Customer experience: Are brand's using this sleeping giant?

The quest for cut-through is at boiling point. Hyper-competitive markets and always-on lifestyles have created a world where every brand is shouting to be heard. But the noise has consequences. 

Recent data from a YouGov study we commissioned (The 2025 Brand Credibility Index) found that 38 per cent of Brits think that brands are not credible. A sentiment fuelled by years of overpromising, underdelivering, and chasing attention instead of trust.

[CX] is the most fertile opportunity to spend meaningful time with customers.

We’ve long seen credibility as how you actually build trust and it’s accepted that trust is what drives loyalty. Surprisingly though, the research showed that credibility is also the minimum requirement needed to compete – without it, building awareness is much more difficult. That starts with shaping a brand promise.

Above: The creative platform Money Never Felt Like Monzo gives the brand a personality and furthers the idea that handling finances should 'feel good'.

The more meaningful and unique the promise, the more it will connect with consumers. Once it’s in place, it needs to be delivered upon relentlessly. And this is where many brands are missing a trick. Too often, ‘delivery’ manifests in marketing content, while customer experience (CX) gets overlooked.

58 per cent of UK customers walk away from brands when their customer experience doesn’t live up to what the brand promises.

Ironically, most businesses see CX as a race to the ‘goal’, rather than a chance to spend meaningful time with customers. They design experiences to be fast, efficient, and friction-free, leaving little space to build connection or create quality time.

And this is becoming a problem - a whopping 58 per cent of UK customers walk away from brands when their customer experience doesn’t live up to what the brand promises. If the CX doesn’t deliver on, and embody, the brand, customers won’t stick around.

The real opportunity lies in designing experiences that bring a brand promise to life, showing what makes it unique. Accenture’s Life Trends Survey underlines the point: 42 per cent of consumers find it hard to distinguish between financial services brands. A sobering stat for banks that have poured millions into apps - now their primary customer touchpoint - as high-street branches fade away.

[Dulcie] offers a masterclass in CX that turns the brand’s belief into something you can actually step inside.

One bank that has avoided this trap is Monzo. Once a challenger, it's fast becoming a mainstream choice, without losing what made it distinctive. The creative platform - ‘Money Never Felt Like Monzo’ embodies the belief that people’s relationship with money and finance should feel good. And it delivers that belief through product and CX alike, treating the app as a stage for brand expression, leveraging its personality whenever possible.

Three magic touches from Monzo (that make money feel good)

• That satisfying 'cha-ching' noise when you get paid. A tiny moment of joy that doubles as Monzo’s sonic brand.
• The use of informal words, such as 'help' instead of 'assistance'. Relatable language builds stronger connections.
• The ability to split a bill in seconds. No awkward maths, no sassy side eyes, no unnecessary drama.

Above: Dulcie’s flagship store in Margate, Kent, presents as a laboratory with a sea view where customers can see the brand’s promise and processes in action.

But let’s not forget, CX isn’t just about digital. As the high street continues to falter, too few brands are rethinking what a modern store experience should be. Dulcie (formerly Haeckels), the seaweed skincare brand based in the UK coastal town of Margate, shows how it’s done - building every interaction around its promise: ‘People Care. Planet Care’.

Step inside its seaview flagship store and that ethos comes to life. The space feels more like a working laboratory than a shop, a place where customers can see the brand’s promise and process in action. With views of the very shoreline where its key ingredient is harvested, sustainability stops being a story and becomes something your senses can actually engage with. 

CX can turn difficult or uninteresting moments (‘pain points’) for brands into moments of joy and engagement (‘gain points’).

Upstairs, the Thalassotherapy Spa Rooms extend that connection further, inviting visitors to experience the restorative power of the sea through treatments rooted in marine science.

It’s retail as a destination. Building credibility, sparking curiosity, and giving customers a reason to return. A masterclass in CX that turns the brand’s belief into something you can actually step inside. Crucially, even those who don’t visit are reassured by the fact it exists – and it makes a stunning backdrop for storytelling.