CONNECTION IS EVERYTHING
June 30 2026
speech
summary.
Theodore Levitt’s famous Marketing Myopia article remains a great way to focus business strategy. What business are we in?
Defining that too narrowly, too functionally, and we lose opportunity for future organisational success.
You may consider yourself to be in the IT business (programming, networks, project management), but we are in the ‘Experience’ business.
Business units that focus too much on what they are ‘functionally’ versus what they could become tend to limit themselves. Focusing on the work processes of today, arrogantly assuming tomorrow will deliver the same results, was a strategy that did not fare well for Kodak or Nokia.
The world continues to change and one of the biggest forces pressing down on your business is the expectations of your customers, both end-user and internally. We need to deliver far beyond those expectations, beyond function.
There has been a significant commoditisation in recent years in our industry. Everyone has good products, competitive pricing, excellent online offerings, advertising, and great people. AI will further commoditise CX and customer interaction.
We find ourselves back in the Generic Circle of product, when everyone in our industry is offering the same thing. This is why we need to invest heavily in the experience element. Seamless and frictionless are table-stakes now, the ticket-to-play. We need a ticket to win.
FROM SERVICE
TO EXPERIENCE.
The Customer Intimacy Ladder model presented said it best.
The base layer, the brains of the operation, is a SERVICE level. This is you serving your customer, be they internal or end-user. It is the basics. It is operational, functional. It is the expected.
The next level up is the EXPERIENCE level. This is different from basic service. This is far more holistic. This is you taking an interest in your customer beyond function.
The top level is INTIMACY, where the department lines fade and you are part of the overall success. This is belonging, relationship, a sense of closeness. This is far from ‘providing a service or input’ to a project.
CONNECTION IS
EVERYTHING.
The keynote was entitled ‘Connection is Everything’ for a reason. Relationships and belonging are the driving forces of human happiness. The need to move away from a transactional model to one that puts the customer relationship and experience at the centre is key.
Digital has become a core part of every brand ‘s CX strategy. We live in a world where technology is the driving force behind the majority of customer experiences, and as we power that connection.
IT has moved from function to competitive advantage, an inherent part of delivering that excellent customer experience.
BLUE DOT
CENTRICITY.
We need to place our customer (be they internal or end-user) at the centre, not our own ways of working, the technology or process. Your customer is not an end point of a customer journey. They are the BLUE DOT, that pulsing centre point around which everything must revolve.
In society, everything comes to the customer today. Why go to a supermarket when the supermarket can deliver to you? Why go to a restaurant when Uber Eats will deliver to your home? Why go out on the streets to flag a cab when Uber will deliver one to your door? Why use an expensive orthodontist when you can straighten your teeth with mail-order clear braces?
Similarly, customer expectations have changed, even within B2B or your internal customer. IT has been functionally and project/operationally led for too long. We need to shift from a transactional to a relational/CX focus. The experience needs to be wholly customer centric.
Carrying the Blue Dot metaphor further, no one would open Google maps and follow someone else’s blue dot on the map – you are only shown your own. Your customer expects to be treated personally; made feel special, have heavily customised service at every touch point. We need to shift from reactive and an ‘enabler’ to a proactive partnership.
Thinking back to the earlier ‘what business are you in’ question. Remember your ‘product’ is not code or the project but the ‘experience’.
THE EXPECTANT
NATURE OF BUSINESS.
The engagement brand ladder took us from dissatisfaction, through to satisfaction, delight and on to engaged and empowered customers.
Satisfaction is simply Customer Experience = Customer Expectation. If our experiences match our expectations, we are satisfied. But few customers share that story. We have levelled up from Dissatisfaction with Speed-2-Value but that delivers Satisfaction. We have to give our customers more than they expect, at every moment.
Delight (going beyond your customer expectations) is a philosophy, a culture shift.
Recall that Virgin Atlantic Goldfish story. Not only are the brand values brought to life in the arising brand storytelling, but it demonstrates the depth of connection when employees make the effort to delight a customer, to go beyond expectations. The same with the desert being served in the snow in Central Park.
What stories are your internal customers telling about you and your work? If you, or Allianz as an organisation, have not delivered beyond expectations, then the customer doesn’t have a story to tell.
This is how we climb to the top of the ladder- to engaged, empowered customers- those Harley-Davidson and Red Bull communities. They build a tribe.
TECHNOLOGY FUELS
CONNECTION.
Technology solutions are sometimes about efficiency and productivity, but they can also make a significant difference in how our customers experience our brand.
Technology solutions are sometimes about efficiency and productivity, but they can also make a significant difference in how our customers experience our brand.
Recall the hospital implementation of their speech-to-chart system, turning clinical interactions into deep, immersive and empathetic interactions. Patients enjoying full eye contact without any administration blocking the empathy flow. Employees happier as they feel more present during consultations. Humans doing what we do best – connecting.
That was brought to life even better with the Octopus Energy story. Music played just for your 14-year-old nostalgic self. Turning the pain of waiting into enjoyment. Technology driving connection.
This is everything IT, data and AI should be. Connecting with intelligence. Using data to make customers and employees feel special. Technology unburdens human talent so we can do what we do best – connect. Make people feel.
THE CREW WIN
THE RACE.
The drivers in Formula One get to stand on the podiums and spray the champagne magnum. They get the glory and the attention, and they have their part to play.
But races are not won by the driver. They are won by the race engineers, the car designers, the pit-crew, all working as one. It is the technology behind the scenes and proactive and the collaborative approach that wins the race.
It is the same for us. You may not be on the front-line talking to the end-customer, but the work you do is no less important to deliver the customer experience ‘win’.
RELATIONAL.
Ultimately, building Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Intimacy is about building Relationships. It is about moving away from that old ‘transaction model’ and moving towards a model that is based around putting the Relationship at the centre. This is why you need to push past your ‘functional’ perspective and build relationships with your customer.
It is only when emotions are engaged do we build relationship, when the customer ‘feels’ something. We need to become a trusted partner for our customers, not just another department or ‘provider’.
The more we embed emotional response and authentic, compassionate customer interactions in the customer experience, the more we build that bond with that customer. We achieve that scale and depth of connection – emotional entanglement.
Look for ways to build significant relationships, with depth, authenticity and purpose. Remember that Taylor Swift fan enraptured with experiencing the product up-close. This type of engagement only comes when there is a significant relationship related to the brand experience.
In our future deep-fake, AI-fuelled world, authentic relationship will be everything. The experience a customer has builds that relationship. Customer Intimacy is the endgame.
Your Strategy Audit
10 Questions to Answer
01
If you were to make your area more BLUE DOT tomorrow, what would that look like? Where in the internal customer journey could you do a better job at making it about THE CUSTOMER and not about your processes or ways of working?
02
Where could you implement PROACTIVE service rather than waiting for a customer to ask? How can we move towards a CX and proactive service model? How can you live your everyday with ‘eyes open’ for opportunity to make a CX difference in the organisation?
03
Where do you routinely go beyond customer expectations into the delight space? What 5 ideas could you bring to life in your ways of working that would make a customer smile in delight? Brainstorm big ideas, medium ones, small ones?
04
What AI and digital elements could add even more value to the emotive customer experience? Are most of our digital tools about efficiency and process? Where are the delight moments using technology?
05
What moments have we created in the last 3 months that would be your Goldfish and story?. Who is telling your story today?
06
How do we share the moments of delight and above customer expectation internally? How does the organisation hear, routinely, that we are delighting our customers?
07
Who is your Excite & Delight Director within your team/project, responsible for delivering moments that go beyond customer expectation?
08
What are you doing in the Employee Experience space that motivates your employees to want to deliver 5-star CX service? All of the values discussed apply to employees also.
09
If a customer is unhappy with you tomorrow, where is that failure most likely to have come from in your customer journey? Audit your CX processes, identify pain points and look to dissolve the friction.
10
Where is the evidence you are building relationships, climbing the Customer Intimacy ladder and contributing to customer experience? Where are you authentic and pushing past transaction into relationship in the everyday?
More content
from Ken.
THE TRUST TOWER: WHY BRAND LOYALTY IS BUILT ON BELIEF, NOT BENEFITS
THE CUSTOMER INTIMACY LADDER: FROM SERVICE TO SOUL
THE BAD BUNNY HALFTIME EFFECT: WHY IDENTITY IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL FORCES IN CUSTOMER CONNECTION
For those too lazy to read blogs, and to view further visual content and past performances from Ken Hughes, check out the YouTube channel where he discusses all things consumer and customer experience related.
If you want to develop a true understanding of Customer Intimacy and Brand Advocacy and understand the power of the EX/CX relationship, get yourself a copy of my latest book. Packed with inspiring stories around CX/EX, it is your backstage pass to brand brilliance.
