The empathy gap
A deep understanding of your audience isn’t just a strategic advantage—it’s core to sustainable business growth. Companies that truly connect with and listen to their customers consistently drive innovation and ultimately build stronger loyalty.
Today’s work landscape of remote and hybrid models means that many brand, product and insights teams are increasingly reliant on digital tools to engage with customers. Interactions lean on desk research, reports, dashboards, chatbots, social listening and online research.
While all of these have their benefits, this reliance can inadvertently create a distance from real customer closeness—in other words, an empathy gap.
As an agency, we notice this come through subtly in different ways:
- Less dedication to exploring customers’ mindsets, lifestyles, desires and needs (and how to respond to them)
- Assumptions made about customers without quite the right context (e.g. is sustainability the target’s first priority when there’s a pile of bills by the door?)
- Highly pressurised timelines that make quality time with customers more challenging
Of course, we totally understand the challenges that come with getting out, meeting customers and listening. It takes time and effort. And the comfort of the home office, and money saved are persuasive benefits.
But only engaging with customers remotely risks creating an illusion of connectedness. And you also risk losing perspective when you lose proximity.
So, at MTM, we think the world needs to be reminded of the power of meaningful, in-person interaction! We’re advocating its reintegration alongside the digital approaches we have all embraced. We want brands to cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships with their customers and reap the rewards.
Closing the empathy gap: why IRL moments matter
Yes, the pandemic taught us how to work remotely and accelerated the use of digital tools. Perhaps more importantly, it also showed us what we miss when we’re not in the room. Real-world stories and situations, emotion, detail, nuance and perspective—the richness and impact of human connection.
When we make time to engage with customers properly, it’s not unusual to have ‘aha!’ moments. Assumptions are often corrected. We see things differently than before.
For example, some years ago, we ran a project looking at how to improve TV UIs to provide better, more personalised content, assuming that was what they wanted. It was only when we took time to watch TV with people at home that we realised there was a sense of embarrassment when the algorithm revealed people’s preferences on the shared screen. People preferred a more generic UI that was less revealing and more adapted to the shared experience. This led to a reframing of the issue and new solutions like multiple profiles.
Real, contextual conversations reframe problems, challenge teams to think differently and ask better questions—not just about purchase funnels or conversion tactics, but about the needs, emotions, and moments that really matter to people.
High-impact, convenient ways to reconnect
We don’t necessarily need a six week ethnographic study to get closer to customers (although they can be very useful too!). We just need to be more deliberate and creative about how we engineer meaningful connections in our day-to-day work lives. We might think of them like emotional espresso shots: brief, potent, and momentum-building.
There are loads of formats that can be used, but here are some thought-starters:
- Quarterly ‘unfocused’ groups
Bring 12 customers into a room every quarter. Facilitate open, unfocused discussion. Broad themes are developed but allow space to explore. Invite stakeholders. No laptops. No decks. Just listening, learning, and challenging assumptions. - Immersive co-creation development days
Combine inspiration with action. Start with live customer sessions, move straight into internal ideation. Energise teams and spark real alignment in just a day or two. Then go interrogate ideas using your digital tools. - Sofa sessions
Organise for your teams to go and meet customers in their home environments with researchers. Each participant is chosen to reflect a particular type of person. Stakeholders are briefed on what to explore and how to engage. Workshop when back at headquarters to create discussion and outcomes.
And if it’s impossible to make the time to meet customers, there are digital ways to make the customer lives pop, such as:
- Consumer soundtrack podcasts
We run short-form podcasts where real customers speak in their own words about their lives, their frustrations and how brands and products can play a role. Perfect for train commutes and shifting stakeholder mindsets. - VR walk-throughs
Want to get a stakeholder in the shoes of their customer? Use Ray Ban glasses to capture a specific experience e.g. going to a stadium and turn it into a VR experience for teams to experience.
Building short, face-to-face immersions into your workflow can help open up customer experiences, attitudes and desires. Any one of the above interactions can help rewire assumptions, spark new ideas, and re-energise teams, helping them think about your product, service or comms in fresh ways.
These immersive interactions can help close the empathy gap by connecting personally and emotionally with customers in a way that cannot be achieved by digital methods alone. And that benefits everyone.
If you want to learn more about getting closer to your customers, get in touch!