by Annette Franz | Aug 5, 2026 | customer experience, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, data, employee experience, insights, leadership, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on August 1, 2025. In far too many organizations, decisions are made in boardrooms, far removed from the reality of the customer. Metrics are dissected. Dashboards are studied. Yet somehow,...
by Annette Franz | Jul 29, 2026 | customer experience, customer experience design, data, emotions, personalization, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on March 31, 2025. What if the key to customer loyalty isn’t faster shipping or flashier ads but a cleverly timed stroll down memory lane? A new wave in customer experience (CX) is gaining...
by Annette Franz | Feb 4, 2026 | action, culture, data, decision making, golden thread, insights, leadership, Uncategorized, voice of customer, voice of employee
Organizations don’t stall because they lack insight. They stall because they mistake insight for the answer. There’s this expectation that insight should/will arrive already translated into a decision. Shocking news: It doesn’t. And it shouldn’t. Insight...
by Annette Franz | Nov 5, 2025 | artificial intelligence, customer experience, data, Uncategorized
It’s time to stop talking about “more data” and start orchestrating actionable insight. We’re standing at a defining moment for customer experience. The next wave of competitive advantages won’t come from better campaigns or friendlier chatbots; it will come from AI...
by Annette Franz | Oct 29, 2025 | culture, customer experience, data, employee experience, leadership, metrics, process improvement, Uncategorized
Many years ago, I wrote about the concept of the The Streetlight Effect. It refers to a story or concept along the lines of: A drunk drops his keys in the dark. Instead of searching where he lost them, he scans under the streetlight. Why? Because that’s where the...
by Annette Franz | Sep 2, 2025 | brand, culture, customer experience, customer understanding, data, employee experience, employee understanding, Uncategorized
(Enjoy reading my 1,000th blog post!) A brand refresh is not about swapping out logos, updating colors, or chasing design trends. At its core, a refresh must honor the strategic heartbeat of your business: culture, experience, and authenticity. Those truths haven’t...
