@SORRYALGONQUIN. This is the title of an Instagram account. It is a collection of real negative reviews of Algonquin Park, Ontario managed by photographers Jesse and Susan Villemaire.
Here are a few gems from the series of stunning images:
“Path should be more obvious” [So much for the road less traveled]
“We decided on this trail based on the name and thought we would see a river or two. We were wrong – just trees.” [False advertising alert]
“Not impressed with the lack of signage to get water” [H20uch]
This Pink Goldfish strategy is what David Rendall and I call Exposing. Exposing is about owning the negative about you.
Exposing challenges you to take pride in your unique characteristics. Emphasize them, expose them, and openly display them. Don’t ever apologize for them.
David and I feature @subparparks in our book “Pink Goldfish 2.0.”
Similar to @sorryalgonquin, Raleigh-based Amber Share takes real one-star reviews from parks and illustrates them.
For example, Amber illustrates a one-star review about the Grand Canyon, “A HOLE. A VERY, VERY LARGE HOLE.”
The Instagram account has over 393,000 followers. Here are a couple of our favorites:
– For Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, “DIDN’T EVEN GET TO TOUCH THE LAVA”
– For Bryce Canyon National Park, “TOO ORANGE, TOO SPIKY”
According to an interview in Midwest Living, Amber created the account as a “snarky love letter” to the National Parks System. In her words,
“When I discovered that there were 1-star reviews for every single one of the 62 national parks, I set out to illustrate each park along with a hand-lettered 1-star review as a way to put a positive, fun spin on such a negative mindset.”
“Subpar Parks” is now also a book!
Takeaway: If you try to please everyone, you please no one. Why not have a little fun with the haters by exposing them?
In the words of Gerald Weinberg, “If you can’t fix it, feature it.”
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Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.
Find Stan’s in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, and Goldfish tank programs at StanPhelps.com.