Most companies are experts on their products. They obsess over features, debate price points, and fine-tune marketing claims. This is the tangible world of the transaction, the moment money changes hands. We call this Value-in-Exchange. It’s the price of a ticket to the show.
It’s important. But it’s not the show.
The real show happens in your customer’s world, long after the sale is closed. It’s the lived, daily experience of using your product to achieve a goal, solve a problem, or feel a certain way. This is Value-in-Use. And our research consistently proves it’s the arena where loyalty is won or lost, and where your brand equity is built or destroyed.
Confusing the ticket with the show is the single most common—and expensive—mistake in business strategy today.
Let’s take an electric vehicle (EV). A manufacturer focused on Value-in-Exchange sells a spec sheet: a 300-mile range, a 0-60 time, a giant touchscreen. These metrics are crucial for getting a customer into the showroom. Without them, you don’t even get to compete. But the customer doesn't experience a spec sheet. They experience a life, now slightly (or very) different because of your product.
The Unseen World of the Customer
The customer’s creation of Value-in-Use is where the real story unfolds. To call the car a simple 'tool' is to miss the point. It’s a vehicle for delivering a service—a service that a customer, the driver, co-create every time they get behind the wheel. This experience is not one-dimensional; it unfolds across three distinct layers of value (more or less relevant to different individuals):
True Value-in-Use is the owner’s final, holistic judgment. It’s both visceral and reflective calculation: did the car reliably do its job (Instrumental), did it create enough memorable moments (Experiential), and did it make me feel like the person I want to be (Symbolic)—all while keeping the friction to a minimum?
Companies that win are those that understand they aren't just building a machine; they are architecting a multi-layered and multi-episode experience. They don't just sell a product; they enable customers to achieve functional goals, experience powerful emotions, and make a personal statement.
When a company views value solely through the lens of the transaction, its strategic vision becomes narrow. It becomes vulnerable because it's fighting the right battle on the wrong map. The Old Map (Value-in-Exchange) leads you to:
This tunnel vision is a critical error. It assumes the product is the end goal.
But your product isn't the end goal. It is the beginning of a process. It is the vehicle through which your customer, in the privacy of their life, co-creates value that will ultimately define your brand’s success or failure.
At Latenta, we make these invisible dynamics visible. To start, ask your team these questions:
The most successful brands don't just sell products; they take ownership of the customer's outcome. They understand that the transaction is merely the opening act. The main event—the creation of real, lasting value—is a story your customer writes every day.
Your job is to make sure you’re the hero in it.
At Latenta, we provide the evidence and clarity to do just that. We map the unseen forces of Value-in-Use, giving you the strategic intelligence to win not just the sale, but the unwavering loyalty that follows.
