One brand experience will be interpreted differently

Peter Matthews misunderstood the News Analysis in which I was quoted (Letters, DW 10 January).

In the article I made two points. First, brand experiences happen all the time, across different brand touchpoints – even within banks.

Customers, however, don’t go to banks for a ‘brand experience’. What they seek varies from sector to sector and audience to audience. My bank’s brand lives for me in the clarity of its statements and its responsiveness to problems.

Second, fostering brand experiences requires an understanding of the nature of experience itself and a practical methodology to get at the heart of human subjectivity.

The key issue is that the customers take part in creating brand experiences, something that serious brand consultancies need to take on board. A brand experience can’t just be served up like a pizza – if you promise to ‘deliver’ one brand experience for all customers you’re out of your depth, no matter how many media you use.

Lisa Meekison

Head of research

Siegelgale

lmeekison@siegelgale.com