080: Develop Products that Tell the Customer's Story [Case Study]

Bet you didn't know that gems in this case means the real deal -- baubles, jewels, and even more to the point -- engagement rings! There's a young man disrupting the traditionally stodgy jewelry industry with his house calls, custom designs based on storytelling the romance, intricate one-of-a-kind wedding sets for the bride and groom, and an infusion into the family jewelry business (we hasten a guess). Zameer Kassam is a millennial with a Harvard Business School education. Slated to jump into his family jewelry business, he decided to sow his oats elsewhere. But, his designer mentality beckoned, and he began designing custom engagement rings for friends who took his nuptual business viral. You know how word of mouth works, right? Assam is bucking all the traditional roadblocks and taking the customer experience to the comforts of home. Using imagery, stories, interviews, and video all in the name of love, Kassam is developing a customer experience for life. He'll not only get the wedding ring to design, but what happens when it's the 10-year-anniversary, when the babies are born and when it's Mother's Day? Probably the most uncomfortable customer experience for a man is having to open that door into a jeweler for the first time to find the engagement ring. POUNCE! The poor guy is assaulted by lurking sales professionals wanting to lure him into an expensive bauble with no prior knowledge. Enter Kassam. He's taken the jewelry-buying experience to new and comfy heights. The professionals writing about him suggest it's a new way to do PR. I disagree, but not so much in this episode. We in PR have been telling stories for years; it's just the packaging of the storytelling that makes people think it's new. Thumbs up for Kassam, for sure. He's finally disrupting an industry so staid and old guard that hopefully those guys will sit up and take note. It's about time. How can your business disrupt the tried, true and tired? Think on it as you listen to this week's episode of The Heart of Marketing with John Gregory Olson and Jayme Soulati. Thanks for listening! Resources Read the Forbes post on Kassam's story. A Word of Mouth episode to learn more about viral marketing. On Digital Heart: Meaningful Experiences Helpfulness and Branding on Soulati.com