faster one. Whether it’s a barista’s personal message on a cup or Deep Brew’s AI-driven offers, Starbucks has made hyper-personalization a hallmark of its brand experience. Organizations inside and outside the telecom industry are taking a page from Starbucks’ book, weaving personalization into the customer experience.

For mobile providers, branded call display has emerged as a compelling way to show customers the network understands them as individuals. By displaying a company’s name, logo, and reason for calling — right on the call screen and without a separate app — the technology adds a layer of personalization that also inspires trust. Beyond the reassurance that an incoming call is meant for them, branded call display also reduces the need for call screening, enhancing the overall experience.

Where to start: Because the most effective hyper-personalization strategy runs on real-time contextual data, performing an audit of an organization’s data posture helps determine the starting point. Strategists can then uncover gaps in data sourcing and analysis, as well as data privacy and security, both of which are increasingly important components of the brand-consumer relationship. The audit can help determine which personalization use cases are possible and which may require a change to the organization’s data infrastructure.

Radical accountability

Regardless of the brand, industry, product, or service — sometimes things go wrong. When an organization disappoints its customers, it deserves a rebound. Going above and beyond to own mistakes and put things right can be a powerful differentiator — one with a long-lasting impact on trust and loyalty.   

Where to start: To better ensure the authenticity of this approach, teams should first define what accountability means within their own organizations, which enables strategists to secure executive buy-in more easily. Radical accountability only works when championed from the top of the organization.

Retention strategies pull double duty, building brand equity along the way

When telecom brands focus on earning loyalty instead of enforcing it, they can build deeper customer relationships to generate new and organic growth. When engagement is driven by compounding value, personal attention, and trust, retention is a natural outcome. This approach creates the kind of stickiness all companies covet, advancing a telecom as a “can’t-live-without-it” brand.