To continue circulating the concepts comprising my catalogue of contrarian convictions, consider this corollary: the brand should dictate what the customer experience is like, not the customer.

Distinctiveness matters a great deal in competitive markets. We want our brand to stand out. Where does that distinctiveness come from? Not just our logo, color palette, adverts, or products but from the way people interact with us.

The problem is, relying on the voice of the customer to guide us — without a clear sense of the brand — undermines our quest for distinctiveness because our customers are the same as our competitors' and typically aren’t very imaginative. The whole category gets very similar customer insights.

To avoid swimming in the sea of sameness we must execute on these insights — or ideas of our own — in a distinctive way. This means a clear sense of the brand must come first, and be the final authority on what the experience must be like. Think of companies that are often lauded as experience led — Apple, Ritz Carlton, Disney, etc. — and you'll find they all have a very clear sense of their brand which guides them.

A simple conclusion: the CX community has it wrong. It's not customer first or employee first. If something must come first, it's the brand.

See this post on LinkedIn