My Rich Experience at Springsteen Concert

Much has been written about companies needing to deliver a "rich customer experience" built around their products and services and all aspects of their brand to their consumers. The other night I was enjoying myself at yet another Bruce Springsteen concert and came to the realization on something I guess I had always known as a loyal fan...he delivers a great experience, everytime. Performers should be held up to as high a standard when it comes to delivering on a memorable, satisfying and enjoyable experience. If they don't, they face the same consequences as the retailer or the airline does...growing customer discontent, less loyalty, fewer purchases, poor word-of-mouth, declining profits...

Anyways, back to The Boss. Throughout his long career, he has always been known for delivering marathon-length concerts packed with his non-stop energy, emotion and responsiveness to his fans. Even now at the age of 60 years-young, his fans comes first.

On this tour, he is playing certain albums in their entirety among the 3-hour set-list. This night, he played Born to Run. As he noted on stage, this was the first album to start a real “conversation” between himself and his now-rabid fan base. More than 30 years after its release, this album still touches a powerful chord among the Springsteen faithful. He also takes requests from the crowd. There were hundreds of homemade signs with names of songs on them, and sometimes even a special message. "Living Proof" was a request the Band wasn't prepared to play. A sign with a photo of an infant, "future Boss fan," born two weeks ago Sunday night, prompted Springsteen to tackle the song. It took a while for him to get everyone together. It was like a glimpse of a rehearsal, but they got it right. That moment gave a feeling of intimacy, not sloppiness. He also went into the crowd multiple times, even at one time "body-surfing" the crowd from half-way back on the floor, trusting his faithful would get him back where he belongs on stage.

At times, it was hard to tell who was enjoying the concert more, the crowd or Springsteen. Truly a rich customer experience. Can't wait until the next show!