Here’s a fabulous example of innovating at an unexpected moment in the customer journey from Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant (that i came across on The Protein Feed).

As you may know the 5th-best-restaurant-in-the-world is so popular that they only take reservations two months in advance, and the restaurant books up every single day. So if you want to go on your birthday on the 12th October for example (hint hint) you need to be the first of thousands on the phone on 12th August, otherwise you’ll be out of luck.

But what happens once you’ve secured this dream reservation? Well conventionally you would just smugly sit back and wait – a two month long hiatus while you wait for your table. And this is where The Fat Duck Experience (created by The Neighbourhood) comes in.

Now when you receive your reservation confirmation you are directed to a virtual ‘sweet shop’ – a digital world that basks in the storytelling and surreal genius of the fat duck dining experience – evoking excitement and anticipation in the customers by trailing the sensory treats to come with a combination of abstract evocative landscapes and impressive sounding soundscapes.

The digital content itself is innovative, but their most innovative act is to identify and embrace the opportunity this unexploited touchpoint offers to elongate the customer’s experience of this very theatrical brand.