The document discusses how customer experience has shifted from brands telling their own story, to helping customers tell their story. It notes that the current media landscape features many voices and perspectives, rather than just the single brand narrative of the past. The author argues that brands should not be precious about their official story and instead should engage customers as partners rather than just recipients of marketing messages. This allows brands to better connect in today's pluralistic media world and win at customer experience.

1. grahamdbrown.com http://www.grahamdbrown.com/customer-experience-is-no-longer-about-telling-the-brand-story/
gbrown
Customer Experience is no longer about telling the brand story
Customer Experience is no longer about telling the brand story but helping customers tell their story.
Shifting Media Landscapes Require a New Approach
By: Zhao ! (Flickr)
In the era of the Pepsi Generation, Tony the Tiger and Air Jordan, we created experience through brand
campaigns but today, the landscape has shifted.
Let’s look at that shift:
* The average customer sees 170,000 marketing message by her 17th birthday
* Millennials don’t wake up thinking about your brand anymore
* The only people who talk about ad campaigns these days are… well… the people who make ad campaigns
This isn’t about winning awards anymore get over it.
The Good Old Bad Old Days
In a world where there was only one story in town, the brand message was easy to define.
You commissioned the agency, you bought media space and you timed your broadcast messages. Alongside this
above the line activity you would engage relevant celebrities to endorse your product, aging DJs to secure a
mention on air and magazine editors to win column inches. The industry was a well established network of
relationships that could be bought and sold.
Here is a model that worked for well over 50 years, and it worked because it was the only voice in town.
Storytelling in the Pluralistic Media Landscape

2. Today, however, we live in a multi-channel world.
When Lady Gaga and Paris Hilton say your phone is the coolest in town, it becomes just another voice in this
pluralistic media world. What about that review posted on Youtube that says otherwise? What about that status
update from your friend about the new iPhone? What about those amazing Instagram photos using the new
Samsung?
Customer Experience today has moved from being a monolithic narrative defined by sanctioned media channels
to a pluralistic mix of multiple stories told by customers and media alike.
Here are 3 handy tips I’ll share with you from my current work at http://www.GrahamDBrown.com
What does this mean to you?
* Don’t be precious about a brand template or an official narrative. Official brand stories are just one drop in the
ocean of multiple conversations going on at any one time.
* Advertising is no longer the key to defining your brand or customer experience
* Brands that engage customers as partners rather than destinations for marketing messages are brands that will
win the CX game.
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