When was the last time a consumer experience felt genuinely new?
iPhone? iPad? Virtual Reality? ChatGPT?
I have been to the Sphere in Las Vegas twice, first to see U2 and later to see The Eagles. Both times, I had the rare feeling that I was experiencing something entirely “new.” It felt like the first time I used an iPhone.
The music was the reason I went, but the venue changed the fundamental definition of a concert.
This type of new-to-the-world experience is exceptionally hard to create. Most customer experiences improve something people already know. New features. A different interface.
The Sphere delivered a new baseline. The experience of the venue became part of the music act’s product.
New Experiences through New Partnerships
I remember the first time I tried Sony’s Virtual Reality. Just putting on the headset was a unique experience. But the content from the applications providers elevated the possibilities and delivered the ultimate experience.
When you look at the strategy behind the Sphere, it has a similar model. The venue includes residencies with top musicians and that run on visual technology built by Disguise, a London-based media company with cutting edge technology.
Recently, Sphere and Disguise announced a multiyear co-development agreement to shape the future of “immersive live entertainment.” Sphere will be the first venue to bring Disguise’s next-generation platform to market – giving it a headstart and competitive advantage over other players like IMAX.
Most companies buy or license technology. They compare vendors, select the strongest product, and implement it. Their competitors can usually buy the same product at the same time. Differentiation doesn’t come from the technology but how the company uses it (or not at all).
Sphere, on the other hand, is helping develop a capability before it becomes broadly available. Disguise leverages a customer in a setting that will help prove out an built its next platform. Sphere gains early access to technology designed around an experience it wants to create. Both benefit from co-created innovation.
The Experience is the Strategic Asset
Most business leaders focus on the technology they own because dependence on another company feels risky. A partner can raise prices, shift priorities, or offer similar capabilities to competitors. Those are real concerns.
But ownership is only one way to create and protect competitive advantage.
Customers don’t care which company owns the server in the cloud. They care whether the experience is truly unique.
I’ve seen this pattern in the organizations I advise. The companies with the strongest competitive advantages often have unusually deep relationships with the partners behind their most important capabilities. They treat those relationships as part of strategy rather than a purchasing decision handled by procurement.
Partner to Transform the Customer Experience
The Sphere provides lessons to leverage:
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- Define the experience. Describe what you want customers to see, feel, or accomplish that they cannot currently get. Make the ideal experience specific enough to guide a business case, technical requirements and investment decisions.
- Identify experience constraints. Determine which capability prevents you from delivering that experience today. Scan the market for companies that have the expertise you need.
- Innovate a new relationship. Use the strongest partner to develop the next generation experience through a co-created approach. Be clear about what you can provide in return, such as scale, a testing environment, access to your market, or visible proof that the technology works. Make it a win-win.
Most companies choose from the same technology providers and make incremental improvements. That will likely commoditize your customer experience.
A smaller number like the Sphere will build a critical capability with a partner before the rest of the market can say “disruption.”
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