#3 UNCX NEWSLETTER | Doing Different
PLUS: Booming Nostalgia, Digital Funerals and other trends | NPS’s cultural bias | Metaverse update |
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When everything is the same, no one stands out
Take digitally-fueled convenience, attention-grabbing media, and relentless distraction and add in dramatic shifts in consumer thinking about almost everything - it leaves us struggling to keep pace with consumer motivations. It’s not that we’ve stopped trying; we’ve stopped understanding. That’s why as we struggle to match consumers’ needs they disrupt brands by leaving to find those that satisfy them.
We exist to motivate and engage buyers by creating expectations and experiences and delivering the outcomes they want. We save the consumer time and attention (the experience of convenience) or grab their attention (experiences that engage long-term). When we save attention by creating friction-free and speedy buying we win customers, but many are on a mission to ‘find a product’ - but they often care little about having a brand relationship - for them, that will be good enough. Brands such as Amazon extend platform simplicity into engagement through the Prime experience, but for many brands, the power of emotional engagement can’t be underestimated. Platform brands saving the consumers’ time will gain attention, but attention-grabbing brands realise that digital disruption doesn’t mean a retreat into just digital channels, never-ending optimization, and e-commerce; It means more experience innovation and the meeting of consumer emotional motivations - such as using bricks and mortar for experiences, creating branded communities, brand-driven experiential events with the consumer participating in the experience, helping the consumer achieve their purpose (a me-goal) or bringing people together (a social-goal), and by seizing their purpose.
If that’s missing, often we’ve mistaken interactions for engagement, but consumers haven’t. They’ve been telling us for over a decade that what we do doesn’t meet their needs (see most global customer satisfaction surveys) and they’ve been voting with their feet - as brand polygamy grows.
Driving customer purchase intent without building relationships is becoming an existential threat for CX. Convenience is important but it’s not the main driver for consumers, who are more complicated than that. Every consumer signal and trend we see points to consumers wanting to belong to something, including brands. They want convenience when they choose it - but just because they can feel full doesn’t mean they are nourished.
Look at the trends:
The growth of communities. For the growing number of consumers practicing purpose-driven engagement, standout brands already function more like communities than businesses because they bring people together in a movement around shared interests. Community is fast becoming the strongest competitive advantage a brand can attain.
There’s also a new YOLO mentality for experiences or experiencing, across all generations, a pushback against tomorrow’s uncertainties to enjoy today. Consumers are permitting themselves to live a little more. In-store browsing is just for the experience, even if they don't need to buy anything. Buying treats, or taking advantage of BNPL. Slow Commerce experiments in Europe and the US are finding an audience of consumers trying to slow life down. The emergence of groups (led by Gen Z’ers) meeting together to create moments free of mobile, messaging, and always-on. BeReal, tapping into the youth trend for authenticity. And the growth of in-store footfall with online visits is up but sales are down as consumers switch to the store for the experience of choosing, trying, and buying.
Amidst consumer disruption, doing things differently is how to stand out. When we choose not to and to follow everyone else by applying the latest best practices and pre-baked solutions from vendors and influencers, we give away our power to be different. When everything is mended but looks the same, no one stands out.
See my article on How do you know if something was an experience?
Unthinking NPS
I’ve never been a big fan of NPS; very useful in its simplicity - yes, but I’ve never been fully sold on the link to loyalty - and survey fatigue, contextual bias, and cultural bias further erode its usefulness. Consumers from different cultural backgrounds score the same experience differently. I tussled with this myself when I was managing a group brand across 12 countries. Here’s some interesting research on cultural bias in NPS scoring between countries.
The regional clustering is fascinating, with South American to the left, European and Middle Eastern more central, and Asian to the right. This research is courtesy of IPSOS. I landed on the solution that, to avoid bias, don’t make direct comparisons, compare country or regional competitor ratings, and manage trends rather than absolutes.
My Pick of the Latest Consumer Trends
Trends are your opportunities. Spotting behaviours or wants early enough allows you to differentiate - leading your competitors rather than following.
1 Unthinking Nostalgia
Don’t underestimate the power of nostalgia in connecting to consumers.
When our now is unrelentingly grim, we have two means of escape: to look back to when times were happier and simple, and to look ahead to better times. Right now, the second is difficult in a tomorrow beset by our economic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges. As a result, the human conversation often revolves around nostalgia – an old piece of music, an old television programme - even an iconic advertising campaign. It’s no surprise more consumers of all ages are nostalgic about specific products or brands because they already have a deep and persistent emotional connection with those items. But nostalgia isn’t just about periods we’ve personally experienced.
Gen Z demonstrates nostalgia, longing for a simpler time because of overstimulation and isolation. Gen Z, faced with a million different decisions and despite never enjoying authentic past experiences, share the desire for childhood nostalgia.
Dr Joanne Frederick describes this phenomenon on the next-gen publishing platform, Her Campus:
“Because there is so much information Gen Z can choose to consume, they lack the shared experiences previous generations had …. Therefore, Gen Zers turn to shows like Friends, Sex and the City, and That 70s Show to experience life in a way they never had before ubiquitous social media and texting.”
“I believe many are turning to nostalgia, even if they do not consciously realise it, as a stabilising force and a way to keep in mind what they cherish most,” explains Clay Routledge, a psychology professor at North Dakota State University.
Spotify’s latest Culture Next report states that 68 percent of Gen Z listen to and watch media from earlier decades because it reminds them of simpler things. So while all generations look back fondly on earlier eras, Gen Zs are reinventing nostalgia even though their roots aren’t in the past.
So What?
Tapping into nostalgia allows you to widen your customer base by creating escapism when consumers need it. Through old and familiar concepts that make happy memories, you can build trust and awareness spanning generations.
Nostalgic consumers have high purchase intent, particularly during uncertain times.
By triggering this dormant purchase intent, you can leverage nostalgia to encourage consumers to make the emotional decision to reach for a taste of what life was like.
Nostalgia sells, and right now, it seems almost everyone is buying.
2 Unthinking Funereal Commerce
I’ve always thought of death as somewhat inconvenient.
A sign of our digital times has to be the digitalisation of death. It’s become slick and convenient.
Funeral home websites have become web and mobile-responsive. They will cross-sell and up-sell you. They capture emails for a subscription (loyalty points, anyone?). Online, you can choose from coffins, cremations, headstones, cards, flowers and more.
There are even digitally-enabled funeral planners. Of course, there are.
So What?
If digital has taught us anything, it’s that digital transformation inevitably comes to all of us, just like death.
3 Unthinking Gyms - a new third place
Some are turning into ultra-exclusive clubs within the wellness world, for like-minded aspirationalists to gather once they’ve made it past the waitlist to join an up-market community.
In New York, the membership gym Ghost is reserved for “thought leaders, creatives, founders or executives”, chief executive Aqib Mamoon said. Considered a ‘wellness destination,’ membership costs up to $300 a month and needs an application, an interview, and an internal review process before entry.
At the Monarch Club in West Hollywood, (of course, it would be there), members undergo a medical evaluation, a training assessment, and physical therapy before joining the community. Membership fees range from $595 to $2000 monthly and include tiers of benefits, including personal training, I.V. therapy, ice baths, and physician access, and more routine gym additions such as group classes and saunas.
New members are only considered and accepted by referral at the Forma Pilates studio, with locations in N.Y. and L.A.The owner and founder Liana Levi says the studio “prides itself on fostering a tight-knit community of like-minded individuals including, but not limited to, entrepreneurs, executives, athletes, celebrities, pre-and postnatal mothers, and more.”
So What?
Are you just a gym, or can you be an aspirational third place? Health is truly a luxury in these formats and as consumers crave like-minded communities and safe spaces for expression, expect to see more ultra-niche membership opportunities come to fruition.
Unthinking the Metaverse
An updated, short, briefing - because it’s moving so fast.
It’s moving toward mainstream adoption - but it’s nowhere near that yet. The big issue: No portability. Today’s metaverse is really a series of microverses - you can’t move your avatar, virtual assets, and data seamlessly from one to another. It needs new, better, safer architecture for transitioning across multiple platforms. It doesn’t exist yet.
It promises: an immersive, interactive, environment using VR and AR to mimic the real world; a place where we can interact in the same way we do in the physical world; and, digital identities as unique as your physical identity today.
The metaverse is not virtual reality. Virtual reality is just one piece of what’s needed - some existing, some still to be developed: Payments technology, cloud and edge infrastructure, 3-D developer tools, 5G, security, identity platforms, virtual worlds, and content, and better, cheaper devices and peripherals.
Now:
Every year, $54 billion is spent on virtual goods - almost double the amount spent on music.
Some 60 billion messages are sent daily on Roblox.
Second Life made about $650M in 2021 with nearly $80M USD paid to creators.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) currently have a market cap of $41 billion.
So What?
The wanted technologies need new expertise and skills in short supply today. Partnering and developing new talent will be needed.
The metaverse is already mainstream within Gaming, where Roblox had an average of over 203m daily players ( Jan 2023). Today’s use cases are still limited to brands extending existing experiences - such as buying a virtual asset or NFT; persistent metaverse experiences in gaming; Adidas, Nike, Time, Budweiser, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, NASCAR, and Gucci launching metaverse plays - experimenting to learn what’s possible.
But it will take a decade to meet its full potential.
Popular Articles on my Substack page you may have missed
A Brand that only optimises will become a commodity
CX - the Slow Decay Of the Ordinary
I source trends data from many sources and for this newsletter specifically IPSOS, Future Foundation, PEW, Dentsu, Merkle, and Accenture
Smart Thinking
At the end of World War II, as the Americans were poised to invade mainland Japan, they asked the Japanese to surrender.
The response included the word “mokusatsu” which, translated, means silence.
What the Japanese had intended to say was, “We’re not saying anything while we discuss it”. The Americans heard, “We’re not interested in talking”. The British would have sent back a telegram apologising and asking for clarification.
The Americans sent back a 16-kiloton atomic bomb which wiped the city of Hiroshima from the map.
The result of a message understood by the sender without stopping to think about the receiver.
I’m not suggesting that being confusing in the way you talk about your SaaS booking system for dog grooming sessions will have such dire consequences.
What I am saying is this.
We naturally think about what we want to say and how we want to say it, rather than what we want people to hear and how they hear it.
That’s when Brand**** happens.
We trot out a list of worn-out words like empower, unleash, and elevate and wonder why nothing happens. These words are worn out because they are so overused.
And if we reach for overused words, guess who we sound like? Everyone else. We blend in.
Peter Whent
Thank you for reading this edition of UNCX. If you want to share your thoughts or feedback, please comment or contact me at: michaelcooper@pobox.com. Thank you for reading this week. Please share this with others you think would benefit.
UNCX is a substack newsletter by Michael Cooper. UNCX is a different take on customer experience, unthinking today’s approach and bringing the future to subscribers. You can read more unthinking online at www.uncx.substack.com or sign up for my free newsletter. Contact me @ michaelcooper@pobox.com