branding in the on-demand economy: designing experiences in the last mile

by Brian Solis, Principal Analyst at Altimeter, a Prophet Company

April 14, 2017

EXPERIENCES HAPPEN IN THE LAST MILE … DESIGN THEM: LESSONS FROM UBER, AIRBNB AND THE ON-DEMAND ECONOMY

www.altimetergroup.com | @altimetergroup | [email protected]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY• The on-demand economy (formerly known as the sharing economy) is changing the way

customers want to do business with companies in every industry.

• End users are increasingly placing value on experiences over traditional products and services. Reports reveal that customers say they want “experiences not products” and are willing to pay premiums for them.

• On-demand services are raising the bar for customer experiences across every industry.

• For all their popularity and disruption, these companies may also be missing opportunities in customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX).

• With on-demand companies, innovative technology is only one part of the experience. The front-line of service providers makes or breaks the customer experience every time.

• Service providers are “customers” too and as such require care and nurturing.

• As on-demand companies mature, they must invest in front-line service providers to deliver consistent experiences that align with brand/company promises.

• End users are equally responsible for the brand experience. Companies must invest equally in CX and EX to foster a productive ecosystem.

• Experience design represents the future of brand through meaningful and intentional CX and EX.

• Every executive in any business can learn from the on-demand economy to deliver valuable employee and customer experiences.

.

TABLE OF CONTENTSExecutive Summary 2Standing at the intersection of the on-demand experience economies 3

I want my on-demand economy now! 4The collaboration beween the on-economy and experience economies 5Transparency as a business advantage 6Happy representatives make happy customers 7Taking a step back to move forward: people are your brand 8Experience archhitecture: CX + EX = X (experience) 10

Experience Architecture: Uber 11Experience Architecture: Airbnb 17Customer Service is the New Marketing 27Endnotes 30About Us 32

http://www.altimetergroup.com

http://twitter.com/altimetergroup

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STANDING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE ON-DEMAND EXPERIENCE ECONOMIES

I’ve been thinking a lot about experience these last several years. So much so that I focused my research and writing on understanding what experiences are, what makes them memorable, and, more so, how to design them. The result is a new book on experience design, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, which took the better part of three years to develop. But this isn’t about a book. This is a review of experience and how to align brand with meaningful employees and customers.

What is experience?

Experience is one of those words that carries a lot of weight in business, but its true meaning is often elusive. Ask executives across the organization what it is and why it’s important, and you’ll get a different answer each time. If you strip away the hype and business speak, an experience, at its very essence, is an emotional reaction to an event or moment. An experience is something you feel, something you sense and interpret, and it’s measured by how you react. In business, these moments happen in every step of the customer and employee journey. Most of the time, these moments are scripted, managed, and processed as transactions. The “experience” is then measured by some value that doesn’t capture or reflect the state of individual and collective experiences in each moment. But in business, experience is the sum of all engagements a customer or employee has with your brand throughout their lifecycle.

This is a time for businesses to be thoughtful, even intentional, in how they consider the experiences they wish to enliven in key moments of truth. And more so, businesses must ensure the alignment between experiences, the brand promise, and all aspects of the customer and employee lifecycle.

Sometimes the best way to move forward is to take a step back. When it comes to experience design, I’d like to explore two of the most commonly cited examples in innovative business models … Uber and Airbnb. Doing so helps to unlock creative and critical thinking that’s often difficult to achieve when we operate in the proverbial box that we always try to think outside of. By seeing things from an alternative perspective, we may uncover new ways to thrive in what Joseph Pine and James Gilmore described in their seminal book, the The Experience Economy.




https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118456548/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1118456548&linkCode=as2&tag=pr200f-20&linkId=NGPS4FWKDFE5CXSN

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118456548/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1118456548&linkCode=as2&tag=pr200f-20&linkId=NGPS4FWKDFE5CXSN

https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Economy-Updated-Joseph-Pine/dp/1422161978/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479584688&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Experience+Economy


I WANT MY ON-DEMAND ECONOMY NOW!The sharing economy as it was once defined isn’t completely accurate, except for very specific or verticalized applications that facilitate sharing or property, ideas, work, etc. Some of the most popular apps that sparked conversations about “sharing,” i.e., Uber, Airbnb, and the like were actually miscategorized. In truth, there’s very little sharing going on among their users or within respective markets. They do represent, however, new marketplaces for peer-to-peer products and services that empower sellers and buyers to become part of a real-time and on-demand exchange.

Now, consumers around the world have immediate access to products and services via an app and a mobile device. More so, service providers and users contribute to the on-demand economy by weaving a veil of transparency that fosters reviews and feedback for all stakeholders. Now everyone has skin in the game. This unprecedented access is also changing the dynamic for customer and employee experiences by evolving their expectations, preferences, and behaviors.

When it comes to the on-demand economy, Uber and Airbnb have become the darlings or villains of the on-demand economy. As of the time of this writing, Uber and Airbnb boast market valuations of $68 billion and $30 billion, respectively. Looking beyond Uber and Airbnb, each of the companies shaping the on-demand economy is in their own way disrupting traditional and incumbent companies or creating entirely new sectors as they scale … in real-time. For example, Postmates connects local businesses and customers. Doordash adds online order and delivery services to local restaurants. Filld bypasses service stations to deliver gasoline to drivers wherever they are. TaskRabbit connects freelance labor to local needs. The list goes on and on.

What each of these businesses share is that they are individually and collectively re-imagining services models around customer-centricity, immediacy, and transparency. At the same time, they are raising the bar for experiences by conditioning customers to believe that the world revolves around them. In any instant, they can have what they want, when they want it, wherever they are simply using a mobile device. As a result, customers now expect all companies to do business in real-time, mobile-centric ways that unite providers, products, and customers on common, empowered grounds.

Thriving real-time marketplaces emphasize value based on convenience and personal engagement. The effect is measured in loyalty and trust. Once a customer experiences something so personal and swift, it’s difficult to see traditional services in a complementary light. In some cases, on-demand services unlock new value that makes the old businesses seem obsolete.

Every business, not just startups in the on-demand space, now need to recognize that they compete with Uber, Airbnb, and evolving value propositions even if they’re not in the same industry.

Every business, not just startups in the on-demand

space, now need to recognize that they compete with Uber, Airbnb, and evolving value propositions even if they’re

not in the same industry.





There’s much to learn from their accomplishments and efforts. You might say that Uber and Airbnb, and the like, are thriving based on their newness, popularity, and utility. At the root of all of it is the emphasis that these companies place on customers and ultimately representatives. To continue to grow, they will need to consistently invent, evolve, and scale meaningful and personal experiences for all stakeholders.

Beyond technology, every company in the on-demand space will be made or broken based on the last mile of customer engagement. It is a testament to the growing relationship between exceptional technology and good old-fashioned human interaction. The Achilles’ heel of these companies, as well as the opportunities they face, ultimately rests in the front line … their representatives and service providers. The technology is already proven and getting better. But, in the end, customer satisfaction comes down to more than the service that was performed. That’s becoming a commodity (rides, places to stay, deliveries, etc.). Ongoing value proposition is delivered and measured by how someone feels, what someone says and does, and the ensuing loyalty that follows each transaction.

This means that the future of the on-demand economy and the success of your own business is placed upon the experiences you design and train against. In a world run by technology, humanity becomes the killer app.

THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE ON-ECONOMY AND EXPERIENCE ECONOMIESPeople will have experiences whether you design them or not. And you can bet that they will be shared. So why do so many companies leave experiences to chance? As they say, actions speaker louder than words. Inactions, too, speak just as loudly. Nothing should be left to chance.

What’s possible when you intentionally design new services and models for a new breed of customers and company representatives? The answer is … it’s up to the visionaries to define and design. So the answer isn’t a guess; it’s intentional.

Now’s the time to invest in the design of meaningful and shareable experiences at the brand, provider, and customer levels. Otherwise, experiences happen with or without you. Why would you miss those opportunities to shape and steer outcomes?

In a world run by technology, humanity

becomes the killer app.





TRANSPARENCY AS A BUSINESS ADVANTAGEThe on-demand economy is built upon a real-time, personalized, two-way rating system that democratizes all experiences — giving power to providers and customers equally. This capital increases or decreases based on how people feel following each transaction. In such a connected society, one where transactions are based on convenience and trust, experiences become a powerful form of social + brand capital. And it’s not just customer experiences that matter in the end. The brands of Uber and Airbnb, and beyond for example, are defined by the experiences of their customers AND service providers (drivers, hosts, agents, contractors, etc.). The voice and actions of customers and service providers publicly contribute to the brand and the brand experience in ways from which we could learn and appreciate more.

While it might seem commonsensical, it is the customer and employee experience, holistically, that is often left to stakeholders and users to interpret on their own. Any one thing does not define an experience independently though. Remember, it is the sum of all touches in every moment that form “the experience.”

In an era of radical transparency, the future of brand in the on-demand and experience economies, and among all businesses, lies in experience architecture and the ability to design and bring desired experiences to life at every level, in every moment, among everyone to optimize engagement throughout the relationship. That’s intentional. And that takes design.

Companies in the on-demand economy should design and manage an additional layer of provider quality, experience, and empowerment. Everyday businesses must also think about every moving part that forms and serves the entire customer and employee journey.









HAPPY REPRESENTATIVES MAKE HAPPY CUSTOMERSOn-demand companies largely employ a contract workforce who represent the front line of customer engagement. Referred to as giggers, permalancers, 1099ers, micro-entrepreneurs, etc., these individuals sign up to earn on-demand income on their own time and at their discretion. These companies are more than happy to enlist contract services as it offsets investments in human capital and prioritizes innovation and market development. At the same time, these companies cannot grow without their help. The question, though, is at what point does scale come at the cost of brand experience? Investment in the last mile is critical to the manifestation of experience design for any business.

As on-demand companies expand footprints across their respective markets, these contractors may miss or completely bypass the concept of customer experience (CX).

Why?

These companies live or die based on the success of their recruitment programs, customer service, and competitive pricing. Experience though is under appreciated. Yet, service providers, once enlisted, may or may not perform in ways that align with the overall brand promise. For example, representatives may consider experience either transnationally (I performed the duty expected), individually (their standard for customer experience based on life experiences), or holistically (I buy into the brand promise and aspire to earn a top rating that corresponds to the company’s promise).

On-demand companies, and every company for that matter, must understand and appreciate what today’s connected customer expects, prefers, and values. These new services teach people to get what they want — where, when, and how they want. This takes a new level of experience design, from top to bottom, partnered with front-line brand and customer engagement training.

(On-demand) companies live or die based on the

success of their recruitment programs, customer service,

and competitive pricing. Experience though is under appreciated.





TAKING A STEP BACK TO MOVE FORWARD: PEOPLE ARE YOUR BRAND

Today, brand is not fully in the grips of organizational control, at least not the way it used to be. Instead, brand is now formed by the experiences customers have and share. In the on-demand company, brand is also formed by how contractors deliver against the desired service and against customer expectations. Said another way, brand experience is no longer brand-defined, but instead user-defined. Companies now must ensure consistency and relevance against the brand promise throughout each touchpoint.

When it comes to Uber and Airbnb, and any company in the on-demand economy, measuring brand, experience, satisfaction, and loyalty using traditional scores are no longer comprehensive or accurate. They must now consider experiential metrics that reveal human responses in the moment — and holistically.

For example, a main pillar in the on-demand economy is the foundation for peer-to-peer review systems in the app, as well as overall app ratings, on iOS and Android platforms. In the case of Uber, the driver rates you and you rate the driver. It is the individual and collective set of rides plus the sum of those experiences that ultimately define the Uber brand. It’s much more than how well the app works or whether you received timely and efficient service. Uber relies on drivers to be professional and courteous, as well as offer a presentable car.

The tagline, above all, originated as “everyone’s private driver.” It wasn’t, “Hey, get in the car and let’s go for a ride ... pay me … now get out!” It was and is meant to be an experience. Thus, drivers, in addition to the platform, are stewards for the brand. But then again, so are passengers. Passengers must also live up to the brand experience, because to Uber, its stakeholders are both drivers and those who rely upon them to get from point to point. Every bit of the experience matters.

The same is true when you host or rent through Airbnb. The host rates guests, and guests rate the host. The combined experiences on and off the platform define the Airbnb brand. And like all apps in the on-demand economy, and brands in general, ratings and reviews spill over across the web and real world.

In the last mile, there’s more to the experience than just the product or service offered. As important as customer experience is to business, the next big area of investment is that of employee experience (EX).

Like in most businesses, the on-demand economy is one where people ultimately engage with people. With Uber, drivers and passengers talk to one another. With Airbnb, hosts and guests

In a time when people are brands and brands are people,

companies have two sets of stakeholders … customers and

contractors/employees.





speak to one another. In almost every on-demand case, service providers, in some way, touch the customer. Regardless of whether they’re employees or contractors, they are representatives and they leave their mark, whatever that may be. It cannot be open to interpretation on any side.

These human instances are part of a new social currency. They either contribute to or take away from the value of the brand and the resulting experience. They’re natural occurrences of course, but more so, they are also part of a new genre of transparency that changes the dynamic for customer and employee/representative engagement. Each instance forms impressions. As such, people, your customers and employees, not only review the service online, they talk to others and so on. As Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say when you’re not in the room.”

How many Uber and Lyft drivers have you met? How many tell you their life story? How many have opened up about their experience with said service? For every service provider that aims to give you an incredible experience, there are also those who will take each opportunity to share their opinion about what could be better. For every person who puts water, treats, charging cables in the car for you, there are those who are becoming disgruntled because they are not engaged or worse, they feel underappreciated.

In each instance, expressions on both sides contribute to impressions. And each of these impressions serve as a key pillar to the experience and, more so, to the feelings and memories service providers and customers take away.

In a time when people are brands and brands are people, companies have two sets of stakeholders … customers and contractors/employees. They require engagement and investment to foster mutually beneficial relationships.









EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE: CX + EX = X (EXPERIENCE)Every company can do better when it comes to CX and EX. In my research over the years, very few companies invest in pre-designed experiences at every level. Now’s the time for every company to invest in an experiential story arc or experience style guide that outlines the total experience … in each touchpoint. This must also account for the experience as promised by the brand and brought to life by all stakeholders, service providers, and users.

Welcome to a new, multidimensional world where brands are formed by how products are experienced and shared and how companies foster engagement with all stakeholders.

In a complex world, one where multi-dimensional experiences span physical and digital realms and are readily discoverable, experiences influence perception. Thus, companies and service providers must partner to nurture and live an intentional and value-added service ethos.

Experience architecture communicates the purpose and promise of what the brand, product, and overall engagement will create, evoke, and collectively shape. Experience design is all-encompassing and meant to inspire providers and customers. It also accounts for the smallest of things. Identifying and removing friction is the first place to start ... for all stakeholders.

Let’s now explore where the on-demand and experience economies intersect. Doing so will help any company consider how to expand efforts beyond creative, marketing, product, et al., to bring to life a holistic model that caters to customers and employees that expect transparency, immediacy, and personalization.

To get us started, I outlined basic rules of engagement for Uber and Airbnb service providers and customers. They are by no means comprehensive. Instead, they’re meant to demonstrate the basics of experience. More so, these simple rules of engagement highlight how investing in human dynamics, at every level, not only deliver better experiences, but also build more productive relationships among all stakeholders.









EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE: UBER

When it comes to brand, Uber debuted as “everyone’s private driver.” Now, that logo and tagline has evolved into something more universal. With a new tagline, “get there,” the company is focusing on more than ride/hail services. Uber is expanding its services to become an intelligent, innovative, crowd-sourced logistics company. But its main business still trades on experiences for customers and service providers. As such, Uber must be intentional and diligent in designing and enlivening a desired experience that connects its brand, app, services, contractors, and customers to its promise.

Today, however, its approach is partly formalized, partly left to the ecosystem to fill in the gaps, and largely ad hoc.

If it’s one thing about the misnomer of the “sharing economy” that I appreciate, it’s that ownership of the brand and the brand experience is indeed shared. Each user — whether drivers, passengers, or HQ — is accountable for shaping the very nature and community that forms the Uber brand.

Over the years, not all Uber drivers expressed gratitude. It’s no secret that many have felt underappreciated or in some cases taken for granted. Some Uber drivers have protested and filed lawsuits over prices and employment benefits. It doesn’t help Uber branding when a passenger enters the car to see systems and branding elements promoting competitors, i.e., Lyft. Some drivers have no choice. They need to support as many companies to earn their desired living. The best way for Uber to deliver desired experiences in the last mile is to ensure the well-being of its service providers. If they don’t, someone else will.

As a means of helping drivers deliver on-brand services, Uber offers training manuals, videos, and courses. Uber also publishes a quarterly magazine, Momentum, meant to serve as part handbook and part marketing/retention strategy to help drivers feel like they’re part of a growing community. Whether or not drivers review these materials is an entirely separate conversation. Uber also recommends that drivers take local courses hosted by Uber-friendly service providers. But that hasn’t been enough.

Any driver, or customer for that matter, who has tried to get customer service in times of need will share just how frustrating it can be when you’re met with canned Q&A, automated systems, and email threads. As a result, Uber began opening partner support offices. While not in every major city yet, it is expanding to provide drivers with perks, services, resources, etc.





A COTTAGE INDUSTRY RISES ON-DEMANDIn the absence of universal Uber-direct training, some companies and entrepreneurial drivers are creating a cottage-industry doing just that. For example, part-time driver and self-appointed Uber trainer Brian Cole hosts a YouTube channel that’s already earned nearly 3,000 subscribers. There, he shares elementary and advanced information to help new and expert Uber drivers alike. In an interview with Fusion, Cole shared his motivation for developing Uber-centric content: “The information that Uber and Lyft gives its drivers is very scarce. Drivers are going to places like Google, YouTube, and Facebook groups to try and get answers to their questions. The huge gap of training versus of revenue generation has led to a wide-open opportunity.”

In fact, Cole has since developed a video instruction course at $97 per driver and has made tens of thousands of dollars at the time of the article. He’s just one of many individuals, including Harry Campbell (TheRideShareGuy), UberMan, Rideshare Dashboard, and RideSharingDriver.com, rising to the occasion. Without active Uber direction, this trend will only continue.

While an Uber-focused cottage-industry is helpful, it is thriving without any form of official brand or experiential directive or standard. Uber is largely placing the responsibility of its branding and customer experience strategies with third parties. This is too important for Uber not to drive it.





https://www.youtube.com/user/colebrianj/

http://fusion.net/story/159993/how-a-few-drivers-are-turning-ubers-lagging-driver-training-into-a-cottage-industry/

http://therideshareguy.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/randyshear

http://ridesharedashboard.com/

http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/





DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXPERIENCEBy investing in experience architecture, Uber will help drivers and passengers alike reinforce and propagate the intended experience. But, make no mistake, no amount of technology, funding, or puppies or kittens are going to negate bad experiences. Drivers are always ambassadors.

Customers should also be under the microscope when it comes to driver experience. Passengers with less than a stellar reputation are often passed over — or worse, have pickups cancelled on the fly. Passengers sometimes take drivers for granted, making them wait, follow orders, cram passengers, dirty or soil their interiors … the list goes on. Uber can also benefit by involving passengers in their role in the Uber experience. It’s more than just earning a better rating.

Drivers and passengers get out of the Uber experience what they put into it (or don’t). But Uber is ultimately responsible setting the bar for brand and engagement. To help, Uber hosts a page to define the “ground rules” to ensure the riders and drivers have a five-star experience when using Uber. It’s community guidelines are less about brand or experience and more about respect, service, and safety. And, if the rules aren’t followed, Uber will suspend or cancel privileges for drives and riders: “[The guidelines] explain in plain English the kind of behavior we expect from both riders and drivers when using Uber. As part of these ground rules … we’re publishing a policy explaining why riders can lose access to Uber — just as we already do with drivers.”

The Uber community is just that... a community. Everybody’s a stakeholder. Experience is everything. But experience is more than just great service. It’s the feeling or sensation that someone perceives in each moment and every moment. And, that takes design.

As part of its experience design initiatives, Uber rolled out two new experiential features, one aimed at improving passenger and driver engagement and, ultimately, driver and Uber relationships. The other is aimed at moving passengers beyond taxi-like services and bringing them into real-time Uber moments.

Uber Marketing

Platform- 3rd Party

Apps/Services

Drivers

Passengers




https://www.uber.com/legal/community-guidelines/us-en/


INNOVATION IN USER EXPERIENCE ENHANCES CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES

Drivers have long said they want more than ratings as a form of feedback; they wanted productive input to emphasize what was great and what could be improved. In a step toward meeting their needs, Uber introduced “Compliments,” a way to provide constructive feedback and give specific praise to drivers based on individual encounters. After each ride, passengers continue to rate as normal, but now they’re offered stickers to give testament to great aspects of the engagement, ranging from “excellent service” to “great conversation” to “expert navigation” and more.

Uber also rolled out “Driver Destinations” so that drivers can take greater control of where their rides take them. They often don’t know where they’re headed until they accept or start the trip. In many cases, drivers looking to stay within a specific vicinity are left to ask passengers where they were going before officially accepting the ride to determine if their destination is taking them farther away from their comfort zone. If it is, drivers are forced to cancel on the spot, leaving the passenger to start the hailing process all over again.

One of the driver’s biggest requests is that they would like the option to receive tips to offset aggressive promotions that Uber runs often at the expense of the driver’s potential income.

On the passenger side, Uber introduced “Uber Feed,” an upgrade that turns Uber’s passenger app into a Facebook-like experience once the trip begins. As the car pulls away, a scrollable feed of “cards” self-contained services appears at the bottom of the app. Beyond monitoring a map of the trip, passengers can now swipe through cards to explore a variety of complementary services. For example, passengers can view which UberEats restaurants can deliver by their arrival time. They can browse popular restaurants with the Yelp card near their destination. There’s even a SnapChat card with custom filters.

Uber also has rolled out an experience API that lets other third-party developers help passengers control their ambiance. For example, Spotify plugs into the app to give users control of in-car entertainment.

To improve the Uber brand experience, there are some simple things that the company can do. First and foremost, it has to continue investments in experiences in addition to tech, marketing, and driver/passenger recruitment. Onboarding is also critical for new drivers. At the same time, there should be onboarding for passengers as well. Think “Welcome kit 2.0” where each pillar of the Uber experience is defined and brought to life for each stakeholder by stakeholders.

Drivers have long said they want more than ratings as a

form of feedback; they wanted productive input to emphasize

what was great and what could be improved.




https://www.wired.com/2016/11/uber-plan-make-driving-lot-fun/


DO’S AND DON’TS TO COLLABORATIVELY DRIVE THE UBER BRANDBeyond Uber’s investment in experience design, I decided to have a little fun with some basics. I assembled a short list of do’s and don’ts to help drivers and passengers collaborate and co-promote a more desirable and consistent brand experience. Please feel free to add to the list!

Dear drivers, please do …1. Take the time to align your work

with the Uber way of business. Keep learning how to improve your service. You’re not just a rep; it’s your business too!

2. Be patient and polite.3. Offer water, small treats, magazines,

and tissues/wipes.4. Maintain a clean, safe, and

presentable vehicle.5. Obey the rules and laws of the road.6. Turn off outside distractions.7. Offer to adjust music and

temperature.8. Ask for preferred routes beyond the

less-than-perfect Uber map.9. Check Waze for traffic before driving

(and starting the drive) to ensure a timely path.

10. Provide chargers for devices.11. Act as if you will see passengers

again, because you most likely will.12. Ask them how their experience was

and wish them well as they leave.

Drivers, please don’t …1. Complain about driving for Uber or how the

company is making you work harder for less money (while important, it doesn’t help the ultimate cause).

2. Drive cars in which you smoke, even when you are not driving passengers.

3. Drive passengers in dirty cars.4. Drive unsafe or unfit vehicles.5. Keep talking when your passenger is hoping

for a quiet ride.6. Drive as if you’re trying to win a Formula 1

race as a way of fitting in more drives. 7. Drive as if this is the last drive of your life and

you wish to savor every moment of it. 8. Talk on your phone, Snap, or txt while

driving.9. Manipulate what used to be “surge pricing”

to inflate the cost of trips.10. Get creative with routes.11. Offer to bypass the Uber app.12. Lie or falsely accuse passengers of making

messes to score extra cleanup cash. 13. Create stress or frustration while driving.14. Treat the drive as a therapy session and

passengers as your therapist.15. Be unmannerly. 16. Abuse, injure, threaten, or flirt with

passengers.17. Sell other merchandise or services during

the drive.





Again, the passenger is vital to the Uber experience as well. It’s in Uber’s best interest, as well as yours, to be benevolent and collaborative.

Dear passengers, please do …1. Offer a tip if service is extraordinary.2. Leave accurate ratings and tell them

when you’re giving 5 stars.3. Be specific about pickup and drop-off

and if there’s a particular route you want to take.

4. Clean up after yourself.5. Be courteous and pleasant.6. Earn the rating you want by being

prompt, communicative, mannered, and thankful.

7. Introduce yourself to the driver. This also helps confirm you’re in the right car.

8. Communicate if you’d like something specific or different rather than deduct stars from the review.

Dear passengers, please don’t …1. Make drivers wait.2. Get in the wrong Uber.3. Be rude or talk down to drivers.4. Overload the vehicle.5. Damage or contaminate your driver’s car.6. Make a mess, consume alcohol,

do drugs, etc.7. Play music too loudly. 8. Act obnoxious, be drunk, have foreplay

(or sex), etc.9. Beat or berate drivers.10. Confuse UberX, UberPool, and other

discounted services with Uber Black. There are tiers of service for a reason





http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/03/former-taco-bell-exec-faces-new-charges-in-uber-fracas.html





EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE: AIRBNBOver the past several decades, dominant hoteliers, such as Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt, built their reputations on ensuring that guests could expect consistently, predictable experiences anywhere in the world. But today’s connected consumers want the opposite of that. As much as Airbnb commercialized personal space, the real play was to get to the root of what consumers really want … experiences.

Connected consumers are opting to experience local culture, flavor, and exclusive or distinctive stories. Big-brand hotel chains, travel agencies, and service providers simply cater to a different set of expectations and values.

To say that Airbnb is in the experience business is an understatement. Not only is the company redefining the future of hospitality, it is doing so at a blinding pace. During summer 2015, through its tech and partner network, Airbnb hosted more than 800,000 people on any given night. And the company also approached $1 billion in annual revenue during that same year.

Like Uber and other on-demand companies, Airbnb has its fair share of political battles conquered, lost, and still yet to fight. And like Uber, Airbnb has a sizeable, and controversial, portfolio of unfortunate experiences that play out online and in the press. The on-demand space is nascent though. As such, these companies must master exceptional experience design, onboarding, and customer service.

The success of the on-demand genre is largely dependent on the experience providers not only promise, but also deliver at every level. As with Uber, Airbnb must define the overarching experience and bring it to life in every touchpoint, as well as through hosts, services, and guests. Of all the on-demand companies, Airbnb exhibits some of the most ambitious strides in experiential branding, product development, and community management.

Airbnb started as a marketplace for hosts to make extra money by renting couches, beds, rooms, and houses. But, now, the company is setting out to make the platform something more significant than peer-to-peer rentals. Airbnb is building an expansive hospitality network where hosts/guests, destinations, homes, and activities form a global community rooted in experiences.




http://www.recode.net/2015/5/27/11563032/airbnb-is-approaching-one-milllion-guests-per-night

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/airbnb-nearing-1-billion-in-annual-revenue-2015-11-20

https://www.google.com/search?q=airbnb+nightmares&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


BRINGING IN A VETERAN TO REIMAGINE NORMAL TRAVEL EXPERIENCESIn 2013, Airbnb hired hotel industry veteran Chip Conley as its Global Head of Hospitality. As the founder of Joie de Vivre hotels, the second largest group of boutique properties in the US, Conley knows something about experience architecture. His original mission was to launch the company’s Hospitality Lab. The goal was to host training programs to ensure host and guest satisfaction and extend Airbnb’s mainstream appeal. Conley’s ultimate vision, though, was to make Airbnb a global hospitality brand.

In the press release announcing his appointment, Conley shared his vision for hospitality: “I became a boutique hotelier because I wanted to shake up the conventional wisdom that in order to offer quality hospitality, you had to be conventional.”

Even though Airbnb is technically an on-demand company, hospitality still means “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.” In this business, especially, experience standards should be designed and enlivened at differentiating and meaningful levels, just like the best hospitality brands in the world. Successful brands have to compete through exceptional experiences and services … beyond products and price. It’s a promise that a brand makes and delivers consistently that matters now and over time. And this is true for any industry.

We don’t have to look any further than Ritz-Carlton to understand the relationship between promise, brand, and service. While it’s a traditional model, Ritz-Carlton believes experience is the core of its “mystique” and allure.

At The Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests.

By applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity, and commitment, we nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the company.

The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton Mystique is strengthened.

Airbnb, in its own way, is blazing a new trail.

Great experiences equate to happier customers, a stronger brand, and profit. As such, Conley prioritizes customer care, a thorough understanding of the Airbnb platform, and insights to address the smallest of details. Initially, Conley set out to design the company’s experiential architecture for hosts and set the stage for brand, community development, accountability, and experiences. The challenge is delivering against a promise throughout the customer journey, which includes technology, host engagement, host property, guest behavior, host and guest experiences, and reviews.

I wanted to shake up the conventional wisdom that

in order to offer quaity hospitality, you had to be

conventional.




http://luxurytravel.about.com/od/hotelandresorts/ss/Ritz-Carlton-Hotels-Top-Service.htm


THE AIRBNB COMMUNITY CREATES A VIBRANT ECOSYSTEMAirbnb is taking a different approach to its service model by focusing on community… and by community, I mean relationships with guests, hosts, and service providers are actively nurtured by Airbnb. In all that it does, Airbnb bolsters this notion of community through all it communicates. The company even hosts a notable annual conference, Airbnb Open, that brings hosts, partners, and policy makers together. The conference is meant to bring stakeholders together around the brand and the total purpose. It’s part marketing, part training/workshops, and all community building.

At the same time, a burgeoning third-party ecosystem is thriving to fill the existing gaps between formalized Airbnb training, host operations, and customer experience.

For example, Guesty describes itself as the tool that makes your Airbnb business a success. The company offers hosts 24/7 front desk receptionists, cleaning management, and property management software.

UrbanBellhop and GuestHop greet guests and answer any questions they may have. They also provide onsite services and experiences, such as cleaning, leaving niceties to enhance guest arrival, etc. Services like these are key, as Airbnb will flourish by tailoring localized guest experiences beyond just accommodations. Services such as offers of babysitting, local tickets to shows and ball games, and even coupons to local restaurants offer hotel-like experiences without the hotel experience.

And for those hosts who want to learn how to deliver better experiences while creating a successful business doing so, there are many expert resources at their disposal. One such service is LearnAirbnb, a dedicated site for tips, education, and research.

Like with Uber and other on-demand companies, ecosystems can scale services and experiences when the platform can’t. It’s key, however, for those value-added partners to align with the brand promise and operate against a mapped-out experience architecture.





https://www.guesty.com/

http://www.urbanbellhop.com/

http://guesthop.com/

http://www.psfk.com/2014/05/airbnb-activities-conceirge.html#!PqtYl

http://www.psfk.com/2014/05/airbnb-activities-conceirge.html#!PqtYl





MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL … WHO HAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF THEM ALL?In 2007, Airbnb co-founders hosted their first guest. It was then that they realized the story of Airbnb would be one of belonging. What if you could go anywhere and become part of the local city, the culture, the lifestyle, and even have friends in the area who could show you around?

What’s interesting about Airbnb is the level to which it invests in its hosts to give guests unforgettable experiences. After all, hosts are the front-line providers and stewards of experiences. As Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky once famously said, “We need our hosts to be successful. We need to treat them like partners to be successful.”

The weakest link in brand experience is defined by the worst experience given by hosts who don’t live the brand as designed. At the same time, the worst experience for hosts are when thoughtless, needy, or nightmare guests confuse homes and renters with personal playgrounds or expect a much different experience than what Airbnb promises.

This is why experience design and training and services are instrumental in the on-demand economy and branding overall.

Most of the host engagements I’ve had over the years have been beyond lovely. But, sometimes, the experience can be downright negative and even egregious. As a frequent Airbnb guest, I can attest to some of the most incredible things some hosts do to save a buck. I can only imagine the stories that hosts have about less-than-desirable guests.

This is one of the primary reasons Airbnb has set an exemplary example in how companies can reimagine value and engagement beyond products, price, and convenience.

During a Christmas holiday in 2012, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky read a biography of Walt Disney. In the book, the story of Snow White and the importance of storyboarding in its production inspired Chesky to explore new features for Airbnb.

The company embarked upon project “Snow White” to study and understand the entire journey for Airbnb hosts and guests. To do so, Head of Insights Rebecca Sinclair, Chesky, and Pixar animator Nick Sung developed storyboards to visualize emotional moments that comprise an Airbnb stay.

Airbnb Marketing

Host/Guest Engagement

Rental hosts/

Activity hosts

Guests





Storyboards presented a long-term set of priorities for scale, moving away from transactional room rental and toward customer experience, service, and lifestyle. In Sequoia Capitol’s blog, an early Airbnb investor, Airbnb CTO Nate Blecharczyk, tells the story this way …

The storyboard was a galvanizing event in the company. We all now know what “frames” of the customer experience we are working to better serve. Everyone from customer service to our executive team gets shown the storyboard when they first join, and its integral to how we make product and organizational decisions. Whenever there’s a question about what should be a priority, we ask ourselves which frame will this product or idea serve. It’s a litmus test for all the possible opportunities and a focusing mechanism for the company.

Before the company even visualized the journey, it first had to understand whom the people were who would define the Airbnb community: its hosts and guests. Persona development is a wonderful way to humanize the very people you wish to embrace. In this case, the company identified six different characters:

1. Cassandra (Casual Host), 2. Paul (Pro-Host), 3. Stephen (Semi-Pro Host),

Each is described and humanized in ways that not only enliven their personality but also their behaviors, expectations, aspirations, and so on.

The resulting storyboards emphasized emotional highs and lows of using Airbnb that pure words or pragmatic causal models might miss.


4. Adrienne (Authentic Travel), 5. Veronica and Rick (Vacation Rental Travelers), and 6. Holly and Henry (Hotel Travel).








Storyteller Nick Sung shared that the storyboarding process helped designing the company’s future as more human: “Because of its emphasis on character, Snow White elicits an emotional response, compelling employees to approach their work with empathy for the users whose lives they influence. The careful images encourage the humane, user-focused thinking that informs the company’s design approach.”

The storyboarding process ultimately helped the Airbnb team think holistically about the Airbnb experience by asking the following questions:

• What is the person thinking or feeling in each frame? • What motivates these characters to progress in their journeys? • What opportunities exist to improve or enhance the experience for them? • How does your work influence what the character feels, knows, thinks, decides, or does?

The team explored and played out the message, story, and feeling of the characters. They understood core concepts. The process brought the team together across functions and roles. As a team, they were united in their mission and purpose. They came together by finding the moments and accenting the key emotional points that are vital to experiences in every step of the journey. This is especially important because, as the team realized, the experience didn’t begin just upon arrival at an Airbnb home. It actually began with travel, including many real-world elements that fall out of the realm of control for Airbnb.

By creating storyboards that captures the state of experiences, you can then see the experiences you want to offer. It becomes a process of design thinking that leads to company-wide creativity to make refinements or even discover whole new ideas. Storyboarding at Airbnb continues to be used by product producers, marketers, engineers, UX designers, and even members of the finance department. It was also used to completely rethink the Airbnb recruiting process, using the emotive states of applicants as the basis for developing best practices, alleviating pain points, and offering support.





http://www.nicksung.com/snowwhiteairbnb/





MEET THE NEW AIRBNBStoryboarding surfaced a new level of empathy at the executive level, prioritizing the needs and aspirations of hosts and guests. As a result, Airbnb set out on a purposeful mission to overhaul the company’s brand, mission, and identity. Starting with the logo, Airbnb set out to design something bigger than the company. In turn, they developed a symbol for “belonging” to project to hosts and guests that they were part of a community that connected people and experiences. The symbol was also given a name, “Bélo,” and a very public launch.

In 2016 at its annual conference, the company took the premise of Bélo to new heights with the introduction of “Trips.” Trips represents a bold move to fully move the company beyond rentals and into the hospitality and experience industries. The new service offers guests local experiences and connections that transcend everyday destinations, common sites, and tourist traps. By connecting guests with local experts and hosts, Airbnb opens the door to new products and services and expands the brand to reach new providers and guests. For example, guests can discover parts of cities that few travelers ever see, including touring private Hawaiian surf spots with local professionals, get a shave and a haircut from a locals-only barber, learning the art of ancient pottery with a Kintsugi master, explore Havana’s music scene with an award-winning vocalist, etc.

Airbnb now offers multiple ways for people to connect in destinations beyond hosting and renting places. Local experts are packaging incredible experiences to visitors that span your imagination.

Don’t call it a pivot. It’s an evolution in experience design. And this move takes the company into an entirely different market. More so, Trips is an extension of the new Airbnb promise.

When Brian Chesky set out on project Snow White, he was doing what all companies should do, dig deep to uncover new opportunities from a human-centered perspective to introduce new value to existing and new customers. That’s the true definition of innovation, by the way: the investment in new things that introduce new value. Most companies pursue product development in forms of iteration, which is doing the same things better. The thing that most businesses missed when Airbnb launched was that it was miscast as a digital hostel or a network of budget accommodations.

While there are roots in this regard, the founders saw something more human and aspirational. The reality is that Airbnb invested in what others in the travel industry didn’t, experience as a service.

Experience design is now more important than ever before. As Joseph Pine and James Gilmore so vividly predicted in their book, we are now moving toward an “Experience Economy.” On-demand businesses, as well as all brands, can learn from the need to design multi-faceted experiences that connect people at every level.

Airbnb now offers multiple ways for people to connect

in destinations beyond hosting and renting palces. Local experts are packaging

incredible experiences to visitors that span your

imagination.




https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Economy-Updated-Joseph-Pine/dp/1422161978


DO’S AND DON’TS TO CO-CREATE AIRBNB EXPERIENCESIf you’ve ever hosted or stayed at an Airbnb, you can appreciate that there are always opportunities to improve the experience … even if it’s just the little things. Hosts, guests, and now experience providers are equally stakeholders. Like with Uber, I’ve assembled a short list of simple best practices for all stakeholders to consider. Tips are everywhere, so please feel free to add your ideas to the list.

Dear hosts, please do …1. Think like a guest. You travel too. You probably stay at Airbnbs. What do you love? What do

you dislike? What do you wish hosts offered? What makes you feel special? What does your preferred method of communication look like?

2. Learn where your guests are coming from and why. Try to offer little things that tell them you were listening, i.e., offer referrals, provide a few specificities on things to do, share local secrets, et al.

3. Find nuances that help you personalize their trip. For instance, do they like wine, beer, or spirits? Leave them a welcome bottle with a note that exclaims, “Welcome! I appreciate you staying at my home. Please treat it like your home.”

4. Give them a local flavor by giving them a list of insider things to do. 5. Send a message after your guests check in to make sure everything is OK.6. Create a detailed listing page, and don’t hide or embellish the facts.7. Take pictures of everything in a casually “staged” environment to allow guests to virtually

experience your home.8. Be transparent and honest.9. Be honest about whether your house is best suited for adults and/or families.10. Be selective about whom you allow in your home; it’s not all about money.11. Assemble a friendly binder with all the common instructions someone needs to navigate the

home safely.12. Outline rules of the house.13. Provide modern amenities.14. Decorate the home with things that make it fun for guests to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat,

share, et al.15. Follow up with guests after departure.16. Respond quickly. And if you can’t be responsive, consider hiring a service that can serve

customers.





Hosts, please don’t …1. Give guests a ridiculous list of things to do upon check out, especially if much of it should be

covered by the cleaning fee.2. Take creative photos of the neighborhood or property that mislead guests.3. Overvalue your home because “it’s yours” and it’s special to you.4. Save money on cleaning fees by trying to do everything yourself.5. Impart YOUR standards for service, quality, and cleanliness over Airbnb guidelines.6. Treat your guests as if you’re just out to make some side money.7. Make guests buy the basics because you economize on everyday necessities, such as paper

towels, toilet paper, cooking/eating utensils, and standard pantry items, etc. 8. Leave old things in your refrigerator or bathrooms.9. Leave your personal effects around the house.10. Skimp on TV by only providing basic channels.11. Assume everyone loves your pet, leaving hair, smells, toys, etc., around the house. 12. Ignore important things that need repair, especially if they’re hazards.13. Forget that you’re running a service business, with customers, and you will need to solve

problems the right way.14. “Be yourself,” i.e., too casual around guests if you happen to be on property with them. Be

a host.









Dear guests, please do …1. Think like a host. You entertain guests informally all the time. You’re thoughtful. You ensure

a clean presentation. You think about serving friends and family so that they leave with a memorable experience. When you’re in someone’s home, act as if it is yours and treat it as such.

2. Read the entire listing and use the calendar before reaching out to hosts.3. Read reviews before booking.4. Be communicative before, during, and after the trip.5. Follow the rules.6. Remember that for all of Airbnb’s ambitions, you’re not visiting a hotel, you’re visiting

someone’s home … be respectful of everything.7. Inquire about schedules for food, bathroom, etc., if you are sharing a home.8. Share any problems with hosts during your stay so they have a chance to fix it.9. Tidy up after yourself as a sign of respect even though you paid a cleaning fee.10. Leave accurate reviews and offer critical feedback directly to hosts immediately after the stay.11. If you plan on visiting the area and you loved the home, stay in touch after the initial visit.

Guests, please don’t …1. Try to usurp the Airbnb platform by dealing directly with hosts.2. Mislead hosts by fudging the guest count.3. Rack up charges on services such as Apple TV, cable “on-demand,” Netflix, etc.4. Move furniture or items without approval to suit your needs or habits.5. Be wasteful with amenities.6. Act like a rockstar and destroy homes or property to rock the night away.7. Engage in any activity that isn’t becoming of a routine home stay without talking to the host

in advance.8. Blackmail hosts for extras with the threat of negative reviews.9. Hide things you may damage or break. Please offer to fix or replace them.10. Take to Airbnb or other review sites to share grievances without talking to hosts first to

solve problems.11. Treat the home as if it were your own.





CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE NEW NEW MARKETINGHave you ever tried to get help from Uber or Airbnb or any on-demand company for that matter? There’s rarely someone to call. And even when you reach someone, there’s a general lack of maturity to easily or quickly solve problems in ways that shape positive outcomes without them first becoming negative.

One of the biggest areas where many on-demand companies, and businesses in general, fail is in the moments where customer service and support is needed.

Platform companies tend to be impartial or algorithmic. Most systems place the onus of customer engagement on its front line, in these cases, drivers and hosts. Customers in need of attention or help try to contact the brand first but are often pointed in the direction of the host/provider first to initiate resolution. If that fails, the platform company acts as a digital proxy asking for the process to somewhat repeat itself, but this time with a record logged for “corporate” review. But this process happens at a distance, in many cases algorithmically, leaving stakeholders feeling disenfranchised and unable to genuinely engage with the brand.

If there is one thing all companies need to appreciate and in turn respond accordingly to is that all experiences are emotional. They’re never black and white. They’re rainbows of texture, rich with personal investment and emotion on all sides. If platform companies are empowering the front line, then the best defense is a vested and empathetic offense. Training and capabilities must then establish a holistic approach to experience architecture that connects technology and human expectations.

Compare algorithmic engagement with the “Ritz-Carlton way” and the differences are striking. Sure, it’s not apples and oranges, but then again, who cares? People expect compassion, help, and resolution … in real-time. These are moments when the test of brand is at its greatest. To become an experiential company, one that’s complex by its very nature, customer service is either the weak link in the customer journey or a beacon for brand engagement and experience. It’s a choice, and the result is a byproduct of investment.

One of the biggest areas where many on-demand companies fail is in the

moments where customer service and support is needed.





Experience is more than marketing, and it’s certainly much more than technology. It is living and breathing the brand, its purpose, value, and aspirations as part of a greater vision. The challenge with customer (or stakeholder) service is that it’s often viewed as a cost center or expense that erodes margin in many business models. But in an experience economy, these are make or break moments that define the ultimate experience that people have, share, and remember.

Customer experience is, after all, the sum of all engagements a customer has with you during the entire lifecycle, not just any one moment. Yet, it’s those independent moments that companies tend to measure without regard for the entire chain of events. Customers hold onto the whole, not the parts. Designing experiences for all parts with the greater sum in mind represents the future of experience architecture. As such, service and support are investments and not cost centers.

Investing in the front line is critical. Whether it’s your service providers, app, or users, each will either add to or take away from the experience. Invest in a human-centered infrastructure designed to fairly but quickly assess and resolve issues when they arise … with all stakeholders in mind. Reciprocity is everything in these trying moments. The more you try to earn it, the more you earn it. Then, you can measure not just reciprocity, but more so experience — in each moment and the collective of moments — to assess the alignment or divide between your experience architecture and the actual experience among providers and customers.









WE LIVE IN AN ON-DEMAND EXPERIENCE ECONOMY; DESIGN FOR ITStudies show that customers are not just spending money for goods and services; they’re increasingly doing so to enhance their lives. Indeed, people want experiences, and the on-demand economy is teaching consumers that they can have what they want, where, when, and how they want. More so, on-demand companies are creating opportunities for consumers to also become brand stakeholders to participate and collaborate in the value chain. But it’s not just startups. Pine and Gilmore predicted that in an experience economy, every company must evolve to design meaningful and shareable experiences. We can all learn from Uber, Airbnb, and others to think differently about products, services, and value propositions. This, and only this, is how we design for a new future for customer and employee engagement.

The ability to succeed now requires that your company, stakeholders, and entire partner ecosystem cares about the experiences that people, on all sides of engagement, have, share, and hold onto. Take pause. Then consider the experience you offer and what people actually experience (on all sides) and compare that to your promise. Then dedicate resources to design, visualize, and operationalize the experience you aim to deliver and what you want people to feel and share on all fronts and in all critical moments. This can be broken down into six initial steps to move forward …

1. Audit friction points that take away from the experience today, and build models to solve this now. As you scale, you will need to eliminate instances that lead to negative experiences while optimizing engagement that fortifies your brand.

2. Study and visualize the journey for all stakeholders. Doing so translates data and words into visual stories that unlock new perspectives and empathy.

3. Define the experience that you want people to have, and share at the provider and user levels. Make this the foundation for the optimization of all touchpoints, products, services, and response protocol.

4. Build an experience infrastructure to teach and support providers and reward them through accountability. Remember, users are equally responsible for the experiences that define the brand. They too need help in understanding their role in a productive ecosystem and should be rewarded for becoming a model steward of experience. This is true for executives, service providers, and customers.

5. Empower, train, and reward stakeholders to become the brand and to enliven the experience.

6. Measure the experience divide that documents the experience you set out to deliver, how it’s delivered, and how it’s perceived/felt amongst all stakeholders at every level. Then do the work to bridge the gap defining the experience divide now and over time.

OPEN RESEARCH This independent research report was 100% funded by Altimeter, A Prophet Company. This report is published under the principle of Open Research and is intended to advance the industry at no cost. This report is intended for you to read, utilize, and share with others; if you do so, please provide attribution to Altimeter, A Prophet Company.




http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/consumers-experiences-things/299994/


AUTHOR BIOBrian Solis Principal Analyst at Altimeter, a Prophet CompanyBrian Solis (@briansolis) is a digital analyst, anthropologist, and also a futurist. Brian studies the effects of disruptive technology on business and society. More so, he humanizes these impacts to help people see people differently and understand what to do about it. He is an award-winning author and avid keynote speaker who is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders in digital transformation and innovation.

Brian has authored several best-selling books, including What’s the Future of Business (WTF), The End of Business as Usual, and Engage!. His latest book, X, explores the intersection of where busi-ness mee ts design to create engaging and meaningful experiences. About Altimeter, a Prophet Company Altimeter is a research and consulting firm owned by Prophet Brand Strategy that helps companies understand and act on technology disruption. We give business leaders the insight and confidence to help their companies thrive in the face of disruption. In addition to publishing research, Altimeter analysts speak and provide strategy consulting on trends in leadership, digital transformation, social business, data disruption, and content marketing strategy.

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