I think for many of us, 2024 was not the year we expected it to be. Perhaps we thought it might be a slight continuation of 2023, but it turned out to be something entirely different. It’s been a wild ride for many organisations and individuals, marked by change, disruption, and, in some cases, chaos thrust upon them.
I’m likening 2024 to a warm-up for a much bigger race ahead in 2025 and beyond. 2024 feels like a year we can stamp as one that’s setting the stage for a new kind of future.
This week, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the year that has passed, and below are my thoughts—a bit of a summary, a wrap-up of sorts. I’ve also included my perspective on how next year might unfold.
For many individuals, it’s been a time of new beginnings—learning new skills, opening fresh chapters in life, and embracing change.
Key takeaways:
Investing in CX delivers significant rewards:
- Independence is more important than ever.
- Focus and prioritisation are about ten times more critical than they have been.
- AI for Branding and Marketing has yet to truly take off.
- The start of 2025 will be a "technology spring-cleaning" season.
- Your applied knowledge will set you apart in the new year, particularly in how you focus on your people and processes.
The importance of independence.
For many years, businesses, individuals, agencies, and platform companies have operated in an ecosystem that regularly functions in silos. Many would argue that it hasn’t been as efficient or truthful as it needs to be. We’re all familiar with the referral game—the exchange between System Companies, Agencies and the client. Over the past few years, this dynamic has reached a point where the prioritisation of the right systems, tools, and processes has been overshadowed by referral fees or kickbacks.
Now, I’m not here to say that referrals or referral fees are inherently bad. What I’m emphasising is this: the primary focus for any organisation must be on implementing the right processes, systems, and people if they want to succeed. Here’s why:
- AI is shortening time-to-market. Ideas that once took months to launch can now reach consumers in days or weeks, especially in the software and campaign space. Get the right tech before someone else does.
- AI is augmenting workflows, but many organisations are unprepared. Without the proper guardrails, AI doesn’t deliver effective or reliable output.
- Most organisations have too much tech—or tech that isn’t tied to key business drivers. This creates operational bloat, inefficiencies, and confusion.
- Neglecting customer experience will hurt even more in 2025. Customer expectations for service and delivery are now more immediate than ever. Any friction in the customer journey will become a glaring weakness.
It’s no longer inconceivable to expect that a campaign or idea should take a long time to be in-market, especially as most activities and ideas are now digital by nature.
This is where independent decision-making comes into play - having access to unbiased expertise gives organisations that speed to act quickly and stay ahead of the game. Independence also provides the instant trust needed to make clear, confident decisions, and it can cut through the noise, offering clarity exactly when it’s needed most.
Focus and prioritisation.
The need for effective prioritisation continues to build on the importance of independence. The reality for many organisations right now is that their resources have been depleted—particularly those that have had to make individuals and entire departments redundant over the past 12 months. Yet, there’s still an undeniable need to drive growth and deliver an outstanding customer experience, often with far fewer resources than before.
In my view, prioritisation and focus must permeate every area of the business. While this might sound obvious, the reality is that many organisations are still ineffectively prioritising their efforts. They’re choosing certain channels over others or prioritising specific programs and projects without a clear connection to their goals.
Everything must tie back to what the business is trying to achieve - What will move the needle in terms of the bottom line and optimising customer experience?
Here are some steps you can take to improve prioritisation:
- Conduct a review of your customer experience and core business KPIs. Understand where you’re excelling and where there’s room for improvement.
- Perform a system audit. Evaluate how each system contributes to customer experience and KPIs. Score them based on their direct and indirect impact.
- Map your operational processes. Count the steps involved and score each one based on its impact on customer experience and business KPIs.
- Undertake a “Keep, Kill, Rewrite” review. Apply this to systems and processes, and extend it to resourcing where feasible. However, because roles and responsibilities are varied, and interactions between departments can be nuanced, this can be a time-consuming but valuable exercise.
By focusing on these areas, organisations can ensure that their efforts are directed toward what truly matters and are aligned with both short-term and long-term goals.
Rapid acceleration of AI for Brand and Marketing
I believe 2025 will mark a complete shake-up for the brand and marketing industry, especially from an AI perspective.
In my view, this change will touch all facets of brand and marketing—a statement that might spark some debate. Content is already undergoing a dramatic transformation. The volume of AI-led and AI-generated content on social platforms is astronomical, creating not only immense noise but also significant fatigue among audiences.
Media buying, which has been optimised for years, will see even shorter cycles of change—think programmatic for nearly all available channels. The next logical leap, in my opinion, is the elevation of AI into the more strategic realms of brand and marketing.
Here’s how I see it: imagine a CMO or Head of Marketing pitching a substantial budget for brand activity to their CEO, CFO, or board, only to have the proposal rejected. Often, the response is something like, “What’s the return on brand?” For many CMOs, it’s clear that larger investments in branding drive a ripple effect, positively impacting tactical outcomes. However, convincing executives who aren’t well-versed in this theory can be incredibly challenging. The result has been a natural shift toward deeper investments in measurable, one-to-one return channels.
I foresee these conversations becoming much easier over the next 12 to 18 months. We’ll see more platforms supporting branding within the context of driving performance, as well as greater adoption of performance-led optimisation across the full mix of channels and consumer touchpoints.
In short, I believe the acceleration of performance-led brand activity is coming sooner than we realise.
Spring cleaning technology in 2025
This past year many organisations faced tough decisions to let people or whole departments go, and experienced increased pressure to deliver results under rising costs. Naturally, this will push organisations to turn to the next layer: cost analysis of platforms and systems, or process performance review. This shift comes after roughly 15 years of relatively freewheeling technology purchases. Adding to this, several technologies are rolling out major changes and upgrades.
This creates an environment for "spring cleaning" of the tech stack, and I suspect the following questions will come to the forefront:
- Which systems do we truly need?
- What purpose are our current systems serving?
- Are our platforms fully delivering on their promises?
- What systems should we cut?
Unfortunately, for many organisations, the internal capability to analyse systems to the depth required is lacking. Leaning on platform providers for guidance about whether their own technology is still relevant often feels counterintuitive—like asking a vendor to assess their own value.
So, what’s the solution?
In my view, it all comes back to independence. Seeking an independent, unbiased, and experienced perspective is the fastest and most effective way to gain clarity on how to optimise and address your technology stack.
Applied knowledge the ultimate edge.
In my view, applied knowledge is the "sleeper" that not enough people are considering. Expanding on this, it’s becoming incredibly easy to execute output, but the real difference lies in producing quality and consistent output that moves the needle and drives meaningful outcomes.
Think about it: how many times have you dealt with a business and thought, It would be so much better if they just did this or that? Or wondered, Why is it so hard for me to transact with this business? Or maybe, What are they trying to communicate, and what’s the value of the product or service they’re offering?
So, who has the answers to these questions? Industry-specific experts, staff members with deep experience within the organisation, channel specialists, and subject matter experts (SMEs). Their applied knowledge serves as a fact-checking and quality control layer. If built into and operationalised within modern systems, it ensures that output is accurate, consistent, and aligned with business goals.
How can an organisation integrate more applied knowledge into their customer experience?
Start with a deep understanding of the customer journey and the resources available—both internal and external. Organisations can then weave applied knowledge into the critical touchpoints of the customer experience that drive results.
If there isn’t a strong grasp of the current customer experience, the starting point should be an audit and review of the existing journey.
Ready to make CX your differentiator?
At LuminateCX, we help businesses unlock the competitive power of customer experience. If you’re ready to create a standout CX strategy, contact us for a Spark Session. Together, we’ll craft a plan to put CX at the heart of your competitive edge.
