Cultural Distinctions In Service

This past week I travelled to Asia. My first stop was in Singapore to help launch Euro RSCG’s retail and shopper marketing capability called Shop@Euro. Then I made my way to India to discuss how best to use data to gain a sustainable advantage in the new global economy. My speech in India was titled – A New Imperative for the New Economy.

I flew on four different airlines during this trip. United Airlines from Chicago to Singapore. Singapore Airlines from Singapore to New Delhi. Kingfisher Airlines (a local entrant) from New Delhi to Mumbai and Lufthansa Airlines from Mumbai to Chicago (with a stop in Frankfurt).

The service on all four of the airlines was absolutely terrific. What interested me was how each airline delivered great service — albeit in very different ways.

After pondering the differences, I’ve come to a simple distinction in service styles: Functional service versus Emotional service.

United and Lufthansa delivered service that was primarily focused on ensuring a high degree of physical comfort. On the other hand, service on Kingfisher and Singapore was centered on how I felt during the flight – going beyond physical comfort to ensure a sense of emotional calm.

Why did I experience this distinction? After considering a number of different hypotheses, I arrived at one answer: The significant difference in service is due to the unique cultural perspectives of these brands.

Western brands tend to deliver on the ethos prevalent in their context. It’s all about efficiency. Their service experience is structured to ensure that their passengers are productive. From their detailed menu to the bottled water they offer, everything enables the traveler to have control of how he or she plans to fulfill their own needs.

Eastern airlines, however, focus more on striving to deliver a relaxing experience that attempts to create a calm and quiet environment. Everything from the tone and volume of in-flight announcements to the language used by the staff. It is different than their Western counterparts and consistent with their cultural backgrounds.

My experience enjoying these completely different approaches to great service has encouraged me to evolve my understanding and appreciation of brands within a behavioral context. It also raised an interesting question:

As we continue to live in a world that’s getting more and more homogeneous, do these culturally-driven distinctions in service set new and conflicting expectations?

If so, how can brands evolve and deliver?

Another Sign of our Decline?

I grew up in India. One of the realities there was the concept of what we called Indian Standard Time (IST). Everything would happen about 30-45 minutes after it was scheduled. The reason for this was simple. The infrastructure in those days was quite old and one would say a bit decrepit. Old roads. Old rail lines. One airline with old planes. The result of this was breakdowns, malfunctions, mechanical failures of equipment and potholes too numerous to count. The kinds of issue and challenges one accepted of what was considered (in those days) a “third world country”.

When I moved to this wonderful country a couple of decades ago, I was exposed to (as Dan Zajac, my first boss called it) American time. 9 AM meant 9 AM. It was awesome. Everything ran on time. Everyone worked on time. The train from Naperville to Chicago’s Union Station was only late once in a 2 year period. And that got most of the passengers upset. Flights from O’Hare (except on those stormy winter or spring days) were quite regular. The lights on the Expressways came on exactly at 7. Roads got fixed in the Summer so that they were new for most of the year. The reason why we were the “first” country in the entire world.

I’m sure you’ve noticed, but things have changed in the past few years. I travel a lot, so this is based on personal experience. These days, very few flights are on time. It has become such an endemic issue that we just expect it and plan around it. The train from Naperville to Chicago has been late eight of the last ten times I have taken it (not statistically significant, I know). The reasons? Switch failure, mechanical issues, stuck tracks are some. This last winter, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, we had over 10,000 pot holes in the Chicagoland area. Driving around was an adventure, to say the least. These are a few personal examples of the fundamental weakening of our roads, rail and air systems. The fragility of our aging infrastructure.

Is this what we should expect? I have been excited with all the talk in Washington about investing in our infrastructure. That’s exactly what we need. I am totally on board. We need this to ensure that we keep our country in the lead but more importantly, create an environment that is sustainable for the generations to follow.

We need to make sure the trains run on time, the planes fly on schedule and the roads are in good shape. This will allow us to again live on American time while improving our productivity further. Let’s not forget that our emerging competitors are building new roads, rails, airlines and systems. This will give them the advantage in the new global economy. We need to stay competitive. Invest in our roads, rails, and air. Bring new expansive technologies into play. Invest in ourselves to put away the sceptre of any possible decline. And create the opportunity to deliver on our limitless potential.