Last week I got a chance to test drive a Mazda CX9 and 3 as part of my research for an innovation project with Mazda Tijuana. Traditionally, test drives are done in a very common way; nothing out of the ordinary.
But at Mazda Tijuana, test drives are anything but ordinary.
In the video below you’ll see I recorded the first part of the test drive. The driver, Genius as Mazda calls them, approaches a roundabout and begins by mentioning a few things about how the car handles before pushing the gas until the car almost drifts around the roundabout.
After that, the driver showed us the stopping power of the car. Again, pushes the gas with authority and stops the car before making a sharp corner.
Check it out:
This is how Mazda Tijuana does test drives: extreme.
It’s done this way to give the co-driver a visceral experience of how the car they’re interested in drives under all conditions. I was told that the training employees go through is also extreme; this makes sense because they want their co-driver to experience what they experienced during their training.
Breaking the mold to create more engaging customer experience
Unless you’re a Land Rover-Jaguar, extreme test drives are not common. That’s why Mazda Tijuana generates excitement and word of mouth with their test drives, because nobody expects a test drive to be extreme; though their objective is to show the true performance of the car.
The test drive not only gives the customer a great idea of what to expect of their car, but also an emotional experience they want to tell others about.
Whether they know it or not, Mazda Tijuana follows the “make the common uncommon” principle of differentiation. On another post I’ll elaborate on their Genius program, which drives the whole customer experience.
Key takeaway: Just like Mazda Tijuana does many things that break the mold and defy people’s expectation as to what to expect from a car purchase experience; you can too. Take a moment to think through your customer experience and ask yourself: how might we create a more engaging and emotional experience for our customers?