Contextual Relevance Outperforms Brand Loyalty
Create Business Value Through Situations + Modes
With your free subscription, you can now choose which notifications you want or don’t want, subscribing to all, some, or none.
Receive emails for new posts in UNCX | mid-week Newsletter
Receive emails for new posts in UNCX | Weekender
Receive emails for new threads in Substack Chat
Control your choices by clicking the unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email.
Intro
Brands are losing their focus when they prioritise only category dominance, funnel metrics, or demographic targeting. That’s not how people live anymore.
The future of CX strategy is about relevance—relevance in the moment it arises.
Brands that understand modes can:
Serve customers more frequently (in more contexts)
Build deeper, dynamic trust
Innovate beyond stale journeys
Unlock overlooked moments of growth
So this week, I’m introducing Modes. It’s a Powerful Way to See Your Customer and improve the quality of your experiences.
Consumers don’t only have needs. They enter into modes.
Modes are not moods or behaviours.
Modes are situational mindsets.
Α state of being, something a consumer enters to help them make progress in their current context.
It’s the difference between someone in “task mode” who’s ploughing through their errands, compared to the same person in “escape mode” who’s looking for a dopamine hit of fun.
Their personality hasn’t changed. Their context has changed, so they shifted their mindsets to match.
Consumers know they do this—and they expect the brands around them to know it too.
This is the strategic power of modal thinking. And it’s part of the future of customer experience, personalisation, and where growth lies.
Part 1: Modes Are the New Interface
Dave Norton of Stone Mantel has a nice, tight definition:
“A mindset and set of behaviours that people get into temporarily to maximize their effectiveness, productivity, or experience in a given situation.”
Sometimes this shift is passive (e.g., being in a state of procrastination). But more usually, it’s intentional. Consumers plan their modes and will recognise and talk about them.
“I’m in deep work mode today.”
“Weekend reset mode engaged.”
“Don’t bother me, I’m in game mode.”
Understanding someone’s mode is more than personalisation. It’s an invitation to cultivate empathy in context. And that makes it one of the powerful levers for remaining relevant in an era of identity fluidity (consumorphosis) and AI-driven decision-making.
“Modes are the way people want you to customize their experience.”
Dave Norton
Part 2: From Segments to States
Most customer models still rely on segments: age, location, income, persona. The problem? They assume identity is stable.
But we no longer live in fixed identities. We live in modal identities—fluid states shaped by context, emotion, time, and intent.
Regular readers will know I call this transformation consumorphosis: the shifting, self-curated nature of modern consumer identity in response to overwhelming choice, tech interfaces, social display and polycrisis anxiety.
People don’t want to be seen as a static “soccer mom” or “Gen Z creator.”
They want to be understood in this moment, whether in Relaxation Mode, Task Mode, or Focus Mode.
They want technology, platforms, and brands to adapt accordingly.
Part 3:
Why Should We Care About Modes?
Because Modes Drive Business Value
1. Modes Feel Like Time Well Spent
People enter modes to do something meaningful in a given moment. Great experiences don’t try to impose artificial emotional “surprises.” They support people in being who they already want to be.
2. Modes Are the New Interface Between People and Technology
As AI becomes central to business models, modes provide a natural bridge between human intention and machine capability. Modes allow customers to maintain control in a world of automation.
Instead of software overwhelming the user, modal design lets users shape the software around their intent. It’s empowerment tech, not intrusion tech.
3. Modes Unlock True Customisation
Forget surface-level personalisation. Modal support means recognising the state someone is in and flexing experiences in response.
It isn’t personalisation. It’s individualisation.
Customisation built around context, not just history.
Part 4: Modal Examples That Move Markets
Leading brands are already creating value through modal thinking:
1. Apple – Focus Modes as Digital Autonomy
Apple’s Focus Modes (Do Not Disturb, Work, Personal, Sleep) allow users to silence distractions and prioritise apps based on their current mindset. These modes are user-controlled, customisable, and relevant.
Apple isn’t just delivering tech—it’s delivering autonomy to the consumers state.
More importantly, Apple is training consumers to expect their entire digital ecosystem to respond this way. If your brand’s app or service doesn’t fit the user’s current mode, it will be filtered out—either by the user or by the operating system.
2. Tesla – Modal Superpowers for the Driver
Tesla has built an entire modal interface into its vehicles:
Ludicrous Mode
Chill Mode
Camp Mode
Dog Mode
Sentry Mode
Launch Mode
Self-Driving Mode
Each mode supports a different intent, from utility to thrill to safety.
What was Tesla’s insight?
That Modes create monetisable value. They aren’t features. They’re identity tools.
As Elon Musk has said, the future of Tesla is not just hardware—it’s recurring software revenue. And most of that is being created through modal design.
3. LG Electronics – Ambient Mode-Aware Design
LG’s newest smart TVs shift visual and audio settings depending on what the viewer is doing:
Gaming mode? Boost latency and responsiveness.
Cinema mode? Adjust brightness and contrast for immersion.
Ambient light detection? Optimise picture clarity for the room.
Instead of the user adapting to the system, the system adapts to the user.
This is the core promise of modal design: responsive context.
4. Zwift – Turning Exercise into Adaptive Gaming
Zwift turns your real-world bike into a portal to virtual riding universes.
Its modes reflect the shifting physical and emotional states of riders—effort, fatigue, terrain, and goals.
Athletes already understand modal performance. Zwift makes those shifts visual, gamified, and engaging. The result? More motivation, more community, more time spent with the brand.
Part 5: The Architecture of Modal Relevance
So, how can you apply modal thinking across your brand?
Here’s a six-step framework from the UNCX ecosystem to map, design, and expand your modal presence:
1. Define Your Anchor Category
Where do you compete today? What “moment” do you serve?
2. Identify Core Jobs-to-Be-Done
What functional, emotional, or identity jobs do you fulfill? In which modes?
3. Audit Your Current Mode Footprint
Which customer modes do you support well? Where are you invisible?
4. Map Modal Adjacencies
What nearby modes could you serve without breaking brand integrity?
5. Design Modal Experiences
Adapt UX, messaging, service delivery, and partnerships to match each mode.
6. Track Modal Value
Monitor not just NPS or CSAT, but mode-fit: how well you're showing up in the moments that matter most.
Part 6: Modal Thinking is Future-Proof Thinking
As AI agents begin to triage content, choices, and interactions for users, modal design will become essential for inclusion in the decision layer.
People won’t scroll to find your offer. Their assistant will surface it—if it fits their current mode.
That’s the new game.
That’s the new interface.
And that’s the new source of competitive advantage.
Final Insight: Build for the Version of Me That Exists Now
Customers will always like being surprised and delighted. But more, they want to be seen in context.
They don’t want brands to love them, or for brands to love. They want brands to recognise the version of them that’s active now, and respond accordingly.
“Auditing by segment shows you who you're serving.
Auditing by mode shows you who they are being.”
In a world of identity fluidity, AI orchestration, and moment-based decision-making, modal relevance is the ‘now’ of customer understanding.
The future isn’t personal. It’s situational.
The future isn’t loyal. It’s relevant.
And the future isn’t fixed. It’s modal.
👉 Can I ask a small favour? It will just take a few seconds. If you enjoyed this newsletter and value my work, please consider forwarding it to some of your friends.
Thanks for reading!
Michael
You can subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
P.S. Want help with mode design? Please message me for a PDF that provides a Mode & Moment Expansion Canvas.
You can use it to:
Audit Your Current Modal Footprint
Rank your brand across the eight core modes (1–5 scale). Where are you over-indexed? Where are you invisible?Map Daily Contexts
When do your customers enter each mode? Morning commute? Evening scroll? Online checkout?Design for Contextual Fit
Each mode may need different:Messaging tone
UX design
Emotional drivers
Channels and partnerships
Prioritise High-Fit Opportunities
Use brand purpose, cultural momentum, and feasibility to rank new modal ideas.