Differentiators

Belonging

Unlike hotels where guests can feel like an "outsider," Airbnb differentiates themselves as "the one place where people could go to meet the 'universal human yearning to belong.'" Travelers have the opportunity to experience an authentic 'insider's view' by staying in someone's home in a less touristy neighborhood and getting a flavor of the local culture. Airbnb achieves this by creating experiences founded on these concepts:

• Trust: Through transparency and design, they challenge the fears of "stranger danger."
• Hospitality: They help hosts deliver "service with heart" through education and support.
• Community: They build scalable software enabling hosts and guests to come together and achieve economic and interpersonal goals.

End-to-end frictionless design

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky believes that design is not just about how something looks—it is also about how something fundamentally works. Each moment of an Airbnb experience is storyboarded to ensure a frictionless experience from the time users visit the website to the time they get home from their trips. In this end-to-end design system, Airbnb focuses on building experiences around:

• High-quality visuals: Besides having an aesthetically pleasing design, Airbnb ensures that homes look lush and inviting in order to showcase the host's personality.
• Safety: They mitigate the 'stranger-danger' bias by creating an environment based on transparency where hosts and guests can get to know each other through reviews, ratings, and verification systems.
• Simplicity: They reduce solutions down to their essence in order to create a fast and seamless experience where users are never more than three clicks away from booking their ideal adventure.

Unique listings

Co-founder Brian Chesky describes Airbnb's core competency as the ability to "show cool spaces around the world." While hotels may be more reliable in some ways, Airbnb offers a unique experience each time, where every home is one of a kind. With over seven million homes to choose from, travelers can stay in castles, windmills, and even treehouses. There are even opportunities to stay with Brian at his house.

Innovation

Co-founder, Steve Jobs often would say, "Some people say give the customers what they want, but that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do." Apple is able to do this through empathy and trying to solve their customers' problems by bringing different technologies and ideas together into one innovative solution. However, to Apple, innovation was never about being first to market but instead only focusing on creating the very best product.

Sophisticated simplicity

On the wall at Apple's headquarters, in large whitish silver letters, reads the message: Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Apple has differentiated themselves by eliminating complexity and making every product so simple that anyone can start using it right out of the box. But to make a product that simple requires a deep understanding of the product's purpose and then dedicating themselves to making it:

• Intuitive: Make it that a 2.5 year old can use it, without knowing how to read. Jobs also insisted on being able to get to wherever he wanted in three clicks.
• Uncluttered: Eliminate anything that detracts from the user experience. On the iPod the on/off button was removed after a long debate to realize it wasn't actually necessary.
• Focused: Eliminate anything that detracts from the product's purpose. The original iPod only came in white to not detract from its purpose of listening to music.

Beautiful design

The Apple aesthetic is where art, functionality, and science merge together into what Steve Jobs called 'Museum of Modern Art quality.' Apple's commitment to this vision is what makes the brand obsess over every detail of the product, even demanding that computer circuit boards are just as visually pleasing as their shell.

Hospitality

To Chick-fil-A, service is the presentation, consistency, cleanliness, quality, and accuracy of a restaurant. On its own it is just the table stakes that customers expect from any dining experience.

Hospitality, however, is about going above and beyond in what Chick-fil-A calls Second Mile Service. This is the added value the brand brings to the experience, from the random acts of kindness to the connections they make with customers along the way. But the key to hospitality is that generosity and care need to be behavioral, not prescriptive. So Chick-fil-A focuses heavily on recruiting the right people and training them in order to make Second Mile Service second nature.

Fresh food

Operational excellence begins with fresh ingredients and Chick-fil-A prides itself on its fresh handmade food. Each piece of chicken is thawed, breaded, and made to order all in-store. Any chicken not used within 20 minutes of being cooked is pulled and repurposed for chicken soup. Biscuits are made from scratch daily, lemonade is freshly squeezed, and salads are locally sourced and hand-chopped.

Marketing

For over 25 years, Chick-fil-A has focused on building emotional connections by using cows in all of their marketing. From billboards to calendars, the Eat More Chikin campaign, has positioned these Cows as endearing underdogs that are in a fight for self-preservation. And just as Chick-fil-A focuses on the freshness of their food, they also put just as much care into crafting the personality of these Cows in what they call the Chick-fil-A Moo Manifesto.

Information access

In their open letter to shareholders, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page explain their belief on the importance for "everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see." For Sergey and Larry, it is Google's responsibility to the world to provide "free and unbiased access to high quality information."

The quality and accessibility of the information is measured along five axes:

• Speed: How fast is the information provided?
• Accuracy: How relevant is the information to the user?
• Ease of use: Can it be accessed and easily understood by everyone?
• Comprehensiveness: Is all information being taken into consideration?
• Freshness: How up-to-date is the information?

Sergey and Larry's focus on free information access extends beyond Google Search and is integrated into all of Google's information services, like Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Maps, Translate, Scholar—and the list goes on.

User-centered design

Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page believe that for Google to be successful, they had to put the user at the center of their business. Focusing heavily on collecting user data, analyzing technology trends, and A/B testing ideas, Google develops key technology insights and turns them into user-centered products. These insights have been at the core of Google's most successful products:

• Search used links to determine the importance of web pages, rather than the content on the page.
• AdWords ranked and placed ads on a page based on their value to the user, rather than just by who was willing to pay more.
• News grouped stories by topic, not sources.
• Chrome was developed to be a faster browser to accommodate the growing complexity and power of new websites.

Innovation

When looking for a new market to enter into, Google executives Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg recommend not looking for an empty space where there is no competition. Instead, Google differentiates themselves by innovating within a market that is or will be large, like they did with search.

In order to determine if an idea is innovative enough for Google to pursue, it has to:

• Address a big challenge or opportunity that could impact millions, if not billions, of people
• Have a solution that is radically different from anything currently in the market
• Be based on technologies that are at least feasible and achievable in the not too distant future

Google's Project Loon is an example that meets all three criteria as it hopes to provide broadband internet access to billions of people, who don't have it yet, by using helium balloons.

System in Play

The LEGO System in Play is about creating high quality interlocking plastic bricks that fit together seamlessly, that can be explored in multiple ways, and that can be built and rebuilt together. To LEGO and its customers, "this means that bricks bought years ago will fit perfectly with bricks bought in the future…It means that a LEGO element not only has instant value, but will keep its value always…[and that LEGO] will always make sure that all bricks—from yesterday, today, and tomorrow—fit together."

Creative learning

LEGO describes creative learning as the company's "functional benefit" that their audience gains from using their products.  For parents, this means that their children learn through play by "balancing challenges with [their] child’s capabilities, fun, creativity and imagination." For children, it means that they can bring to life whatever they can imagine, alone or with their friends and family.

Frictionless

From its inception, Netflix wanted to redefine the entertainment industry by making movies as easily accessible as possible. DVDs by mail removed the hassle of an in-store rental experience. Their subscription model removed the fear of late fees, while their website made it easy to find titles quickly. Now with the ability to stream and binge-watch anything at any time, Netflix has been able to create a frictionless experience where the consumer is in control.

Personalization

As Co-founder Reed Hastings describes it: “If the Starbucks secret is a smile when you get your latte, [Netflix’s secret] is that the website adapts to the individual’s taste.”

Through significant amounts of A/B testing, focus groups, usability sessions, and organizing their content into over 75,000 micro-genres, Netflix works to make it easy for 'movie lovers' to discover titles that are tailored to their individual preferences, not just what is currently popular.

Niche content

Netflix doesn't try to offer content geared to any one single audience; but they also don't try to reach mass audience appeal with just summer blockbusters. Instead, they divide their subscribers into dozens of different audiences with specific interests. This allows Netflix to have an expansive subscriber-base but still push the envelope with edgier more niche content targeted to these smaller segments.

High-quality

With an Ironclad Guarantee on each product, Patagonia defines quality as being:

• Durable: Their Stand Up® shorts were named that for a reason. Every product needs to be tough enough to face the harshest conditions. Clothing that needs to be treated delicately or that shrinks and degrades overtime has diminished value and is not worth making.
• Repairable: Every piece of a product, including zippers, needs to be easily replaceable to lengthen its lifespan.
• Multi-functional: Every product needs to have multiple uses so that consumers can own fewer, nicer things.
• Easy to maintain: Clothing shouldn't need to be ironed or dry cleaned. All that should be needed is some water, soap, and a bucket or a sink.
• Authentic: When a product says it is for rugby, it actually means you can play rugby in it.

Conservation

Patagonia doesn't use the term sustainable, as it implies business can continue on indefinitely—when in fact, it cannot if they are taking more from the planet than they are putting in. Instead, Patagonia uses the term responsible because it implies agency and forces them to acknowledge their impact on the world.

Whether it is using recycled fibers or making replaceable zippers, Patagonia makes all decisions through the lens of reducing their environmental footprint. To avoid their clothes from ever ending up in a landfill, they:

• Repair all Patagonia clothing, no matter how old it is.
• Have a truck that goes around the country repairing Patagonia clothing for free.
• Provide repair guides and video tutorials.
• Buy back old clothing and resell them as Worn Wear, or recycle them into new garments.

Luxury

At its core, luxury is about being rare and special but for The Ritz-Carlton luxury goes beyond just material objects. To them, luxury is about creating rare experiences for guests that build deeper more meaningful connections with the people they share them with.

Anticipation

The Ritz-Carlton believes that great service is not simply about reacting to guest needs, but most importantly being able to anticipate them. By always listening and looking for opportunities to meet the unexpressed wishes of their guests, the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton are able to create unique, personal, and memorable experiences.

Low-cost fares

When Southwest started in 1971, their founding vision was to democratize the skies. At that time, less than 15% of Americans had ever traveled by air. In fact, to Southwest, their biggest competitor was not other airlines, but instead ground transportation.

With a committed focus to always keeping fares as low as possible, Southwest has become the largest low-cost airline in the world with an unprecedented 47 consecutive profitable years.

Their secret? Southwest has always been willing to abandon conventional wisdom and implement untested ideas, like:

• Never raising prices in times of high demand, but instead adding more flights
• Primarily utilizing secondary airports that have cheaper landing costs
• Avoiding inflight meals, no matter the flight length
• Letting bags fly free
• Cutting fares on off-peak hours to fill more seats, resulting in higher revenue

Reliable air travel

For Southwest, reliable air travel means providing on-time flights without any major disruptions. This includes striving to be the airline that cancels the fewest flights, loses the least amount of luggage, and has the fewest customer complaints.

When the Department of Transportation started measuring airline performance based on these three measures monthly in 1987, Southwest was the first airline to rank number one in all three categories. Dubbing this the 'Triple Crown,' Southwest ranked number one in all three categories 31 times over the next ten years until co-founder Herb Kelleher retired the award in 1997.

Positively Outrageous Service

Southwest describes themselves as the airline with Heart. Founded on The Golden Rule, Southwest believes in giving their employees the freedom to do outrageous things for their customers, even if that means having to break a company policy now and again. This has inspired some of their better known outrageous acts like rapping safety instructions or hiding in overhead luggage compartments but has also lead to many heartfelt stories, like:

• A service agent, after finding out a passenger was homeless, inviting her home and allowing her to stay until she could get back on her feet
• A pilot renting a bus and taking all of his passengers out to dinner and a movie after their flight was grounded on 9/11
• A flight attendant flying an extra leg because she befriended a passenger who was afraid to fly alone
• A service agent letting a passenger borrow his suit because the passenger had forgotten his at home and needed one for an award ceremony
• A manager chartering a plane at the cost of $10,000 to take a customer who had missed their flight to Houston for a kidney transpant

Coffee passion

Starbucks is on a "relentless pursuit" to be the "undisputed coffee authority," by committing themselves to:

• Quality: The journey from farm to cup starts by sourcing only the highest quality beans from the highest altitudes. Beans are then sorted by size, color, and density where only 3% will even make it into the burlap bag. Roughly, 1000 cups of coffee are tried each day to make sure that every sip meets the Starbucks standard.
• Craftsmanship: Yes, Starbucks has high-quality coffee but each cup is expected to be consistent and served quickly with the same passion and theater that Howard Schultz experienced when he visited Italy.
• Knowledge: It is not just enough to serve quality coffee, every employee is trained to know and appreciate the history of coffee and share that passion and knowledge with customers. Roasters are even trained for over a year to use smell, sight, and sound to judge perfection.

Personalization

Starbucks has over 87,000 possible drink orders, not including requests for special temperatures and various pumps of flavor—and baristas are expected to make them all. In fact, the Starbucks 'just say yes' policy, does not allow baristas to ever say 'no' to an order, no matter how crazy it may seem. If ingredients aren't available, suitable replacements are offered or an alternate drink is provided at no charge.

Community

To Starbucks, community is about being a good partner in their stores, in their local community, and globally.

• In stores, Starbucks wants to become the living room for their neighborhood—and it's not just about having free bathrooms or a policy to never rush customers out the door. The entire Starbucks Experience was designed to create a sense of belonging. 
• Locally, Starbucks has 'Community Leads' who work with local citizens and businesses to celebrate local events and provide support through initiatives like youth training programs and counseling for veterans.
• Globally, Starbucks has always worked to improve the livelihoods of their farmers. As an integral part of their community, Starbucks ensures that farmers are treated and paid equitably and offers them leadership training, loans, and guidance.

Shared planet values

The Starbucks environmental promise is to give more than they take. They pride themselves on not just measuring their performance by their financial results, but also by the social and environmental impact they make. They refer to this as their 'triple bottom line.' To measure this impact, Starbucks created a program called 'Starbucks Shared Planet' (PDF) that dictated policies on how they can lower their negative effects on the environment.

Value

At Trader Joe's, value is about offering great quality products at a great price. The two can not, and should never be separated. In fact, the brand prides itself on being a purveyor of speciality foods for shoppers who don't want to pay specialty prices.

As founder Joe Coulombe wrote: Trader Joe's "became the best place in the world to buy a good bottle of wine for less than $2.00. That's a position we held for the rest of my days at Trader Joe's."

Product knowledge

Trader Joe's considers themselves an informative retailer. Unlike any supermarket, they pride themselves on being able to tell customers who developed each product, what's in it, how it tastes, if it needs preparing, and why it's a good value.

But to foster this culture of knowledge each store has a special expense account for employees to sample each product and test out recipes. Managers are are even sent on global tours of wine and cheese regions to better understand each product's origin.

Exceptional customer service

Umpqua aims to provide the highest level of service that their customers will ever experience. To deliver on this, they have designed their operations and culture to:

• Be agile: Knowing that they couldn't outprice or out-resource the big banks, Umpqua used their small size to do things quicker, deliver faster, and change how they do things to act urgently on any customer problem.
• Have a plus-one mentality: The ability to deliver knock-your-socks-off service doesn't happen overnight. Umpqua focuses on improving a little every day by asking themselves, 'If we were at a 10 yesterday, how can we be at an 11 today?'
• Empower employees and hold them accountable: Each Umpqua associate can make decisions autonomously, like removing fees, matching rates, or surprising customers with random acts of kindness. However, they are also responsible for being able to explain any decision they make.

Community banking

For Umpqua Bank, being a community bank has nothing to do with their size but everything to do with how they "operate the business, the culture [they] maintain, the relationships [they] build, and the way [they] serve [their] customers." Umpqua prides themselves on remaining a local bank that builds strong personal ties within each of the communities they serve by:

• Making decisions locally at each store
• Empowering each associate to make decisions that benefit customers autonomously
• Enabling staff to spend 40 paid hours per year volunteering in their community
• Creating local advisory boards to address the needs of local businesses and community leaders
• Welcoming everyone, not just customers, into their stores to hang out, hold meetings and events, and connect with other people

Unique design and presence

Umpqua set out to design an unbank-like look and feel where if someone were blindfolded and brought into an Umpqua store and asked, 'Where are you?' they'd say, 'Umpqua Bank' without hesitation.

To Umpqua, design isn't just about how things look but also about what customers hear, smell, taste, and feel. Every Umpqua experience is carefully thought out to reflect who they are as a brand. Former CEO Ray Davis explains, "Our design says that we are part of the local community, we're your friends and neighbors, we're professionals, and we deliver outstanding service."

Culture

Pop quiz:
Can all your colleagues recite your core values word for word without looking up the answers? Or, would you be comfortable letting any employee speak on behalf of the company? Zappos leadership would happily say yes to both.

This is not just because employees are required to sign a document upon being hired stating that they have read and understood the company's core values. It is because at Zappos, as Co-Founder Tony Hsieh has described: "Our number one priority as a company is company culture, and our whole belief is that if we get the culture right, then most of the other stuff, like delivering great customer service or building a long-term enduring brand will just happen naturally on its own."

Premium service

As Co-Founder Tony Hsieh describes it: "We decided a long time ago that we didn’t want [the Zappos] brand to be just about shoes, clothing, or even online retailing. We decided that we wanted to build our brand to be about the very best customer service." But to continually deliver on that promise, Zappos has positioned themselves as a premium service brand that:

• Develops personal emotional connections with customers by getting rid of practices like using scripts, upselling, and call-time monitoring.
• Reduces the risk of buying items online with benefits like free shipping and free returns.
• Delights customers with surprises which can range from free upgrades on shipping to sending customers handwritten thank you notes or bouquets of flowers.