Using Mementos Effectively

Extend a positive experience in a meaningful and profitable way

Humans like objects that memorialize positive experiences. Most travelers collect souvenirs when they visit a place, whether it be a piece of clothing or figurine. The objects get worn or displayed as a way to recall memories and tell a story.

But mementos (souvenirs) have applications beyond noteworthy vacations. They are also extremely effective in reinforcing a good customer experience. Mementos help customers remember their experience in a positive way, increase the likelihood of referrals and recommendations, and build loyalty. The mementos themselves can even be a significant revenue source. Any business that is mindful of its customer experience needs to think about the value a memento can provide after a customer transaction.

It is worth noting that mementos are not the same as promotional products (water bottles, tote bags and common gadgets with company logos broadly given away). Promotional products do not have emotional connections. They are designed to advertise and create awareness. Promotional products have minor functional uses, get used, and thrown away. Mementos, by contrast, are directly related to the customer’s specific journey with the product or service. They have meaning and trigger past emotions. Mementos get saved and displayed with pride.

Why Mementos Matter

Behavior science helps to explain why mementos work. The human brain operates on multiple levels, including 1) making instinctive judgements, 2) controlling actions, and 3) consciously reflecting and processing.

Most of the work companies do to improve the customer journey is focused on managing the first two levels (instinctive and primary actions). But the customer’s reflective interpretations are incredibly important in creating memories, forming impressions, and guiding long-term satisfaction. The third part of the brain (dedicated to consciousness) drives customers to provide a recommendation or make a decision on whether to return to a company for more business. Customer experience strategies targeting this part of the brain can help the overall experience.

Physical objects are incredibly important to the human mind for reflection and confirmation. They serve as the bridge between the thoughts in one’s head and the world outside of it. Objects are tangible things that can be seen and touched. When related to an idea or thought, the objects provide confirmation and make it real.

In their personal lives, people use things like attire, jewelry, cars, furniture and other objects to communicate how they see themselves and want others to see them. These material items serve as evidence to both the individual and the others they interact with. In public life, elaborate art, temples and monuments serve a similar role in both government and religion.

In customer experience, purposeful objects (mementos) can communicate a message, spark remembrance of the experience and convey meaning to it. Effective mementos allow a customer to relive the positive emotions they felt during the past experience and bring them to the present. They help the customer retell the experience to themselves or others in a positive way.

Five types of effective mementos

Customer experience mementos generally fall into one of five categories. A business can use mementos effectively by using some variation of any one (or combination) of these strategies.

1.     Let the Customer Create a Memento Themselves

Humans have the strongest bonds with those things they have a role in creating or nurturing. A memento that is created becomes more treasured and the customer has stronger feelings toward the experience.

Customer created mementos are the brilliance of “paint and sip” classes. These experiences are where friends get together and paint pictures while socializing over wine. Unlike just drinking at a bar, the experience is memorialized by the customer leaving with a symbol they can display in their home and recall good times with friends. It likely leads to a number of conversations over time and referrals to others.

Photographs people take themselves can be a form of self-created mementos. Studies have shown that people enjoy the photographs that they create themselves more than ones taken by other people. They take the person back to the moment in time and allow them to revisit even the memories from the experience that might not be captured in the picture. Some businesses develop attractive backdrops for people to take selfies as a way to encourage this.

But having physical attributes is an important characteristic for effective mementos. This explains why photo booths are so popular at events like weddings. Providing an actual photo creates a physical object that is a more effective memento than another byte in a person’s mobile phone (which is generally forgotten over time).

2.     Let the Customer Keep an Object Used in the Experience

When a foul ball is hit at a baseball game, thousands of fans stand from their seat and try to track the ball’s trajectory to hopefully catch it. If they are lucky enough to be that fan, they will take it home and likely keep it for life. The ball will be displayed or stored to trigger memories and tell the story where they are a central character in a larger event. Even when a patron doesn’t get a rare memento like a ball, they still might keep the paper program handed out at a performance as a memento.

The power of using an object from the experience as a valuable memento has been increasingly overlooked in our increasingly digital lives. Fans going to concerts or sport events used to keep ticket stubs as a way to memorialize and remember the occasion. They became treasured keepsakes. While most tickets have transitioned to digital bar codes on mobile phones, the experience providers miss the opportunity to leave customers with a strong bond and lasting memory to the experience.

However, some businesses still make good use of a memento from the experience. For example, some restaurants will create a special occasion memento for a guest by printing the person’s name and the occasion at the top of the paper menu used. Afterwards, the patron is able to take it home to remember the evening. Another similar restaurant example is the three Michelin star French Laundry using a clothespin as a functional napkin holder, but also kept as a fun collectable. People love keeping the glass they drank from at a special event or the flag they were given to wave at a big game.

3.     Gift an Authentic and Symbolic Piece of Cheap Art

Most of the souvenirs people purchase and collect from travel are inexpensive trinkets. For example, they may keep a small figurine that reminds them of a place (like a small Eiffel Tower replica after visiting Paris).

An inexpensive trinket is effective because it is strictly designed to provide a visual symbol of the experience and its primary role is to be displayed. Examples might be a small statue, an artisan creation or replica. It can either trigger good memories by looking at it, or serve as an opportunity to share a story with someone that also sees it.

When a business decides to use these mementos, a key element to consider is the meaningfulness and relationship between item and the experience. If a magic show wants customers to remember a great time, providing a deck of cards (or a single special card) is more likely to be displayed and treasured than a sticker or keychain (the latter are more likely to be thrown away). In absence of ticket stubs, a band or concert venue looking to remind loyal concertgoers to keep returning for more shows might also use authentic trinkets. Sports teams build loyalty when handouts are something like a bobblehead that gets displayed. The customer is more likely to recall positive memories more often and engage in the future (even to collect more in a series).

4.     Provide a Helpful Product that Extends the Experience After the Transaction

Another way businesses can be creative and effective in providing mementos is by considering items the customer might otherwise need to purchase on their own to continue the customer journey or solve future needs related to the experience. Again, it differs from promotional products because this type of memento is designed to extend the specific experience the customer has already had.

At a visit to a physical therapy office, I was instructed how to use some elastic bands and a tennis ball to help with certain exercises. At the end of the session, the therapist then advised that I should search for them online and buy some to use regularly. This was a missed opportunity for the business as a way to solidify a good customer experience.

Something as cheap as a tennis ball or rubber band is something that could have been provided (especially considering the total customer spend over many visits). If it had a logo, and maybe a color that was consistent with the clinic’s brand, it would have been a daily reminder of the good experience. Even if the item is available for purchase at a reasonable price, it will save the customer time and energy trying to buy the right item. The memento then becomes an ongoing reminder to the patient of how easy the experience is at that business.

5.     Provide (or Allow Purchase of) Branded Products for Select Customers

This final category comes in two forms. The first type of branded products are items that enthusiasts and brand loyalists can purchase to display or use. It might be a hat, shirt, mug or similar items with the business name and logo. These items allow the customer to express their identity with the brand and also to recall positive memories when using them. This can be a respectable revenue stream for the business.

To offer the right branded products needs to ensure to not cross the line to promotional products. Mementos differ because they have more value. Not only are they generally higher quality, they might also be part of a collection or have some unique trait (such as the city name if the business has multiple locations).

The second variety of branded products are rare collectibles that can be given away to more exclusive or loyal customers. As a season ticket holder to my local professional football team, I look forward to the small gift with each renewal. The value is that they are only given to season ticket holders and not for sale to the general public. They are also limited in quality because they change each year. This memento builds value to the membership experience.

Not providing a memento in a membership or subscription can impact renewal rates. My favorite cookie in the world comes from a bakery thousands of miles away. When the bakery launched a cookie club membership, I excitedly signed up. Each month I received a box of cookies at my door. They tasted good, but the novelty wore off over time and I didn’t renew the membership. A contributing factor in the experience was the lack of a membership memento to create unique value. A display item related to the experience, like a specially branded cookie jar, would have been an ideal way for a customer to get a dose of pride each time in the kitchen visit (and tell others). Without an ongoing emotional reminder, the membership lacked connection, community and meaning. It served as a product delivery service, not a prideful club to belong to.

How businesses can get it right

The most important part of the experience is the primary customer engagement. If the customer has a bad experience in shopping or dining, the memento won’t matter (and companies don’t want to remind customers of bad experiences). Mementos are not the place to start investing in a customer experience program. However, for those companies that are mindful about the customer’s complete journey and how to maintain engagement, mementos are incredibly effective.

Business are most effective at creating a meaningful memento when they follow some basic guidelines. The aim is to have the customer recall the positive experience often and tell others about it. Physical items are displayed and instrumental in helping the mind recall the experience well. When an object can have a personal connection, be meaningful and related to the experience, there is a good chance it will be kept by the customer and help build a positive relationship with the business.

Michael Pearce is a managing principal at Hundred Ten, LLC