The difference between being on-brand or off can be as simple as the gift of one bright vegetable.

I love it when I experience a ‘moment' with a brand's personality. A one-of-a-kind touchpoint that I know happened spontaneously between actual people acting like actual people. Its unique and usually happens in that particular way just the one time. To try and systematize it or duplicate it would only betray the authenticity of its very existence.

Even so, these moments are not without intention. It requires that a group know their brand so well that the entire brand platform is easily understood and owned by even the lowest-level employee.

Just like my yellow bell pepper.

I like Trader Joe's. Its different, good, but not Whole Foods expensive. We were stocking up on a few items this past weekend, actually on Mother's Day. The cashiers there are usually pretty engaging – but really just themselves rather than scripted. Ours was happily bagging up our stuff, making fun of one of his fellow cashiers while he did. He got through ringing everything up – and started to ask for me to pay – when my wife noticed he had left behind a yellow bell pepper, still sitting in our cart. His response to my wife, "No way, don't worry about that. Whether you're a mother or not, just consider this bright pepper your Mother's Day gift". He laughed, handed us the pepper without charging us, and I paid for the rest. We left the store with a smile on our face.

I would have gone back to Trader Joe's even if they had asked me to pay for the pepper. In fact, I expected to pay for that pepper. It was only fair. But Trader Joe's is doing something remarkable. They're more interested in the unexpected.

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