“I gotta go!”
Wawa Bathroom Case Study
Wawa gained loyal customers by creating an Aha Experience where none of their competitors were looking - the bathroom.
Opportunity:
Exxon, 7-Eleven, Sunoco, BP Oil… how does Wawa distinguish itself from the crowd that provides identical products at identical prices? Wawa used this fact to their advantage, finding a way to set themselves apart.
Aha Experience:
“The cleanest bathrooms on the East Coast.”
You’re taking a three hour road trip, you have to refill your gas tank, power up with an oversized coffee, and relieve yourself. But you also want to get the trip over with. Shit. When should we stop?
Gas stations and rest stops see their job as offering the cheapest gas and most abundant snacks in the least amount of time. They rely on branding and location - they want you to see their big sign on the side of the road and say “that looks like a short detour, and I trust that brand. Let’s go!”
But Wawa noticed another scenario - “I need a bathroom, and please please please let it not be unbelievably gross.” And so Wawa implemented a disciplined program across their franchises, prioritizing store cleanliness (with an emphasis on bathroom cleanliness) through management, along with huge signs announcing their sanitization effort and requesting customer feedback.
In essence, Wawa realized that customers were essentially “hiring” the gas stations as a pit stop to comfortably replenish, and one of the main “jobs” was using the bathroom. They found a way to fulfill this job better than everyone else.
Quickly, Wawa built their reputation as “the clean one”. They catalyzed a reaction that said “finally, a gas station that gets it!” More importantly, they built a fanbase of frequent customers who were weirdly proud to share the insider information with their friends.
And now you know how Wawa went from a little local rest stop to evangelized highway behemoth with $13B revenue per year.
Garrett’s Takeaways:
Hone in on the “job” the customer is coming to you to get done. This mentality (and Clayton Christensen’s famed jobs-to-be-done speech) will revolutionize how you approach product development and marketing.
Remarkabilize your brand. Lack of differentiation can be an opportunity to stand above the crowd. Seth Godin agrees.
Begin somewhere small, and then expand. Wawa began with clean bathrooms before expanding to entire clean facilities. Choose one aspect, optimize, and then move on to the next.