Editorial
The Gist
- Meaningful differentiation beats incremental gains. Customer experience leadership isn’t about being slightly better than competitors—it’s about being distinct in ways customers genuinely value and remember.
- Focus is a CX advantage. When brands try to do everything at once, they dilute impact, stretch resources thin, and raise the odds of experience breakdowns.
- Loyalty is earned through action, not incentives. Points and programs don’t build trust; consistent, visible commitments that put customers first—before they reciprocate—do.
Customer experience lessons don’t only come from dashboards, surveys and competitive analysis. Sometimes, they show up in places we’ve watched a dozen times — just not through our CX lens.
During the holiday season, classic Christmas movies offer surprisingly clear insight into how experiences succeed, fail and recover. The stories exaggerate human behavior for entertainment, but the underlying dynamics are familiar to any CX leader: differentiation, diluted focus and earning customer loyalty.
This isn’t about forcing business metaphors onto feel-good films. It’s about recognizing that the same dynamics that make these stories resonate also shape how customers experience brands. The best customer experiences, like the best stories, are clear about what they stand for — and disciplined about protecting it.
Below are three customer experience lessons drawn from classic Christmas movies along with how you can apply from them.
Table of Contents
- Elf: Different Is Better Than Better
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: A Diluted Approach Leads to Disastrous Results
- It’s a Wonderful Life: Loyalty Is Built by Showing Up First
- These Lessons Aren’t Just For the Holidays
Elf: Different Is Better Than Better
Buddy stands out immediately because he’s different. He’s too big and slow for the North Pole elves. His optimism, sincerity and childlike enthusiasm are wildly out of place in New York City. But that difference is exactly what makes him memorable — and ultimately beloved.
Meanwhile, Buddy’s father, Walter Hobbs, is chasing “better.” He wants the most prestigious children’s book author to deliver a hit. His team refines ideas and polishes concepts, but none of it works.
In the end — after saving Christmas — Buddy becomes the bestselling author Walter needs. Not by being better, but by being unmistakably different.
CX Lesson: Different Beats Better When Customers Can Tell the Difference
That distinction matters deeply in customer experience.
Most brands chase CX improvement by layering on speed, efficiency or features. They aim to be marginally better than competitors. But when everyone is optimizing, those gains blur together. Customers stop noticing small improvements and start embracing experiences that feel fundamentally different — for the right reasons.
Few brands demonstrate this better than the Savannah Bananas.
The Savannah Bananas are undeniably different but not simply for the sake of being different.
Instead of making the baseball game experience slightly better, it reimagined the entire experience by starting with what frustrates fans and what fans actually care about, then designing everything around that insight, including:
- All-inclusive pricing that covers unlimited food, drinks and dessert
- Free parking, so fans aren’t nickel-and-dimed before even entering the stadium
- No in-stadium advertising, because fans don’t come to be sold to
- Rule changes to remove boredom and speed up play; no mound visits and no stepping out of the batter’s box
- Ongoing friction audits, including efforts to combat ticket scalpers
As owner Jesse Cole explains their approach, “Whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite.” The Bananas recognized that the normal baseball experience had become slow, expensive and frustrating. Instead of incremental fixes, it designed a “fans first” experience that resembles nothing else.
Being different isn’t about being louder, flashier, or gimmicky. It’s about standing out in ways that eliminate friction and double down on what customers actually care about.
Related Article: Why 2026 CX Will Look Nothing Like Today
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: A Diluted Approach Leads to Disastrous Results
Clark Griswold isn’t trying to ruin Christmas. He’s trying to create his version of a “fun, old-fashioned, family Christmas.” The problem is that he wants everything: the biggest tree, the brightest lights, the fastest sled, the entire extended family under one roof, and a swimming pool tied to a bonus that hasn’t arrived yet.
The result is chaos.
Clark keeps adding elements without pausing to ask whether they’re improving the experience or making it worse. What starts with good intentions collapses under the weight of too many competing priorities.
CX Lesson: Trying to Do Everything Dilutes the Experience
Brands fall into this same trap. In an effort to satisfy everyone, or chase multiple priorities, they overload the experience with more products, features, policies and processes. Each addition may seem reasonable on its own. Together, they create friction and disorder.Starbucks is a real-world example.
For decades, Starbucks built its brand as a welcoming, “third place” between work and home. After the COVID pandemic, that focus shifted as speed, mobile ordering, and volume took center stage.
With that, the in-store experience grew less hospitable. Seating became less inviting. Power outlets disappeared. Stores felt more rushed. The subtle cues that once encouraged customers to stay and hang quietly faded.
At the same time, the menu grew increasingly complex, with constant launches and operationally demanding drinks. Combined with surging mobile orders, baristas faced overwhelming workloads. Bottlenecks formed and wait times increased. Frustration rose on both sides of the counter.
Starbucks didn’t break its experience overnight. It diluted it through added rules, processes and complexity.
Thankfully, the company recognized the drift. In 2024, CEO Brian Niccol launched a “Back to Starbucks” reset, focused not on adding more, but on removing what wasn’t working. Menus were simplified. Customization restrictions loosened. Stores began restoring elements of the original “third place” experience including comfortable seating, ceramic mugs, power outlets and returning condiment bars.
The lesson is clear: recovery doesn’t come from piling on more rules, processes, and initiatives. It comes from pruning back to what originally worked — and what customers value most.
Related Article: After Starbucks' Poor Q1, Time to Explore New Customer Experience Strategies
It’s a Wonderful Life: Loyalty Is Built by Showing Up First
George Bailey never sets out to build loyalty in Bedford Falls. He simply keeps showing up for others.
He sacrifices personal ambition to keep Bailey Bros. Building & Loan alive. He helps families buy homes when the alternative is being trapped by Mr. Potter’s control. Again and again, George chooses people over profit, even when it costs him personally.
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When George faces financial ruin, the community he’s served for decades shows up in force. They don’t come because of incentives or obligations, but because George had already proven his loyalty to them.
It’s a Wonderful Life is one of those films that introduced me to cinema. I’ll never forget watching this in first grade right before Christmas Break. I think the power of this film is its ultimate message, which is that every life carries meaning, regardless of who you are. pic.twitter.com/Z2D7s5gh0b
— Cinema Tweets (@CinemaTweets1) December 21, 2025
CX Lesson: Loyalty Is Earned by Showing Up Before You’re Asked
That’s the difference between transactional loyalty and relational loyalty. One is driven by rewards. The other is driven by trust – which is much more durable.
Most brands get this backward. They design loyalty programs hoping customers will feel valued after spending enough. But true loyalty forms when customers consistently see evidence that a brand is on their side.
Chewy is a notable example of this.
Chewy doesn’t wait for milestones or spend thresholds to show care. Instead, it demonstrates commitment in ways that feel personal, human and often unexpected. Customers receive handwritten notes, birthday cards for their pets, or surprise hand-painted pet portraits — gestures not tied to transactions at all.
When a pet passes away, Chewy often sends condolence cards or flowers. When customers order the wrong food, refunds are issued with a suggestion to donate the unopened product to a shelter. Its support team uses pets’ names and treats them as family — because that’s how customers see them.
None of this is optimized for short-term ROI. But collectively, it sends a clear signal: we care about what matters to you.
The lesson here is simple but demanding: loyalty doesn’t start with programs. It starts with proof that relationships matter more than transactions.
When customers see you show up for them first, loyalty stops being something you have to chase and becomes something that customers choose to give.
Related Article: When Customer Service Becomes a Brand Moment
These Lessons Aren’t Just For the Holidays
Across these movies, the takeaway is consistent: strong customer experiences are rarely the result of clever tactics or clever timing. They’re simply the result of being clear on who you are, what you stand for and how you show up for your customers.
Being meaningfully different beats being marginally better. Focus outperforms excess. And loyalty follows brands that demonstrate commitment before asking for anything in return.
The holidays make these lessons easier to spot. But the advantage comes from applying them year-round.
I wish your business, you, and your family a wonderful holiday season!
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