I've been really digging down into the concept of the customer journey - how to create it, how to measure it, and how to make it better. At university, we often talked about the 'two moments of truth' concept, created by A.G. Lafley, CEO of P&G. It's a classic marketing framework, and as with most classic marketing frameworks, there's always a 'new and improved' version, somewhere.

I came across a blog post (linked here) titled 'What are the Five Moments of Truth in Marketing?', and thought it would be interesting to explore this a little further.

What is a moment of truth?

In marketing, as in life, a moment of truth can be defined as 'a time when a person or thing is tested, a decision has to be made, or a crisis has to be faced.' Are you going to stand up to the bully? Will you kiss the girl? Did you make the team?

In other words, a moment of truth is a point of divergence - after this moment, the story is going to go one way, or another way. In marketing terms, the customer is going to buy, or not. The customer is going to love the product, or hate it. According to the author of this blog, and some other very smart marketers, there are five of these moments in the customer journey.

Less Than Zero Moment Of Truth (<ZMOT)

Coined by Eventricity, the <ZMOT refers to the very first time, the absolute earliest instance, that a potential customer begins their journey towards interacting with a brand.

Example - a potential customer has decided they'd quite like to start surfing.

Zero Moment Of Truth (ZMOT)

This moment was introduced by Google. ZMOT refers to the instance where a potential customer starts looking for brands and therefore opens themselves up to actually encountering one.

Example - a potential customer googles 'What surfboard to buy for beginners'.

First Moment Of Truth (FMOT)

This is the first of Lafley's two moments of truth. The FMOT happens when a potential customer encounters a product or service for the very first time. This is when first impressions really count.

Example - a potential customer googles 'What surfboard to buy for beginners' & clicks on the first link - a local surfboard brand.

Second Moment Of Truth (SMOT)

This is the second of Lafley's two moments of truth. The SMOT happens when a customer actually experiences a product or service for the first time.

Example - a potential customer looks at the surfboard brands, places an order, and receives the board the next day.

Ultimate Moment Of Truth (UMOT)

This is the third of Lafley's two moments of truth (it was added later). The UMOT happens when a customer has experienced the product or service, made a judgement, and shares it either with the brand, or with others. The UMOT may become the ZMOT for other potential customers in the future.

Example - the customer loves their surfboard and decides to film a Youtube review, which reaches 50,000 people.

The original blog post is available here - all credit goes to the author.