of the factors in my relationship with the Leafs, and the performance of the team in the league, this has an impact on the satisfaction I have with the team in general. For most businesses, we would expect that solid product or service performance leads to satisfaction, and highly satisfied customers tend to be more loyal. Over time, this loyalty translates to more money spent on the organization as customers return for more of the same product or service again and again over a length of time, meaning that an investment in improving the customer experience can ultimately be very profitable. Therefore, it is very much within the interests of the Leafs to perform well, and keep me a happy purchaser of tickets and merchandise.

However, it is a question of both customer satisfaction, and more importantly, loyalty, which forces me to reassess my relationship with my favourite hockey brand. Normally, we would use a number of measures in our research to understand how a customer feels about a product or service experience; overall, I would consider my ‘satisfaction’ with the team is fairly high: I have a lot of history with the organization, and from what I can tell as a casual fan, it looks like the right kind of effort is being made by the individual players. However, the perception of value is quite low….as is my ‘likelihood to continue use’ (the idea of loyalty is very complex, and cannot be captured with just one measure).

To further complicate the matter, multiple studies in a number of industries have shown that customers in the middle range of satisfaction are just as likely to defect as those at the ‘highly dissatisfied’ extreme of the scale. This essentially means that the Leafs (and other service organizations) cannot rely on customers who are merely ‘satisfied’, but rather, needs to push consumers into the realm of ‘delight’ in order to shut the back door of defection. In the case of my relationship with the Leafs, I am pretty far from delighted.

Not sure if you heard, but there was a recent move by RIM (blackberry) founder Jim Balsillie to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Ontario- possibly Hamilton.  Ultimately, this move was stopped by the NHL, with the league taking the position that ‘the right channels were not followed’.

The issue which was not talked about is that the Leafs are the proverbial golden goose for the NHL – the most valuable team in the entire league. Team value, revenue, operating revenue are all significantly higher than a decade ago…while player costs remain flat. Plus, an average (pre-scalper) ticket price of $97 dollars in Toronto…..versus $55 and $67 for the second and third most valuable teams (New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadians respectively). The Leafs have raised ticket prices by 3.5% this year, and have the highest ticket price in the entire league. To me, this is the equivalent of a Honda Civic having the same price a Rolls Royce.

Hence, I wonder if the move of the Coyotes was really stopped to prevent the legions of dissatisfied/merely satisfied consumers in the GTA a choice of where to spend their hockey dollars, and preserve the artificially high revenue for this team, (revenue that appears to have no relationship with the actual performance of the organization). There are reasons why the league would do this; certainly to appease the voice of such a powerful stakeholder as the owners of the Leafs (primarily the Ontario Teacher’s Pension), but also, the league revenue-sharing program in place means that some of the substantial revenue of the Leafs is shared with teams that are operating in the red. I however, feel that the pain caused by the organization is now greater than the barriers to defection…..so away I go. Vive les Habitants!

Today, I’m waiting for a flight in Boston Logan airport. And for a change, I’m delighted. What is clear is that this airport has put a bit of effort into some thoughtful design. Armed with my trusty iPhone and an hour until take-off, I thought I’d share a few of the design elements of terminal E that have been pleasantly surprising.

1. Human Centered Seating
Generally speaking, seating in airports is terrible. We’ve all been stuck on old torn leather chairs in dehumanizing rows with uncomfortable leather arm rests designed to ward off delayed travellers looking for a rest. Well Logan has clearly thought about the design of its seating.

While those old friends with sharp arm rests are indeed present (and serve a necessary use), Logan clearly understands that travellers are humans, and humans interact. In addition to the uncomfortable classic, Logan has clearly examined the types positions people sit in at the airport. Ever put your feet on your travel luggage? Well they offer a slightly reclined chairs with a foot rest for the tired. Ever awkwardly sit to have a conversation with the person you’re travelling with? Well Logan has chairs in V formations that allow people travelling together to have a comfortable face-to-face conversation.

In an industry where everyone has to wait, this airport has thought about how to make waiting a little more comfortable.

2. Inviting Spaces
Travel presents a long period of maintained stress. Airports must be one of the lowest quality experiences for the money. A visit to the spa costs you a hundred bucks. Airport taxes aren’t that far off that price.

While an airport can’t necessarily fix all of the experience breakdowns of flying, Logan has created some opportunities for escapism. The airport features several spaces that allow passengers isolate themselves from other travellers to relax. Including these spaces (and offering rocking chairs) gave me the right kind of escape to work on this post.

3. Understanding the needs of the Modern Traveler
As a business traveler, I often look at the airport as my office. A few months ago, I flew out of the Buffalo airport on my way to Boston for some meetings.  As any business traveler flying in the afternoon would do, I entered the terminal and looked for the nearest plug to make sure I had enough juice for the flight. Upon further investigation, every potential outlet was covered in impenetrable metal. The only available outlets? A “Pay for Power” station offering me a charge for a charge.

Logan clearly understands that waiting is more pleasant with entertainment, and modern entertainment requires a plug. Everywhere I looked, there was a free outlet – no co-opted marketing angle, no sitting on the floor next to an outlet because there were no chairs around. Just an understanding of what people need.

4. Wi-Fi for All
In addition to the four letter words most regular travellers drop regularly while being dehumanized, we have a six letter word as well – Boingo. In a world that increasingly looks at the internet as a right not a privilege, the idea of paying $10.00 for 24 hours of Wi-Fi is insulting. Do your passengers a favour – give them a little internet access in exchange for their airport tax dollars.

Logan airport progressively offered me free Wi-Fi upon arrival (all be it, sponsored by Google).  The result? I could catch up on a bit of work and find enough time to jump on  WordPress and offer the airport my compliments. When you have a good experience, you return the favour. If anyone is reading this – connect through Logan.

Airports with empathy
Sure, not all design changes lives. But we should never forget that good experiences certainly have the ability to impact them. Designing a decent airport experience is not rocket science, and a good experience at an airport could go a long way towards helping an industry notorious for experience breakdowns.

Logan airport was certainly not perfect, but what’s obvious is that it was designed with empathy. Somehow, they’ve managed to understand traveler needs and behaviours, and support them with the best design and features they can. Logan airport tries in an industry with a terrible reputation for under-delivering on customer experience, and I can’t help but leave with a positive perspective on my visit.

Have you had a great airport experience recently? Leave a comment and let us know what made it so great for you.

Marks & Spencer just opened a store on Nanjing Xi Lu, replacing a Muji. Both are established brands in their home country (UK and Japan) and both manufacture and package their own products. Both have a similar product approach in terms of keeping things simple but are different in their design approach. Marks & Spencer is not exactly an exciting retail experience and Muji has far better product design and presentation from functionality to aesthetics. Muji is not doing that well here, as it requires a level of sophistication to appreciate it whereas Marks & Spencer is basically selling British quality and this will win in the short term.

Distribution has always been the greatest hurdle for retailers. The opening of the wholesale sector should lead to major improvements in the distribution environment, but there is a big gap. Strategies that successful foreign enterprises have employed to overcome distribution barriers include developing their infrastructures or partnering with the locals, and both has unique challenges.

In 10 years, its retail sector has been transformed from a simple and inefficient distribution system to a much more complex and highly competitive market-oriented economy. The new retail economy in many ways resembles the contemporary retail economy in the US. It is also exhibiting significant differences with Chinese characteristics but I think eventually it will move towards a different direction. Shanghai and the rest of China is currently suffering from some kind of “Brand Fatigue” as consumers are slowly becoming more sophisticated. The trust and prestige issues carry very different meaning here in China. We are still 5-10 years away from a more predictable consumer behavior and the market evolves.

Coordinating colors can be completely confounding. Do the curtains match the carpet? Will the backsplash compliment the dishes? Is the bedding in-sync with the bedroom walls? To attempt to answer these difficult décor questions, most consumers rely on collecting piles of fabric swatches, paint chips, magazine clippings and even a favorite plate or bowl to mix and match them until the secret of personal style is finally revealed. Then, the challenge truly begins: braving a series of separate stores across the city to actually find those items that, in theory and from that pile, really do work together to conjure color coordination. Failure is frequent, and usually by a hue or two.

Color Concierge By Crate & Barrel solves this challenge by packing the style skills of a professional interior designer into a single, easy to use iPhone application. With reliable, robust and dynamic brainpower, it uses intelligent logic driven by color theory, an archive of best practices and pattern recognition of user activities to take a photo of a room or item, extract the color palette, refine color harmonies and generate the perfect product combinations. Then, to make shopping easier, it acquires instant product details, displays color and fabric options, receives smart recommendations from other brands that align to your project and personality, and accesses special offers available only through Color Concierge.

A partnership between Design Within Reach and Wine.com, Vertical Vines is a series of monthly social mixers that help luxury condo dwellers transform themselves from simply being neighbors to living together as a community.

Drawing on their skill for conjuring intimate, living spaces by guiding customers through exploring and experiencing new and classic products, DWR hosts the evening and Wine.com brings the vintages. For condo dwellers, Vertical Vines presents an exclusive, but accessible, social setting to connect, interact and learn about the best in wine, furniture, lighting and other Tools for Living.

In addition to informal talks, tasting and testing that help them to differentiate Chilewich from Citterio or a carmenere from a cabernet, every guest is given an access card leading to a personalized online portal where they can track wines they’ve purchased or tried, use tools to plan their condo design and receive future invitations and special offers from DWR and Wine.com. For the partners, the access cards and personalized online portals provide a CRM platform to drive online and offline sales, create stronger brand affinity and allow for more granular segmenting and individualized messaging. Vertical Vines is held once a month at select luxury condos. DWR designs and furnishes each room, allowing guests to explore and experience their new and classic products. Wine.com curates a thematic wine menu for each event (paired with hors d’œuvres) that can be voted on in advance.

Guests can also pre-order their favourite wines and furniture for pick-up on site. Guests receive a card attached to their email address to be swiped each time they receive a glass of wine. The card forms the foundation of a CRM program allowing guests to redeem currency earned through product reviews, referrals and on-site purchases. In combination with the online experience, it is also used to deliver frictionless market research. For guests, it provides guests access to Wine.com mixers nationally.

For the partners, the access cards and personalized online portals provide a CRM platform to drive online and offline sales, create stronger brand affinity and allow for more granular segmenting and individualized messaging.

Case Study: Whine and Wine
Getting to know your neighbors is great, and what better way then over a glass of wine? But lets talk new mom’s. Who better to appreciate a nice glass of wine and a chat with, lets face it, an adult? Vertical Vines could provide a supervised play area for children, and the moms could sit, relax and enjoy some delicious wine and cheese while getting to connect with other moms. Considering we’re currently feeling a bit of another baby boom, the new-moms-market is definitely where its at.

Economic downturn or not, travel continues to be a huge growth industry – if not for the sheer numbers of people criss-crossing the globe in search of tans and adventure, at least in terms of the sheer numbers of social media connections between them that facilitate better, more personalized experiences of travel. Customer reviews and ratings are fine and dandy, especially for sites and services designed to help customers find out what existing travel, trips and future stories await them. But do niche-motivated tourists and travelers who want to get off the beaten path and discover more granularity go?

Idea Couture’s first book, No One Works Here, offers a series of roadmaps to navigate what we see as emerging intersections between sociality, technology, design and business opportunity. One of those roadmaps is designed to make sure tourists and travelers arrive in style – a whole new style. It’s Red Crumbs. The idea behind it?

Truly discovering a new city at ground level takes more time, effort and money than most visitors can afford. Usually, the short cuts fall short: publishing cycles keep travel books from being on point and up to date; hotel concierges are quick to recommend only those restaurants, bars and clubs that are nearby; online portals to specific cities are driven by advertising, not users; and organized tours offer little more than a bland view (usually from the top of a bus) for the generic tourist. As an industry, travel and tourism have yet to meet the needs of those visitors who are eager to get off the beaten path, down the back alleys and into the realm of experiencing what cities have to offer beyond the brochure.

RedCrumb is a service that meets the experiential expectations of every visitor to every city in the world by connecting them with the spaces, places and people that make local cultures truly come to life. It begins with Crumbs – bits of information, reviews, routes, addresses, reviews, routes, dates and tips – dropped and tagged by Crumby Guides, neighborhood natives with specific areas of interest and experience in hotels, shopping, restaurants, bars, chefs, parks, beaches, markets, fetish clubs, DJs, bands, galleries, historical landmarks, microbreweries, yoga classes and more. On personal tours led by Crumby Guides or through digital audio and video they’ve uploaded to RedCrumb.com, visitors to a new city curate the kind of urban experience normally reserved for insiders. A self-sufficient platform, revenue is based on an in-person cost-per-tour/digital cost-per-stop model and shared between enterprising Crumby Guides and RedCrumb.com.

Case Study: You Could be the next great Crumby Guide
Your friend calls you up to say they will be visiting you in the big city next month! They’ve never been outside their town. You have lived in your city for about 3 years and take it upon yourself to show them everything you possibly can in the short week they are visiting. You start mapping out the great places they simply must see. Do they want to do all the touristy things? Are they a food connoisseur? Do they have money to burn on some serious shopping? All these questions factor in to your week long extravaganza. Now, what if you are visiting a new place and you don’t have that friend/personal tour guide? Then you need Redcrumb. A resource for fantastic and even custom tours of cities and towns you want to visit. Love vintage shopping? Want great food for cheap? Want to see the best places to take photographs? The most general or specific tours, just for you.