Step into an Apple store and be greeted by the modern and sleek layout apparent in every corner. Run your fingers through their latest iPhone and feel its smooth touch. Not long after, you leave the store to see a simple yet chic Apple advertisement on your smartphone promoting their latest products. Regardless of the channel, brands often strive to provide customers with consistency across multiple touchpoints. With an emphasis on offering a compelling experience that distinguishes itself from their competitors, brand experience (BX) is the up-and-coming concept businesses need to know. 

What is Brand Experience (BX)?

Brand experience refers to how your brand is being perceived by others based on product and non-product interactions with your customers. Compared to other related concepts such as User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX), BX encompasses the widest scope. More importantly, BX focuses on differentiation, particularly in making the brand’s offerings unique and distinct compared to other brands. Given the experience-driven economy we live in today, BX has never been more important than before. As the needs of customers are constantly evolving, brands need to find new and compelling ways to form lasting and meaningful connections with their customers. 

5 Simple Steps to Transform your Brand Experience (BX) 

Many factors play a part in creating a successful BX for a brand to engage in meaningful connections with their customers. Here are five ways you can adopt to create a successful BX: 

1. Differentiate your experience with a clear purpose 

In an increasingly saturated market today, a key differentiator for brands to stand out amidst the stiff competition is a clear purpose. Studies have shown how customers are four to six times more likely to make purchases from purpose-driven brands. Evidently, a well understood and clearly articulated brand purpose can benefit businesses significantly. 

(Source: Pamper)

For cosmetics brand Kiehl’s, sustainability forms the core of their brand purpose. Kiehl’s constantly explores ways to reduce their environmental impact by creating more responsible formulas with renewable ingredients and sustainable packaging. In their recent Future Made Better event, Kiehl’s used this virtual green festival to educate their customers on the issue of sustainability and invited them to support Kiehl’s green initiatives. With a clear brand purpose, Kiehl’s sets itself apart from other cosmetic brands with its serious commitment to working towards a healthier planet for everyone. 

2. Consistency across multiple touchpoints is key 

Given the proliferation of digital media channels, brands find themselves communicating to customers at multiple touchpoints. From a social media post to an in-store experience, customers are constantly interacting with brands in various ways. To create a successful BX, brands need to offer customers a consistent experience across all these channels that reinforce their brand character. 

(Source: Apple) 

With a sleek and simple design, it’s hard to miss the signature Apple product that now dominates the technology industry. Beyond their sophisticated functional capabilities, Apple’s brand personality extends through all their channels. From their simple yet catchy taglines on advertisements to the elegant design of their retail stores, Apple offers customers a consistent experience across multiple touchpoints. 

3. Go digital, strategically 

With the rise of digital natives, brands need to rethink how they are reaching out to their customers today. Especially in a time of a pandemic, many physical interactions have to be scaled down due to imposed restrictions. This has caused many brands to go digital by interacting with their customers in online spaces. 

(Souce: Shiseido Ultimune Interactive Microsite, developed by Trinax)

To launch their new line of Ultimune products, Shiseido collaborated with Trinax to create an Interactive Microsite to engage in meaningful connections with their customers. From an augmented reality Instagram filter face yoga challenge to a wide range of virtual masterclasses, this digital brand activation helped customers to experience the Ultimune products in a refreshing manner. 

4. Make it sensory 

One crucial factor in creating an unforgettable BX lies in providing a sensory experience for customers. By engaging one of the five senses effectively, sensory branding can evoke an emotional response from customers. Using sensory experiences to create impact, this can help to improve customer loyalty and brand advocacy. 

(Source: Dunkin) 

Putting a creative twist to their usual marketing campaigns, Dunkin Donuts decided to attract new customers by engaging their sense of smell. Commuter buses in Seoul, South Korea were given machines that emitted the scent of freshly brewed coffee the moment the Dunkin Donuts song was played on the radio. The novel use of sensory branding in their campaign saw a 29% increase in brand sales for the business. 

5. Reinforce your brand promise 

While forming connections with your customers through BX, it is still important for brands to reinforce the brand’s commitment to delivering their promise. Using fun and exciting ways such as interactive games can be one way to do so. 

(Source: Kiehl’s Virtual Green Festival, developed by Trinax)

Launching their first ever virtual green festival, Kiehl’s Future Made Better Festival hosted a slew of exciting activities for their customers to learn about sustainability in an engaging manner. With the chance to win attractive prizes from participating in specially curated games, customers were thoroughly engaged in this virtual space. Other features such as Live Streams, an Instant Skin Reader, videos and bite-sized fun facts helped customers to explore Kiehl’s green initiatives in a refreshing manner. By taking an interactive approach to educating their customers about sustainability, Kiehl’s reinforced their brand’s promise of putting sustainability at the core of their brand with an exciting virtual festival. 

Recreating Brand Experiences (BX) 

In today’s experience-driven economy, brand experiences are an important way for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors. As a specialist in developing interactive digital experiences built on an omni-channel framework, Trinax can be a part of your brand experience. If you are looking to create a digital experience that excites your customers, do feel free to reach out to us for a collaboration.