European Brands Going the Extra Mile for Customer Happiness

Read what the top brands in Europe are doing to create great CX moments. 

Customer experience (CX) continues to be the distinguisher for brands in the ever-evolving customer landscape. Brands that look a little deeper into customer expectations and walk that extra mile to delight, stand the chance to gain loyalty. Here’s a look at five European brands who stood in the customer’s shoe and gave them that extra cheer to craft the perfect customer experience. 

Now ChatGPT Will Help With Your UltraSound! 

Although the healthcare industry is navigating the early days of its AI transformation, generative AI opens up a new realm of potential. At GE Healthcare, medical experts are exploring GenAI’s potential in healthcare, looking at possible applications in the crucial technology of ultrasounds. 

Healthcare is known to grapple with vast amounts of unstructured data. GenAI can handle the complexities associated with ultrasound data—ranging from image acquisition and processing to interpretation and training. Experts at GE Healthcare say AI-powered image acquisition can empower sonographers and clinicians, leading to consistent results and improved patient care. Gen AI could also support image quality. Despite technological advancements, ultrasound images are sometimes susceptible to artifacts and noise. Gen AI algorithms may be able to intelligently enhance these images, removing noise, sharpening details, and improving overall image quality.

Additionally, gen AI models have the potential to analyze ultrasound images and automatically generate detailed reports that describe their findings. These reports could include measures, annotations, and preliminary assessments which would require additional manual input by a physician, but would allow them to move more efficiently through their workflow and reduce the reporting turnaround time.

Also Read: The Tech Partnerships Powering Brands in the EU

KBC Group Started Offering “Rewards” Literally

KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises. In recent years, an increasing number of KBC customers have saved time and money thanks to Kate, the personal digital assistant in KBC Mobile. In an effort to refine customer experience, the organisation introduced Kate Coins as a reward feature that could be used across companies. 

Kate, who had had over 30 million interactions with KBC customers up till 2023, started informing customers about Kate Coins. KBC customers have been able to acquire Kate Coins when they purchase products or services from KBC and then use the Coins there. Customers can use their Kate Coin wallet in KBC Mobile to see at a glance how many Kate Coins they have acquired and used.

Opt-in KBC customers can acquire even more Kate Coins and enjoy even more benefits and discounts when making purchases from commercial partners such as Amazon.com.be, Foodmaker, Brussels Airport, Omnia Travel, Filou & Friends, Lucien and Poppy. By ensuring that eventually customers should be able to acquire Kate Coins from one partner and spend them at other partners, KBC is putting the customer first by helping them save time and earn money. 

When Eurowings Made an April Fool’s Joke Come True with Hot Air Balloons

In what came to be seen as a wonderful effort of making customers’ wishes come true, the airline Eurowings turned an April Fool’s joke into reality. 

The story began as an April Fool’s joke: “Eurowings is entering the hot air ballooning business,” read a press release from 1 April 2024. The response to the story was so great that balloon pilots applied to Eurowings by the dozen and numerous interested parties asked when the Mallorca flights in the burgundy balloon would actually start. In view of the euphoria, Germany’s vacation airline remembered its role as a dream fulfiller – and had the unusual flying object produced without further ado.

The airline mentioned that from now on, a hot air balloon called “Burgundy Dreams” will float over Mallorca, from which Europe’s No. 1 vacation island can be explored in a completely different way – at an altitude of up to 500 metres and without any aircraft windows. 

The large balloon bears the colours and lettering of Eurowings, but that alone is not what makes it special, as it also shows the outline of an airplane: a cockpit at the front, the tail unit at the back and the wings on the sides. The airline envisioned this new form of tourism travel, ballooning, as the “epitome of relaxed travel.”

Also Read: Top 35 CX Brand Leaders in Europe

Banking With A Cup of Joe

Santander Bank announced its second Work Café earlier this year after seeing impressive results from the first one. The Work Café, in the bank’s words, is designed to help you manage your time efficiently. “Whether you’re strategising, collaborating, banking, or just relaxing, enjoy a variety of premium handcrafted café drinks and freshly made breakfast and lunch fare,” explains the bank. 

The concept aims to bring to a locality’s customers, local business owners and entrepreneurs a relaxed environment where they can seek personalised financial guidance or just work, take meetings or develop their next big project. It is an inviting co-working space inclusive of private meeting rooms that are fully equipped with the latest tech capabilities to foster collaboration. Along with expertise provided by the Santander Bank team, customers and non-customers can enjoy complimentary Wi-Fi, a cup of coffee, latte or espresso from the premium self-serve amenity bar as well as snacks sourced from nonprofit organisations and women-owned businesses. As customers continue to prefer a digital-first experience, Santander Bank provides enhanced onsite personal engagement by Work Café team members, who can offer side-by-side assistance to customers utilising mobile and ATM capabilities for everyday deposits and withdrawals.

The bank explains that the Work Café underscores its efforts to provide a digital-first customer experience within its retail locations and allows team members to spend more time providing personal assistance and guidance. As part of the Bank’s multiyear strategy to transform into a digital bank with branches, it also unveiled Financial Centers, a new banking format that provides customers with in-person support and assistance on digital transactions.

Also Read: Tech Innovation Can Create Responsive CX in the Loan Industry

Buying and Selling Used Cars Became a Cake Walk

AUTO1 Group SE, is Europe’s leading digital automotive platform for buying and selling used cars. Car dealers on the platform would use external floorplan financing, which was a lengthy and tedious process. To address this challenge, AUTO1 Group SE launched AUTO1 Financing, an innovative car financing solution that leverages AUTO1’s data-driven platform for select partner dealers. 

The new financing product enables dealers to buy and sell more cars faster by allowing them to buy from AUTO1.com without investing their own capital. It enables dealers to seamlessly add the financing solution to the vehicles they purchased on the AUTO1.com platform as part of their digital customer journey. After purchasing cars, merchants can choose to finance them with one click and instant approval, making it the most convenient solution on the market. Used car dealers will receive their cars and documents much faster than through external floorplan financing. 

By providing used car dealers with a seamless and efficient financing solution, the Group increased sales and improved dealer loyalty.

CX and marketing leaders from top Europe brands will speak at the CX NXT – Customer Experience Summit in Berlin on October 23. For details and registration, visit here.