Good brand friction is said to be any interaction between a customer and a company that creates positive feelings about the company. Examples of good brand friction include providing excellent customer service, offering helpful advice or information, creating engaging content, and using innovative technology to make customers’ lives easier.
According to ChatGPT, brands can do more to embrace the good friction. Takeaways include:
- Make sure customers are aware of the value they are getting from your product or service.
- Create a seamless customer experience that anticipates and meets their needs, while also providing friction when necessary to ensure safety and security.
- Use data-driven insights to inform decision-making around how much friction should be used in different areas of the customer journey.
- Leverage technology such as AI, machine learning, natural language processing, etc., to help automate processes where possible and reduce manual effort for customers when applicable – this will create more positive experiences with less effort on their part.
- Provide helpful resources like FAQs and tutorials so customers can find answers quickly without having to contact support teams or wait for long phone queues (which creates unnecessary good friction).
- Develop an omnichannel approach by offering multiple communication options so customers can choose what works best for them in any given situation. This could include live chat, email, social media messaging platforms, etc.
Keynote: Agitate to Stimulate – How Successful Brands Embrace A Dose of Good Friction
Since the moment the first human invented the wheel, we have been on the hunt to do more with less effort. This has accelerated in recent years with a ruthless focus on creating frictionless experiences. But have we gone too far? Indeed, not all friction is created equal.
In the quest to reduce bad friction, have we neutered all the good friction? Good friction is essential to induce the much needed happy chemicals like Adrenaline, Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins (A Dose). Good friction leads to creating Exclusivity, Meaning, Belonging, Rapport, Assurance, Competence, and Engagement (Embrace).
In a Keynote at FEI 2023, author Soon Yu invites participants to come learn how successful companies are developing new insights into the role of good friction in the design of meaningful brand experiences.
Brand Innovation Expertise
Soon Yu is an international speaker, award winning and best selling author on branding, innovation and design, and Forbes contributor who has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine and New York Times.
His latest book, Friction, challenges businesses to consider adding more friction for their customers and employees in order to create greater engagement, meaning, belonging, rapport, assurance, competence, and exclusivity.
His previous book, Iconic Advantage, challenges businesses, from Fortune 500 to venture-backed startups, to refocus their innovation priorities on building greater iconicity, and offers deeper insights on establishing timeless distinction and relevance.
He most recently served as the Global VP of Innovation and Corporate Officer at VF Corporation, parent organization to over 30 global apparel companies, including The North Face, Vans, Timberland, and Supreme. While at VF, Soon commercialized a $2 billion innovation pipeline, established three global innovation centers, and initiated industry-leading design and innovation best practices.
Prior to this, he worked at The Clorox Company and Chiquita Brands, where he won company-wide awards for best advertising, best promotion and best new product, and gained industry recognition from the Webby Award, Favorite Website Award and Dope Award. He has also been a consultant at Bain and Company, and a founder and CEO for numerous venture-backed startups and was recognized as a Northern California finalist for the prestigious Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award.
He is a highly sought-after speaker on leadership, branding, innovation, design and entrepreneurship, and has taught at the Parsons School of Design and often guest lectures at Stanford University (where he received his MBA and is active with the GSB Asian Alumni Association).
See Keynote speaker Soon Yu, best-selling author, Friction and Iconic Advantage, at FEI 2023.
