The main disruption changing our customer experience (CX) isn’t driven by cutting-edge technology or innovative business strategies but rather by the unexpected shifts in consumer behavior from outside influences. Customers today navigate multiple identities, altering how they interact with brands. Traditional views of consumers—as predictable, linear beings—are becoming obsolete. Instead, it’s time to embrace consumorphosis: the transformation where individuals embody different personas, shaped by context, moment, and situation, leading them to seek different experiences and brands based on their evolving needs and preferences.
Cease Viewing Customers as Fixed Segments
The conventional approach of segmenting customers into fixed personas needs to be replaced with a more dynamic understanding of their states or modes. Consumers have become shape-shifters, constantly adjusting to various moments and needs with the brands they engage with. Your customer could be a professional rushing through the morning, a parent in the afternoon, and a hobbyist in the evening—all in one day. Each identity displays distinct behaviors and requires different interactions. By recognizing this fluidity, brands can address the specific current mode of the customer, leading to a more personalized and effective CX.
To respond to these shifts, it’s crucial to move beyond the idea of customer segments, which assume static behaviors and preferences. Instead, think of consumers in terms of their state or mode at a particular time. This shift from fixed personas to adaptable states acknowledges that as customers transition through various roles during the day or week, their expectations from brands change as well. The goal is to understand and anticipate these changes, offering experiences that resonate with each identity at specific moments.
Develop Adaptable Experiences
Building flexible experiences is essential in catering to the multiple versions of a single customer. Brand messaging, marketing strategies, and retail or digital experiences should all be adaptable, ready to align with whatever identity your customer is expressing in a given moment. This adaptability ensures that brands can meet the distinct needs, desires, and values that each persona brings to the interaction. Companies like Starbucks and Nike exemplify this approach, recognizing that their customers are not monolithic but multi-dimensional beings with diverse, shifting needs.
Creating adaptable experiences involves more than just personalized messaging; it requires a comprehensive strategy that recognizes and supports different customer versions. Whether it’s a professional looking for a quick coffee or a hobbyist seeking a leisurely environment, experiences must be tailored to each context. This approach goes beyond traditional customer segmentation and touches on the momentary needs and values that customers display. By embracing this flexibility, brands can ensure they remain relevant across different customer identities, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.
Acknowledge the End of Traditional Brand Loyalty
Traditional brand loyalty, which relied on a consistent, ongoing relationship with a single version of a customer, is becoming obsolete in the age of consumorphosis. Instead of striving to own the customer, companies must now aim to be relevant and valuable to the multiple iterations of their customers. Winning ‘in’ the moment involves adapting to the current context and needs of the customer, rather than assuming a static relationship. Recognizing the fluid nature of modern consumers can lead to more meaningful, context-driven engagements.
The principles of enduring loyalty are evolving. Modern loyalty is not about assuming a continuous bond with one version of the consumer but rather about creating value in each distinct interaction. This shift requires brands to pivot their focus from attempting to maintain a uniform relationship with customers to recognizing the need for relevance across different identities. Each interaction should be seen as an opportunity to earn the customer’s favor in that specific context, ensuring that the brand remains pertinent and supportive of the customer’s fluctuating needs and preferences.
For Service Designers: Tailor Customer Service Approaches
Service designers must abandon one-size-fits-all service scripts and instead train teams to identify and adapt to identity switches in real-time. Whether a customer is in rushed professional mode, relaxed explorer mode, careful parent, or adventurous individual state, each scenario demands a unique service style. By teaching teams to recognize and respond to these shifts, brands can deliver more personalized and effective service. Mapping out different customer modes can be a practical first step in creating flexible service designs that cater to each version’s specific needs and values.
To implement this approach, service designers can start by identifying the three most common customer modes and understanding their distinct needs and preferences. This understanding can then be translated into tailored service scripts and training programs that equip staff to respond to each mode appropriately. By personalizing service interactions based on the customer’s current state, brands can significantly enhance the customer experience, making it more relevant and satisfactory. This method transforms service delivery into a dynamic, responsive process that aligns with the multifaceted identities of modern consumers.
For Experience Designers: Create Non-Linear Journeys
Experience designers should stop creating linear customer journeys and instead focus on designing multiple entry and exit points catering to different customer states. Brands like Lululemon exemplify this approach by offering varied experiences within their stores to serve serious athletes, mindful yogis, or social connectors. By breaking down the main customer journey into modules that can be mixed and matched, designers can accommodate different customer modes effectively, just like a playlist that adapts to various moods and needs.
This modular approach allows for a more flexible customer journey, where different combinations can be curated based on the customer’s current state. By thinking beyond linear paths, experience designers can create more engaging and personalized interactions that resonate with the customer’s present identity. This strategy not only meets the diverse needs of customers but also enhances their overall satisfaction by providing relevant experiences at the right moment. The concept of modular journeys revolutionizes the way brands interact with customers, making each touchpoint more meaningful and context-driven.
For Brand Designers: Be Multifunctional
Brand designers should aim to be multifunctional, similar to a Swiss Army knife, by offering different aspects of the brand depending on the customer’s identity at the time. Brands like Nike exemplify this by catering to various customer identities, from elite athletes to fashion-conscious professionals to social justice advocates. Conducting an audit of brand communications and moving away from a single tone of voice can help create messages that speak to different versions of the customer while maintaining the core brand truth.
To achieve this multifunctionality, brand designers can start by analyzing current brand communications and identifying areas where a more diverse approach is needed. By developing a variety of messages that resonate with different customer identities, brands can ensure that each interaction is tailored and relevant. This strategy not only enhances the brand’s ability to connect with its audience but also supports the evolving nature of consumer identities. It ensures that the brand remains consistent yet adaptable, able to address the multifaceted needs of modern consumers effectively.
Observe Identity Shifts in Yourself
The primary disruption transforming our customer experience (CX) isn’t being led by pioneering technology or novel business methodologies. Instead, it’s the unexpected shifts in consumer behavior due to external influences that are making waves. Nowadays, consumers juggle multiple identities, which significantly impacts how they engage with brands. The conventional perception of consumers as predictable, straightforward individuals is becoming outdated. In its place, we must adopt the concept of consumorphosis, where people embody varied personas influenced by the context, moments, and specific situations they encounter. This transformation guides them to seek out diverse experiences and brands based on their ever-evolving requirements and preferences. Essentially, consumers are no longer a monolithic group; they are complex and adaptable, seeking interactions that resonate with their changing identities. This shift requires businesses to be more perceptive and flexible in their approach to meet the dynamic landscape of consumer expectations and experiences.