To be copied is one of the most flattering things to happen to any brand. It’s very often a measure of success and, as Coco Chanel rightly put it, “if you want to be original, get ready to be copied.”

Being the first has unmeasurable benefits. When done correctly, original experiences have the ability to connect teams, inspire creativity and foster a culture of innovation and problem-solving. Whilst externally, they can skyrocket brand loyalty, generate hype, promote consistency and ultimately build moments that are synonymous with the brand.

It’s certainly no secret that 'experience' is increasingly being considered the key brand differentiator for consumers and employees alike. Yet, despite this, recent insight from Gartner suggests 70% of brand experience leaders struggle to design meaningful projects.

This is a problem. It appears creating an experience that is original and effective is easier said than done.

Another barrier to achieving real change is evolving internal behaviour. Many organisations have the right technology, capital and infrastructure in place, but fail to shift their internal culture. In doing so, they’re missing out on creating better products, services, systems and of course experiences.

So, what makes an ‘experience’?

Experiences are multifaceted. They can be physical, they can be digital and increasingly they’re a convergence of the two. As digital transformation accelerates, this presents both a challenge and opportunity for businesses. We’re likely to see the idea of customer or brand experience continue to evolve as the role of technology creeps into all areas of business.

No matter what industry you're operating in, it's these experiences that keep consumers' interest piqued, communicate a brand's values and drive loyalty.

Internally, original experiences should connect people. They should build teams, inspire people, and foster great processes or ways of working. Externally, original experiences start to heighten brand loyalty, creating previously unseen levels of brand consistency and exclusivity.

We’ve outlined five key tenants and things to consider when putting together an original experience.

1.              Empathic Understanding

Empathic experiences are not only about understanding what you as a business needs to achieve, but also how your customers want to feel. It's realising the need for both functional and emotional solutions to reach your goals.

The key thing here is mapping a journey through the lens of what your customers and employees want to achieve, and how they currently feel when they do it. At NewTerritory we look inwardly through qualitative interviews, investigative fieldwork and strategic mapping. But we also look outwardly at trends and signals and create thought leadership or generate new perspectives.

When you pair this kind of functional intent with emotional need, and you pass it through the brand lens, you reveal unique opportunities for investigation and ownership.

2.              Macro to Micro

Here we explore the tension between experiences and products that are integrated, complementary, seamless and quiet, with those that are significant, instrumental and consequential in nature.

In order to do so, we need to understand the journey people go on when they experience something, beginning with their initial discovery. Questions to consider: how do I become aware of the experience? How do we create anticipation about what's to come? How do I begin to prepare for the experience? What new information do I now need to understand and the peak? How do I act at that moment? And are my aspirations actually met?

When you compare the emotional intent with the functional need, you end up with an opportunity. These peak moments radiate between one another, allowing you to create original experiences by thinking about the process of discovery all the way through to key moments and discernible points for your brand.

3.              The Power of Togetherness

Often original experiences do not exist on their own; they are composite in nature. Composed of multiple people and skillsets, teams, markets, systems and technologies. Experiences should therefore not be developed in isolation. They are a coming together of ideas and beliefs, embracing different trains of thought and/or methodologies.

These experiences are incredibly complex. They're part of a wider-ecosystem. Radical collaboration allows you to connect all these moving parts, building partnerships, connecting teams, leveraging the latest technology, to tell stories and unlock opportunities.

4.              Designing Desire

We need to build experiences that hit all the senses, that make people want to reach out and touch, taste, smell, see and feel them. A key part of creating an original experience is that they often comprise multiple moments that people should remember, lust after and ultimately desire to experience repeatedly.

Here, it's about toeing the line between the rational and the emotive. The rational needs to work effortlessly - a seamless experience from start to finish. Whereas the emotive must look, feel, sound, taste and smell great too.

5.           Make it Real

None of the above matters unless you can bring it to life, creating a vision for people to rally around, making it tangible for internal teams, so that it can be made reality for your customers. It's not just words, but it's imagery. It's video strategic maps, it's immersive experiences and mockups and prototypes, so people can get excited and understand what they’re trying to achieve.

The Original Experience Makers

Creating something that is synonymous with your brand, and that nobody else can do, is a challenge but it’s not impossible. If you get it right, then you have the opportunity to drive positive change for people, planet and profit.

Driving change internally is a good place to start. It allows you to create much better external experiences for your customers. The better experience you have internally, the more likely you will develop and deliver amazing experiences for customers and prospects. By designing experiences that are more composite in nature, you can assess the broader organisation and create new ‘North Stars’.

The brands of tomorrow need to evolve and become more regenerative - and only by creating original experiences will they be able to achieve this.