Championing Brand Experience in 2024

Every brand experience touchpoint matters to modern consumers

Everyone has their favorite brands in clothing… cosmetics… electronics… airlines. But, what is it about those brands that leave positive impressions and keep people coming back for more? It’s the brand experience. Every touchpoint from the first ad a customer sees, to product quality, customer service interactions, loyalty programs and more, have meaningful impacts on brand perceptions and how people choose to continue purchasing them.

In fact, DISQO’s Consumer Trends 2024 found that consumers’ actual experiences with products and services are the top perception drivers (61%), next to online reviews (48%), and what friends or family say (43%). Download the report to learn more about what else shapes brand experience. 

This intelligence is invaluable going into 2024 when consumers have an overall pessimistic outlook due to inflation, global conflicts, toxic politics and more. Consumers say they are willing to compromise on brand names in order to better manage their budgets in these uncertain times. Here, we provide a sneak peak of what we’ve learned.

What is brand experience?

Brand experience as the sum total of every interaction a customer has with a brand. This starts as early as the awareness stage and carries on all of the way down the customer life cycle to brand advocacy. Let’s examine some of the core touchpoints that define brand experience in the customer journey.

Advertising

Advertising is one of the most important touchpoints in the customer journey, increasing brand awareness and preference while also driving performance outcomes like search, site visits and ultimately purchase behaviors. Understanding the effectiveness of advertising in building brands and driving revenues in the near- and long-term is critical.  

Customer experience

Customer experience touchpoints like product quality (63%) and customer service are among top influencers of brand perception, with 63% and 44% of consumers calling them out respectively. Brands should pay close attention to avoid the risk of eroding trust and tarnishing inroads to build their brands’ reputations. Actual customer experiences using a product or service and/or interacting with employees from a company leave lasting impressions and set a foundation for brand loyalty.

Loyalty programs

Loyalty programs are a powerful tool for retaining existing customers and attracting new  ones, with perks like discounts, promotions, or freebies. Over a third of consumers (36%) said that loyalty program perks alone drove brand loyalty overall. These programs have also evolved into valuable tools for data-driven customer relationship management (CRM).  With the ability to connect customers’ data profiles to third- party data sources (in a privacy-compliant way),  marketers can better understand their customers and optimize their marketing, including advertising. 

What touchpoints influence brand experience?

We’ve established that the brand experience encompasses a range of touchpoints in the customer journey. To dig in further, DISQO’s Consumer Trends 2024 report examines which specific factors influence their view of brands the most. 

Overall, the findings suggest that consumers are far more likely to return to a brand and continue spending money if they receive good value in return. This comes as no surprise heading into a year that promises ongoing global conflict, a combative presidential election in the U.S., and ongoing economic uncertainty.

More insights to inform the brand experience!

Looking to better understand how consumers feel about the year ahead? And, more importantly, how that will impact their purchase decisions? DISQO has you covered on all of those fronts …and more! Get your hands on our Consumer Trends 2024 report for more insights on personal finances, advertising, streaming, and brands.