Brand Experience is all of the touch points that drive how a customer experiences your brand. In today’s world that includes user and non-user generated content as much as it includes what you do as a Brand.
Brand Experience still matters, but with the emergence of the importance of a brand purpose—the reason your brand/your company exist; how it serves the world in a meaningful way—we need to similarly think bigger than experience alone. Hence, we believe there’s a new type of experience that benefits from discrete consideration, which we call Acts. We define an Act as a selfless act created and/or enabled by a Brand which is big, connected to the Brand’s purpose and is seminally defining of the Brand’s purpose.
We distinguish Acts from experience so the Brand deliberately strategizes, brainstorms and invents big Acts that intentionally anchor the brand purpose.
Some examples:
Molson Canadian (beer): What was described as a “stunt” in its original incarnation is, in our opinion, more than a stunt (which is temporary and highly self-serving). It’s a brilliant example of an Act (one of many the brand has created) that serves to reinforce the brand purpose (To feel the connection as a proud Canadian)
Coke Happiness: So many Acts but this one is still my favorite.
So, first things first—move beyond positioning and think bigger (and less about you and more about then). Think Purpose. Then, ideate, invent, create…think big when you are determining the Big Acts you’re going to create to anchor that purpose. In pharma, it can be unbranded. It’s the right thing to do and face it, if you do it well, the online world will determine it’s “you” and you will be rewarded.
