So just building on what my colleague Kevin Jackson said the other day about brand experiences and experience brands... which I thought was a really terrific illustration of a bad brand experience (waiting in line at a bank)... but that I had a hard time relating to (because I haven't stood in line at a bank since the invention of the ATM)... and I felt compelled to add to because I just had a really bad brand experience with my own bank.

One of the things that experience brands do well is make sure they are rock solid on all the little basics that add up in the mind of the customer (much as Kevin described). By which I mean, in this instance: people and databases talk to each other so that when "the brand" talks to you (even if it is a hired person working in a call center far far away), it tells you a good story.

The other day I called my bank (I've been a customer since 1995) to ask why my new checks haven't arrived. After several pauses and holds I was told that my checks were waiting at my local branch, where I opened my account (in 1995) and haven't been in a long long time (1995). After several more pauses and holds I was told that if I wanted my checks to be sent to my home address I'd have to start the whole process over (meaning wait another 2 weeks for checks I needed yesterday).

Now I am far too lazy to move to a new bank (did I mention 1995) given that bad brand experience... but when it comes to adding all those new services I need that I didn't need when I opened the account (1995), things like 529s and retirement and more mortgages, I will look elsewhere... and slowly migrate my loyalty to a competing brand.

So: bad or even midling brand experiences make for mediocre customer relationships at best; experience brands (those that are rock stars of all the details and that can tie them up in a nice neat bow for their customers) can expect rock solid relationships.

Another great example of why LEGO is an experience brand.

Check out more photos here.

Brandweek reports that the adult incontinence category -- worth $1.3 billion and growing given aging Boomers in the US -- is an increasing focus of marketing spend, with big campaigns running for Kimberly-Clark's Poise and Depend as well as rival Tena.

My two cents: this is a category crying out for brand experiences, for at least 3 reasons:

1. Given all the embarassment and bad jokes surrounding the adult incontinence category, you can practically see those expensive ads being skipped, fast forwarded and otherwise tuned out.
2. Brands need to offer consumers a combination of education to overcome misunderstanding and anxiety, plus samples.
3. Research shows that Boomers are receptive to live brand experiences as a way to learn about new brands.

Since we published our article about experience brands last week, several people have asked for more examples of B2B experience brands.

Here's an obvious one: Intel.

Going all the way back to the 1990s, Intel famously transcended the traditional just-the-facts, plain Jane, features and benefits approach of B2B branding with its "Intel Inside" campaign--which forever made Intel a household name among consumers. The brand redefined the experiences available to tell its story to its communities--for example, creating one of the world's most recognizable sonic brands with its five-note jingle. It keeps telling fantastic stories to be relevant to consumers, whether that's its online storytelling or its fantastic "Rock Stars" campaign (gets me every time).

But as a B2B brand, Intel also invests in engaging its core developer and engineer communities in ways that stand out among technology brands. It has continually enhanced and extended its brand experiences, live and online--the Intel Developer Forum being a terrific example.

Count me among the major skeptics when I heard of Starbucks' impending foray into the world of instant coffee (a category that conjures up bad memories and seems only slightly less artificial than Cheez Whiz in a spray can).

Imagine my surprise when VIA turned out to be pretty good... surprisingly good... a revelation practically forced on me by the aggressive promotional effort around the product. Having had zero intention of trying it, indeed having thought "yuck" when I heard about it, I'm a convert. This thanks to at least three in store experiences in which a free sample or a coffee-with-a-three-pack-of-VIA-deal was handed to me. Retail staff were spot-on super primed to support the VIA launch.

All this can't have been cheap, but it worked.

This is at least the second time Starbucks' aggressive promotions converted me into a believer. The first time dates way back to 2006 and involved a free cab ride on a particularly gloomy day.

Congrats to Hyundai, named "Marketer of the Year" by another leading trade. According to Advertising Age, Hyundai "won handily" in its reader poll.

Check out past JACK360 posts our work with Hyundai on its Gas Lock promotion and Genesis launch.

Aping Interbrand's annual ranking of top global brands by value, social media analyst Sysomos has issued a ranking of top brands according to social media presence: http://blog.sysomos.com/2009/10/13/the-worlds-leading-brand-by-social-media-presence/

Notable (and not surprising) shifts include dramatic northerly leaps by talk-worthy brands of this digital age--Google and Apple for example. See the Sysomos ranking below.