Rolls Royce Umbrellas, Patterned Feed Sacks from the Great Depression, and a Popsicle Hotline: How Providing Unexpected Joy for Customers is Always a Win - No Matter the Cost
The 3 Word Quote: “Extras Are Essential”
1.
Rolls Royce.
A name synonymous with craftsmanship and luxury.
And if you’re fortunate enough to be in the market for one of their automobiles, you can:
Customize, create, and mix your own custom exterior color
Emboss your family crest into the leather interior (which, by the way, “comes from the young bulls that are kept on farms with no barbed-wire fences, high altitudes, and barns for night time rest”)
Select wood ‘taken from your family woods to make your interior truly legendary’
The cars take six months to build. Every aspect of production strives for perfection.
True luxury.
And every Rolls Royce comes with an unexpected feature:
An umbrella.
But this umbrella is not your average drugstore umbrella.
Like everything related to the car, this umbrella has been crafted, designed, and tested to ensure a supreme experience.
The umbrella's length is designed to function as a walking cane when there is no rain.
The umbrella is crafted to open quickly and with minimal effort.
And it is created to withstand high winds - to ensure it never turns inside out.
The umbrella is constructed of carbon fiber - and like the cars - comes in an array of color choices.
A polished handle with a small RR carved into the handle tops it off.
It costs $800 - if you want to purchase one.
Best of all, the Rolls Royce car has a specially designed umbrella slot to store it when not in use. The slot is in the driver’s door for easy access.
Wet umbrellas are not placed in the backseat of a Rolls as a damp umbrella could ruin the leather interior. And designers realized that if placed in the trunk, drivers would be soaked when the umbrella is retrieved.
So like everything Rolls Royce does, this umbrella slot was meticulously designed - the storage spot has drainage to allow water to run off the umbrella without getting the interior wet.
It even has warm air pumps to dry the umbrella to ensure it is ready for subsequent use.
Truly amazing.
2.
During the Great Depression, no one was thinking of luxury cars or expensive umbrellas.
Most simply thought of survival.
Once food and shelter were obtained, there was little money for anything else.
Everything people had was used and repurposed. A common motto of the Depression was "making do." People did whatever they needed to do to survive.
The necessities - items like animal feed and flour- often came in large sacks made of either burlap or cotton.
Most often, these sacks were discarded with other trash. But during the difficult times of the 1930s, people began keeping and reusing these feed sacks.
As clothes.
Most often, the sacks were combined and stitched together to make dresses and shirts. With some resourcefulness, the sacks were turned into free clothing for a struggling family - but they were primarily used for dresses.
These ‘feed sack dresses’ became popular and were a staple of the time.
Instructional pamphlets and newsletters were written to show people how to sew these dresses from the flour and feed sacks.
And in 1925, the George P. Plant Milling Company of St Louis reacted to the trend and started purposefully packaging their flour in ‘dress quality red and white’ bags.
Other companies followed.
The bags were purposefully colorful and had multiple designs.
They were a hit.
And people bought George P. Plant Miller Company flour often - partially for the product but predominately for the packaging.
3.
Most consider the hotel ugly.
The hotel is painted a yellow, which looks like it should be an accent color, used sparingly.
But the entire hotel is covered in this yellow - they call it canary yellow.
The hotel, one of hundreds in the Los Angeles area, is not in a prime location or particularly fancy.
But the hotel consistently ranks toward the top of all hotels in Los Angeles - usually only behind several luxury hotels.
Called Magic Castle Hotel, the hotel boasts a small pool.
And by the pool, a bright red telephone is mounted on the wall - a special hotline for guests.
It is called ‘The Popsicle Hotline.’
The Popsicle Hotline is precisely what the name suggests - a phone that, when guests pick up the receiver, an employee from Magic Castle Hotel will answer with the words, “Hello, Popsicle Hotline.”
The guest then requests a preferred popsicle flavor, and a few minutes later, the requested popsicle arrives - on a silver platter served by someone in white gloves.
The Popsicle Hotline is one of several unique services at the hotel.
Magic Castle Hotel doesn’t have to run a popsicle hotline.
But they do.
The Takeaway
So why does Rolls Royce include an umbrella with each of its cars? Why did a flour company package its goods in red and white gingham material? And why does Magic Castle Hotel have a Popsicle Hotline?
All three organizations know that giving something for nothing is often good for business - it is memorable.
Does anyone actually buy a Rolls Royce because of the umbrella? Of course not.
But the umbrella is symbolic of the company’s attention to detail. And the umbrella is often what people mention about the luxury car.
What car company designers put that much thought into a simple umbrella? And if the company takes that much care in creating an umbrella, imagine how much effort is put into the car itself.
People during the Great Depression sought companies that produced colorful feed sacks, so the sacks could be turned into free clothes.
And while this may have been a business decision for those feed companies, customers buying these feed sacks were incredibly grateful.
These companies began changing how the products were packaged - they were giving customers not just what they wanted, but what they needed.
And do travelers need a popsicle hotline while sitting around the pool? No, but it provides unexpected joy, and it is one of the hotel's most talked about elements.
When was the last time you told someone about a hotel you stayed in? But Magic Castle Hotel has a built in story.
Guests leave the hotel wanting to tell others about a hotel that has a popsicle hotline.
It is an automatic conversation starter.
The businesses pay for these extra items, but it gives their customers unexpected joy.
So no matter what work you are in or what project you are working on, think about something random, unusual, or unique that you can add beyond what is expected.
These extras create talking points. It is often these smaller items that people will continue to share and talk about with others.
And when you can do that, you’ll have fans for life.
3 Things Before You Go (audio version):
song #1: Angels in Heaven, Chris Rodrigues and the Spoon Lady - ever seen anyone play spoons before? Pure rhythm, nothing extra on this song; fascinated by the Spoon Lady!
song #2: Peace Frog, The Doors - always a favorite, darker lyrics, great intro, a jolt of Morrison energy; always surprised this 60s group hasn’t been rediscovered by teenagers
song #3: From Austin, Zach Bryan - gritty and authentic, great country/rock lyrics; a good song for a Sunday drive