Google & Thoughts on BootsnAll

Google’s been named 2002’s “Brand of the Year“, as discussed in a pretty interesting article. They beat out Coke, Nike, Nokia, you name it – and all without fizz, TV ads, or annoying ring tones.

The studies that established this victory point to Google’s bare-bones site, and its singular devotion to service: excellent product that works flawlessly for fulfilling people’s needs. As Google grows and becomes so well-known in the popular mind though, what are the challenges it faces? How does it keep growing? Will it stay focused on service, or will it get muddled in other things, as happens to so many companies that “get big”?

I was reading about this in the latest “Good Experience” newsletter, and its author, Mark Hurst, goes on to note in his column:

“Whatever happened to the naming firms that named every company to end in “nt” (Viant, Scient, Sapient, Lucent, etc.)? Whatever happened to the branding firms that would copy and paste an arc or a swoosh and call it a logo? Whatever happened to ad firms that would pay $20 million for 30 seconds during the Super Bowl and declare victory (despite the horrible website the ad pointed users to)? In short, what happened to all the old ways of building a brand?

“Google has done none of these things. Instead, it has focused on the EXPERIENCE. The user experience, customer experience, searcher experience, whatever you want to call it – Google knows that online, the brand is the EXPERIENCE. Good experience, good brand. Bad experience, out of business.

“I’m not suggesting that every site look and feel like Google. Rather, I’m trying to point out that Google’s “secret sauce” is its insistence on creating a good experience for its users at every opportunity, on every page.”

And what does this have to do with BootsnAll? Our “brand” isn’t as recognized as Google’s, and we’re not famous. But 2002 was a good year for us, too, and 2003 hasn’t seen a slowdown in anything. There are more decisions to make, more and more companies that want to work with us, more and more people turning to the site (in part thanks to Google, actually). There are lots of changes we have in the works, from better technology to Nick in Bali. No matter what decision comes up though, I think it all hinges on the answer to this question:

How good is the experience your company creates for its users?
Remember that it all hinges there: Experience good, brand good.