Meredith Cranmer.
In a world where consumer attention is everything, brands that fail to surprise and delight risk more than being overlooked - they risk becoming irrelevant, writes Meredith Cranmer co-founder and managing director at Because ANZ.
There’s one cost that no brand can afford, the cost of being dull. This marketing maxim, while not new, has gained increased traction recently as marketers look for other ways to stand out from the crowd. The reason is obvious. Failing to surprise and delight consumers is more than just a missed opportunity, it can actively impact the bottom line.
With so many homogenous customer journeys, a brand’s ability to inject moments of surprise, delight and personalised touches is the secret ingredient to driving long-term connection and brand salience.
According to Kantar research, only 25% of a brand’s equity is driven by communications like paid media. The remaining 75% comes from the experiences customers have with a brand - how they interact with products, services, and customer service channels.
Brands that only focus on pushing out ads and forget about creating meaningful, memorable experiences, leave a huge chunk of a brand’s potential untouched. Dullness in brand experience isn’t just forgettable - it’s detrimental. It leads to disengagement, decreased brand loyalty, and lower lifetime value. This is why surprise and delight strategies come into play, and marketers that ignore them are missing a trick.
The power of surprise and delight
Today’s consumers expect more than just a transaction, they want experiences that resonate on an emotional level. Surprise and delight strategies have the power to create them, injecting joy, excitement, and connection into a brand’s relationship with its audience.
They work because they tap into our innate desire for emotional connection. Personalising these moments, whether through small touches or grand gestures, shows customers that a brand understands them on a deeper level.
A great recent example of a brand that brought surprise and delight was Monzo, the UK’s largest digital bank, which partnered with high street food giant, Greggs, to launch an exclusive pop-up ATMmm. It was launched as Monzo’s data showed that 2.3 million of its customers together spent over $136m on Greggs products last year.
The activation saw two bespoke ATMs placed side-by-side. One a regular ATM, with an ‘out of order’ message on-screen. Next to it was a Monzo ATMmm that gave users the option to select either a Sausage Roll or Vegan Sausage Roll to be dispensed, for free. This is the perfect example of how surprise and delight can reinforce brand loyalty by aligning with broader customer experience strategies.
Experiences build brands, not just ads
We often assume that advertising builds brand fame, but the truth is, the most successful brands are built on a foundation of exceptional experiences. Experiences are what create lasting memories, and in turn, brand loyalty. Surprise and delight moments are the peak experiences that solidify these relationships.
Look at what Disney does at their theme parks around the world. Every step of a visitor’s journey, even the mundane parts like standing in a queue, is turned into a magical experience. At Disneyland in Tokyo even the soap dispensers are a source of fun and delight, dispensing a very cute Mickey Mouse shaped shot of hand wash. These touches don’t just add joy, they elevate the brand to an emotional space that no amount of traditional advertising could ever achieve on its own.
Brands that understand this make the ordinary extraordinary. Everyday brands, from grocery chains to toothpaste manufacturers, have a unique opportunity to differentiate themselves by injecting surprise into the everyday. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a luxury product or a trendy brand - moments of delight can be created in any sector. And challenger brands often rely on these experiences to compete with larger, more established players. They can’t outspend the competition, but they can certainly out-surprise them.
Balancing delight with consistency
There’s a catch though. Surprise and delight can’t be a standalone strategy. Brands must first deliver on their core promises, and do so consistently. There’s no point in handing out surprises if your basic customer experience is flawed. I put it like this - you need to have a good sausage before you add the sizzle. In other words, if the foundational experience is poor, no amount of marketing theatrics will fix the problem.
That said, when done right, surprise and delight should complement the brand’s promise. It’s about adding magic without sacrificing reliability. Customers still expect consistency in quality and service, and the surprise should feel like an added bonus, not a distraction from the brand’s core values.
Where consumer attention is the most valuable currency, brands can no longer afford to be dull. The extraordinary cost of playing it safe is that you fade into the background while more daring, thoughtful brands make lasting connections. So here’s the challenge. Don’t settle for being just another brand. Think bigger. Be bolder. Carve out some budget to get close with customers by surprising and delighting them. Make the everyday moments extraordinary. After all, the cost of being dull? That’s a price no brand can afford to pay.
With so many homogenous customer journeys, a brand’s ability to inject moments of surprise, delight and personalised touches is the secret ingredient to driving long-term connection and brand salience.
According to Kantar research, only 25% of a brand’s equity is driven by communications like paid media. The remaining 75% comes from the experiences customers have with a brand - how they interact with products, services, and customer service channels.
Brands that only focus on pushing out ads and forget about creating meaningful, memorable experiences, leave a huge chunk of a brand’s potential untouched. Dullness in brand experience isn’t just forgettable - it’s detrimental. It leads to disengagement, decreased brand loyalty, and lower lifetime value. This is why surprise and delight strategies come into play, and marketers that ignore them are missing a trick.
The power of surprise and delight
Today’s consumers expect more than just a transaction, they want experiences that resonate on an emotional level. Surprise and delight strategies have the power to create them, injecting joy, excitement, and connection into a brand’s relationship with its audience.
They work because they tap into our innate desire for emotional connection. Personalising these moments, whether through small touches or grand gestures, shows customers that a brand understands them on a deeper level.
A great recent example of a brand that brought surprise and delight was Monzo, the UK’s largest digital bank, which partnered with high street food giant, Greggs, to launch an exclusive pop-up ATMmm. It was launched as Monzo’s data showed that 2.3 million of its customers together spent over $136m on Greggs products last year.
The activation saw two bespoke ATMs placed side-by-side. One a regular ATM, with an ‘out of order’ message on-screen. Next to it was a Monzo ATMmm that gave users the option to select either a Sausage Roll or Vegan Sausage Roll to be dispensed, for free. This is the perfect example of how surprise and delight can reinforce brand loyalty by aligning with broader customer experience strategies.
Experiences build brands, not just ads
We often assume that advertising builds brand fame, but the truth is, the most successful brands are built on a foundation of exceptional experiences. Experiences are what create lasting memories, and in turn, brand loyalty. Surprise and delight moments are the peak experiences that solidify these relationships.
Look at what Disney does at their theme parks around the world. Every step of a visitor’s journey, even the mundane parts like standing in a queue, is turned into a magical experience. At Disneyland in Tokyo even the soap dispensers are a source of fun and delight, dispensing a very cute Mickey Mouse shaped shot of hand wash. These touches don’t just add joy, they elevate the brand to an emotional space that no amount of traditional advertising could ever achieve on its own.
Brands that understand this make the ordinary extraordinary. Everyday brands, from grocery chains to toothpaste manufacturers, have a unique opportunity to differentiate themselves by injecting surprise into the everyday. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a luxury product or a trendy brand - moments of delight can be created in any sector. And challenger brands often rely on these experiences to compete with larger, more established players. They can’t outspend the competition, but they can certainly out-surprise them.
Balancing delight with consistency
There’s a catch though. Surprise and delight can’t be a standalone strategy. Brands must first deliver on their core promises, and do so consistently. There’s no point in handing out surprises if your basic customer experience is flawed. I put it like this - you need to have a good sausage before you add the sizzle. In other words, if the foundational experience is poor, no amount of marketing theatrics will fix the problem.
That said, when done right, surprise and delight should complement the brand’s promise. It’s about adding magic without sacrificing reliability. Customers still expect consistency in quality and service, and the surprise should feel like an added bonus, not a distraction from the brand’s core values.
Where consumer attention is the most valuable currency, brands can no longer afford to be dull. The extraordinary cost of playing it safe is that you fade into the background while more daring, thoughtful brands make lasting connections. So here’s the challenge. Don’t settle for being just another brand. Think bigger. Be bolder. Carve out some budget to get close with customers by surprising and delighting them. Make the everyday moments extraordinary. After all, the cost of being dull? That’s a price no brand can afford to pay.