By Lolu Akinwunmi
Every interaction between a brand and its customers creates an expectation. Sometimes that expectation is deliberately created through Advertising, Public Relations, the social media, or word-of-mouth.
At other times, it is formed through something as simple as a conversation with a friend, an online review, a news report, or a previous experience with the brand. Whether consciously managed or not, every brand creates expectations. The important question is not whether customers have expectations. The real question is whether the organisation consistently meets the expectations.
Expectations are the invisible standards against which every customer judges a brand. Most times, long before customers walk into a bank, board an aircraft, visit a restaurant, shop online or download an app, they have already formed an opinion about what they are likely to experience. That opinion influences every subsequent judgement.
Consider the hospitality industry. If a hotel describes itself as a “five-star luxury destination”, customers naturally expect exceptional service, spotless rooms, courteous staff, excellent cuisine and meticulous attention to detail. If those expectations are met or exceeded, satisfaction follows. If they are not, disappointment is inevitable.
The same principle applies across every industry. When Amazon promises fast and reliable delivery, customers expect speed and convenience. When Apple launches a new product, customers expect innovation, quality and simplicity. When a telco promises to keep people connected, subscribers expect dependable network coverage and reliable digital services. The expectation becomes part of the product itself.
This explains why marketing communication carries enormous responsibility. Advertising is not merely about attracting attention or producing memorable campaigns. Every advertisement, every social media post, every corporate statement and every customer interaction establishes a benchmark in the customer’s mind.
In effect, marketing writes a cheque that the rest of the organisation must honour. That is why marketers should be careful not to create unrealistic expectations simply to achieve short-term results. An exaggerated claim may increase initial sales, but it often creates even greater disappointment when reality falls short.
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One of the biggest mistakes organisations make is believing that customer expectations are shaped only by advertising. They are not. Customers also form expectations through:
Previous personal experiences.
Recommendations from family and friends.
Online ratings and customer reviews.
News reports and media coverage.
Employee behaviour.
Corporate reputation.
Social media conversations.
And in today’s digital economy, customers often trust complete strangers online more than they trust corporate advertising. This has fundamentally changed the dynamics of brand management. Organisations no longer have exclusive control over their brands. Customers actively participate in shaping them. Every positive review strengthens expectations. Every unresolved complaint weakens them. Every employee interaction either reinforces or contradicts the brand promise.
This is why customer experience has become one of the most important competitive differentiators in modern business. Customers rarely compare organisations against their own internal challenges. They compare them against the expectations those organisations created.
For example: a delayed flight is frustrating, and a delayed flight from an airline that promises punctuality is even more damaging.
Slow customer service is disappointing, but slow service from a bank that positions itself as efficient creates a much deeper sense of dissatisfaction. The disappointment is rarely caused by the problem alone. It is caused by the gap between expectation and reality.
When experience exceeds expectations, customers become delighted.
When experience matches expectations, customers are generally satisfied.
When experience falls below expectations, dissatisfaction follows.
Successful organisations therefore manage both sides of the equation. They continually improve the customer experience while ensuring that their communications create realistic expectations. This requires close collaboration between marketing, operations, customer service, finance, technology and leadership. Branding is not something created solely by the marketing department. It is the collective outcome of everything the organisation does.
Perhaps this is why some organisations with modest advertising budgets consistently enjoy loyal customers, while others spend fortunes on advertising yet struggle to retain them. The difference lies not in how loudly they communicate, but in how faithfully they deliver. Ultimately, customers do not evaluate brands based on intentions. They evaluate them based on expectations fulfilled.
Every organisation, whether large or small, is constantly creating expectations;
Wise organisations manage the expectations carefully;
Exceptional organisations consistently exceed the expectations.
‘Lolu Akinwunmi
Publisher, The MarCom Strategic Series (MSS)
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