From the Branded CX series developed for Ziba, a CX innovation and design firm.
This essay was part of a four-part thought leadership initiative designed to establish Branded CX as a strategic category.

Brand Purpose has been proven to drive myriad business gains, but activating it has grown more complex. Backlash against DEI and ESG policies, which often cross-cross and extend brand purpose, have made the latter a political football for myriad stakeholders. Despite these challenges, and the growing threats to brand authenticity posed by AI, consumer support of corporate environmental and social responsibility continues to increase. CX has become the best proving ground for brand purpose, but business leaders can take additional steps to activate brand purpose successfully across the entire customer experience ecosystem.

From the Branded CX series developed for Ziba, a CX innovation and design firm.
This essay was part of a four-part thought leadership initiative designed to establish Branded CX as a strategic category.

Brand rituals are among the most potent ways to make CX emotionally meaningful and memorable. As collective rituals become rarer in contemporary life, brands can step in with their own ritualistic events, artifacts, gestures, and moments. Some of the most successful brands are indissociable from their rituals, and many brands today are creating ritualistic moments through experiential marketing and third places. To design brand rituals, we turn to cultural anthropology, which sheds light on how rituals have worked throughout history and their mysterious capacity to make life more meaningful. To fully develop multiple ritualistic dimensions of CX, ongoing cultural research that goes beyond consumer sentiment and satisfaction monitoring is invaluable.