More than 5 years ago Forrester introduced the Age of Customer as a new 15 to 20 years era which saw the increasing customer empowerment in front of brands and companies. For companies, the first step in this era turned into improving the customer experience and the customer journey through an omnichannel strategy,  identifying the business/mobile moments and the additional practical or comfort value customers are expecting to ease their life.

Forrester’s CX team is putting the final touch on the CXEurope Forum 2017 in London and the theme this year is “Designing Breakaway Customer Experiences”. It is showcasing the most recent research to help CX pros plan, design and manage experiences that create business impact.

So CX is definitely the current battle in the Age of Customer. But this is not the end of the story. Improving the customer experience while the customers are always demanding more seems a never ending story… And this is the reality of today and tomorrow. So be prepared for the next step in customer empowerment…

Forrester recent research demonstrates that we are entering into a new trend in which customers want to consume differently, not only to get the best price, but also to consume according their values. (see

Align With Consumers’ Values To Win Their Hearts And Wallets)

We are calling that “Values Based Customers” which could potentially represent another new customer segmentation for marketers and new personas for CX. When the values of experience and comfort are met, customers are looking to more societal and communities values. They are looking for products more locally, with less impact on the environment, without additives – So not something they will get a direct benefit from, but something good for the earth. This consumption type is bringing more sustainable happiness than the very narcissistic previous era of consumption.

Our research also demonstrated that aligning emotional marketing to values is more sustainable for companies. But engaging your company on values should be done consciously and cautiously. Some early companies made some attempts and had terrible experiences: Uber, and Pepsi Co as the most recent examples. Why? Because customers are reacting like a boomerang about false claims. And they know the false claim because they will use the same big data companies are using to analyze customers behavior to also analyze company behavior. These new tools associate 1. compiled information, 2. amplify the message to a community and 3. then act according their belief. We are calling these new tools to help customers wanting values: Social Computing 2.0.

So the only way for companies to become authentic? They should stand up for values which are relevant to their business but also resonant for customers. And they should really execute what they claim and not play the “values washing game” as we have seen many times previously.

I hope you will join us the 14 and 15 November in Lancaster, London for the CX European Forum to learn more about our discovery around “Values Based Customers” as well as the new research we are planning during the upcoming years around this intriguing subject. Don’t forget to use the discount code CXE2017BLOG for £200 off the ticket price!