How Context-Rich Experience Design Is Opening Up Brand Opportunities

There is an evolution in marketing communications underway, and it’s much deeper than just the trend toward omnichannel. It’s the ability brands have to gain an understanding of the customer that is context-rich and to use that to enhance and extend the buying experience.

Imagine someone traveling from a work meeting to their hotel when it starts raining. We can know in real time the weather they’re experiencing, that they hailed a car on an app, that they’re checking their messages along the way, and that they’re in motion or that traffic is slow. All these inputs create a context for us to design multi-sensory experiences around.

With those inputs, for example, a luxury retailer might invite this customer into their cafe to warm up and recharge their devices, where hopefully they’ll go on to shop and maybe buy a pricey umbrella or some gifts to take home.

Context-rich experience design isn’t just about using targeting capabilities to serve up an ad. It’s using that moment of friction as an opportunity to connect with someone in a meaningful way. A generic email with a 20 percent off coupon is a wasted opportunity with this kind of context.

A rich understanding of what is actually going on with the customer means this retailer can design an interaction that extends and enhances their brand experience. It attracts attention over a hundred other things and builds affinity, which can turn into a story that they can tell their friends and loved ones.