Every customer touchpoint is now a marketing channel, says experience branding expert

The definition of a marketing channel has quietly shifted beyond television, print and digital media to include nearly every customer interaction a brand has with its audience, according to Pratish Mepani, founder and creative director of Starting Monday Design and Branding Co. In a guest column, Mepani argues that experience branding — where the entire customer journey becomes the marketing — will define the next decade of business.

Mepani, who teaches design, says that consumers no longer separate a brand from its experience. “The website is the brand. The sound the packaging makes is the brand. The delivery experience and even the customer support representative is the brand,” he writes. “The invoice is the brand. The mobile app is the brand.”

This shift is accelerated by the rise of AI, automation and digital technologies. As products and services become increasingly similar, Mepani contends that experiences become one of the few sustainable differentiators. Technology can make businesses faster and more efficient, but experience makes them memorable.

Datos clave

Aspect	Detail
Author	Pratish Mepani, Founder & Creative Director, Starting Monday Design and Branding Co.
Core argument	Every customer touchpoint now functions as a marketing channel
Key differentiator	Experience, not technology, builds lasting brand relationships
Primary risk	Gap between brand promise and actual experience damages trust

Every touchpoint communicates something

Mepani emphasises that marketing has “escaped the marketing department.” Consumers judge brands by what they do, not by what they say. A beautifully written sustainability campaign means little if the packaging is wasteful. A company can talk endlessly about customer service, but if nobody answers the phone when something goes wrong, people only remember the failure.

The most successful organisations understand that every touchpoint contributes to perception. A hotel brand does not begin at check-in — it begins when someone attempts to make a reservation. A bank does not begin when an account is opened — it begins when a customer decides whom to trust with their money. A restaurant experience starts when someone discovers the restaurant online, not when food arrives at the table.

This means that onboarding processes, customer support teams, user interfaces and product experiences are all now marketing channels. “Every interaction is communicating something. Whether you intended it to or not,” Mepani writes.

Functionality before aesthetics

Mepani advocates for a principle he applies at his studio: functionality before aesthetics. “Functionality is the core. Aesthetics is the atmosphere around it. Both matter,” he explains. A beautiful app that is difficult to use creates frustration. Amazing packaging that is difficult to open creates irritation. A spectacular hotel lobby followed by poor service creates disappointment.

Good experiences, he argues, are rarely accidental. They are designed carefully, intentionally and for consistency. Many brands invest heavily in visual identity, messaging and campaigns, but if the experience is broken, no amount of communication can compensate for it.

Why this matters for Indian brands

For Indian businesses operating in a competitive digital landscape, this perspective carries practical weight. The explosion of digital-first startups, D2C brands and service platforms means that customers have more choices than ever. A single poor experience — a slow app, unresponsive support or confusing checkout — can drive a customer to a competitor instantly.

Mepani’s argument reinforces what many Indian marketers are already observing: brand loyalty is no longer built primarily through advertising. It is built through consistent, thoughtful experiences across every interaction. As AI and automation make back-end operations faster, the front-end experience becomes the primary differentiator.

“People do not wake up hoping to interact with profitable companies. They want to interact with useful companies. Helpful and thoughtful companies. Companies that make life a little easier, a little smoother or a little better,” Mepani writes. “When this happens consistently, people remember and when they remember, they return.”

Source: Social Samosa – The rise of experience branding: Every customer touchpoint is now a marketing channel