The Customer Experience Is the Brand
Newsletter #121
This Week:
Assessing All Brand Touchpoints
ICYMI: Creating Special Moments for Your Audience
Spotted
Before We Go…
1.How Does Your Customer Experience Every Touchpoint?
I recently took a trip that reminded me what great communication actually feels like.
From booking to transportation, to downtime, to the trip home, everything just worked. I never felt lost. I never had to guess what was next. I didn’t find myself digging through emails or scanning signage for answers. Every step was clear, timely, and centered on me as the customer.
And because of that? I left glowing reviews and had a stronger impression of the brand than when I started.
It could have gone the other way just as easily.
If I had been wondering where my luggage was supposed to go, what time dinner started, what to wear, or where to meet for the return trip, a significant portion of that experience would have been spent stressed and searching. The exact same trip with different communication would have produced a completely different outcome.
That’s the part communicators can’t ignore.
We often think of communications as messaging: campaigns, content, media. But the truth is that communication encompasses your customer’s entire experience and every touchpoint they have with you.
Even when those touchpoints don’t sit within your job description or the communications department, they shape perception. Which means they’re your business.
If you want to close the gap between what you say and what people experience, here are a few areas to look at:
2. ICYMI: The Power of a Surprise and Delight
This EO Report article expands on our lead story: how to use small, unexpected moments to create forever-fans of your brand. And here’s the beauty: none of the ideas included require a big budget – just creativity, an empowered team, and an organizational philosophy to ensure those who interact with your brand have a positive experience.
3. Spotted
As certified word nerds, we love stories like this. From the Associated Press:
“A German soccer club has made an eye-catching change, firing one coach whose name means “beginning” and hiring one whose name means “end.”
Second division Fortuna Duesseldorf said Sunday it was parting company with Markus Anfang, whose surname translates from German as “beginning” or “start”, and bringing in Alexander Ende, or “end”, for the last five games of the season.”
Credit: The Associated Press
4. Before We Go…
From The Drum: As a motherless marketer, I say the industry needs to do better.
As Mother’s Day and Father’s Day approach, we’re reminded of this 2024 article about how to compassionately communicate for these holidays.
From NPR: The surprising origin of 4 features that superglue kids — and adults — to screens
Did you know social media platforms use design elements that have roots in the gambling industry? They use four key features, one researcher says, that lead users to fall into a trance or dissociative state called a “machine zone,” causing them to lose track of time and place.
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was abducted while investigating disappearances in Russian-occupied areas and later died in custody, with evidence suggesting torture, highlighting the extreme risks journalists face in authoritarian contexts today. One organization, Forbidden Stories, argues in this op-ed that situations like these require a change in how reporters have traditionally worked: instead of in isolation, they must work collaboratively.
The EO Report is better as a connected experience — forward this to your network.