When Brand Energy Runs Low: What a Journey Can Teach Us About Why Every Customer Interaction Counts

The Journey as a Reflection of Brand Touchpoints

Travelling to Johannesburg gave us time to think, not just about our destination, but about the experience of getting there. Few industries are as reliant on brand touchpoints as aviation. Booking, check-in, lounges, boarding, crew, seats, service, food, disembarkation, loyalty programs; the brand isn't found in any one of these moments, it’s built in the space between them.

Lounge entry, Sydney Airport

Understanding Brand Energy: The Battery Analogy

At Brave, we often use a simple analogy to describe this relationship: think of brand energy like a battery. Every interaction either charges it or drains it. A warm smile, thoughtful design, seamless process: charge. A confusing moment, an oversight, a missed cue: drain. The challenge for brands is that no single moment defines the experience, but every moment contributes to the overall charge. And once the battery runs flat, it's hard to recover.

The Cumulative Effect: Consistency, Not Coincidence

Our journey to Cape Town via Johannesburg reminded us how true this is. It wasn't a bad journey. The in-flight service was excellent; thoughtful, human, and quietly confident. It reminded us that an individual crew can lift a brand experience more than any other factor. But it also reminded us how easily that perception could swing the other way. We've had other flights, same airline and cabin, where a lack of engagement or care has undone the premium promise. Consistency suffers when brand experience depends too heavily on individual delivery rather than intentional design.

We saw signs of this early on in the journey: unclear check-in zones, aging lounge spaces, poor signage, and systems that didn't talk to each other. These things aren't headline failures, but they add weight. You don't always notice when things go right, but you always feel it when they don't.

Lounge interior, Sydney Airport

What stood out most was the cumulative effect, the sense that certain parts of the experience were carried by legacy rather than design, that premium expectations weren't being intentionally met, they were being accidentally met, sometimes by good people doing their best within an imperfect system.

And that's the risk. When a brand relies too much on one strong element, like an exceptional inflight experience, to do all the heavy lifting, it becomes vulnerable. A great flight can't erase the feeling of forgotten status recognition or a chaotic boarding experience. Over time, those little drains start to outweigh the charges.

Every Interaction Matters

The takeaway? Every touchpoint matters, especially in complex, service-heavy environments. Brands build trust through standout moments and consistent, cumulative signals telling the customer, "We see you, we value you, and we've thought this through."

Brand energy isn't maintained through grand gestures. It's preserved in the quiet details, the invisible systems, and the moments when a brand shows it knows what it's doing and who it is doing it for, even when no one's watching.