What do Klarna, Duolingo, and Sephora have in common? No, this isn’t the start of a joke. It’s a serious question that exposes a significant shift in how brands approach customer experience (CX). While most companies struggle to unify online and offline touchpoints, these brands are entirely rewriting the rules.
The insights in this article are based on Brevo’s analysis of 50 real-world omnichannel campaigns from household names and challenger brands, spanning industries, channels, and customer journey stages.
The goal? To distil what actually works when delivering seamless, human-centric customer experiences. What we found should give every CX leader pause.
Lesson 1: The era of passive loyalty is over
Take The North Face. Its XPLR Pass is a purpose-driven loyalty programme that goes far beyond purchase points. Members can earn rewards not just for buying jackets but also for living the brand, like checking in at national parks, completing hiking challenges, or engaging with outdoor content.
It’s a shift from loyalty as a transaction to loyalty as participation. Whether it’s Sephora’s Beauty Insider events or Airbnb’s post-stay guides, the smartest brands are betting on community as the next great loyalty driver.
Lesson 2: Your product is not the hero, your customer is
Spotify Wrapped didn’t go viral because it showed off Spotify’s algorithm. It exploded because it let customers become the protagonists of their own story, celebrating their quirks and preferences across social channels. The real genius? It turned data into a shareable identity, making CX a cultural moment.
This idea repeats across industries. Duolingo gamifies the re-engagement process with streaks, and famously persistent nudges and notifications. It has built an entire cultural presence out of customer engagement. Love it or hate it, people talk about it. And when your CX becomes part of the internet’s collective consciousness, you’ve already won.
Lesson 3: If your channels aren’t talking to each other, your customers won’t either
When omnichannel is done well, it shouldn’t dazzle. It should disappear, guiding the customer without fanfare, surfacing the right message, offer, and channel at precisely the right moment. Sephora exemplifies this by threading its loyalty programme across TikTok discovery, app-based browsing, in-store credit card syncs, and personalised refill alerts. It’s not a tech showcase. It’s a customer ecosystem.
Contrast this with brands that silo their operations, where a discount email doesn’t match the in-store price, or a mobile app can’t locate stock. These disjointed experiences are not just annoying; they’re fatal to conversion.
Our research shows that friction-free transitions between channels are now table stakes, not a luxury.
Lesson 4: Owned channels aren’t dead, they’re your power play
There’s a misconception that brands should chase consumers across every shiny new social platform. But those we studied are reclaiming control with the smart use of owned channels. Fintech brand Monzo, for instance, leverages app notifications and email in tandem to drive usage and limit churn.
Owned touchpoints offer both reliability and measurability, something third-party platforms can’t guarantee. The trick is to use them intentionally, not reflexively. Generic batch emails don’t cut it. Think re-engagement nudges, habit loops, and real-time utility.
What does this mean for CX leaders?
Omnichannel success isn’t about having more tools. It’s about designing cohesive, meaningful moments that stretch across platforms, screens, and real-life spaces. It is not a tech stack problem. It’s an orchestration problem.
And the best part? You don’t need to copy these brands. You need to learn their mindset: The most successful brands see CX as a long game, not a checklist. They treat it as a shared experience, not a series of siloed touchpoints. And perhaps most importantly, they measure success in trust, not just transactions.
As customer expectations continue to rise, only one question matters: Are you creating experiences worth repeating?
Curious to dive deeper into what top brands are getting right? Explore our full database of 50 real-world omnichannel campaigns.