There is a distinct shift happening in how people relate to and deal with brands. It is not limited to one generation, industry or platform, but it is increasingly shaping what consumers expect from just about every service they use.
Consumers no longer compare brands only to direct competitors. They compare a brand experience to the best digital experience they have had anywhere.
If a banking app lets you open an account in minutes, or a streaming platform lets you subscribe, cancel and manage your account seamlessly, that becomes the bar. And consumers increasingly expect the same simplicity and responsiveness everywhere else.
This has given rise to a new set of expectations and the control-first consumer. The control-first consumer demands more say in how they interact with services and has far less patience for systems that force them into fixed processes. They no longer want to adapt to a system: they want the system to adapt to them.
That means services that are transparent, flexible, intuitive and available on their terms, not on the organisation’s timetable or according to legacy processes that no longer make sense in a real-time digital world.
A lower tolerance for friction
This shift has less to do with age than with conditioning. We now live in environments defined by instant access to information, real-time updates, algorithm-led recommendations and self-service convenience. You search, you get an answer. You sign up, and you are in. You want to change something, and it is done in a few taps. Once consumers grow used to that speed and autonomy, their expectations evolve and their tolerance for friction drops.
TCS | MTN’s Divyesh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi
The control-first consumer also questions why they should still queue in-store, sit through credit checks or commit to rigid bundles when so much of the rest of their digital life can be managed instantly and on demand. So when a process suddenly slows things down, or asks for information that feels redundant, it stands out in a way it did not a few years ago. As one industry perspective puts it: “Just because your business cannot do it does not mean I need to accept it.”
Friction: more visible, less forgivable
Friction has always existed in customer journeys. The difference now is that it is far more obvious and much less forgivable.
Some of the clearest examples sit in industries still shaped by legacy systems. Insurance is one: even where a customer’s information already exists somewhere in the system, they are often asked to provide it again to make policy changes or switch providers. From a legacy point of view that might make sense. From the customer’s point of view it just feels outdated.
Digital-first services, meanwhile, have reset expectations entirely. Instead of requiring customers to supply every detail, they increasingly use behavioural data, connected devices and existing digital profiles to simplify onboarding and servicing, reducing the burden on the customer and setting a new bar.
Loyalty is still there, but more conditional
One of the more interesting knock-on effects is what this shift has done to loyalty. The control-first consumer still has preferred brands and still builds trust and affinity. But loyalty has become far more conditional than it once was.
Increasingly, these consumers mix and match services based on what best meets their needs in the moment. A brand might be used regularly but not exclusively. The decision to stay or switch often happens there and then, based on what feels easiest or most practical.
Some industries are ahead of the curve
Certain sectors have adapted faster than others, fintech among them. Much of what used to require a branch visit, such as opening an account or moving money, can now be done entirely on a phone. And, more importantly, it just works.
Streaming and subscription services have followed a similar path, with flexibility and ease built into their design. Signing up is easy, cancelling is easy, changing a plan is easy. The common denominator is that seamless self-service has become the default.
Digital-first models reach telecoms
These expectations are also creating space for digital-first business models across industries, including telecoms. Rather than designing around rigid systems, these models are built around flexibility, transparency and user control from the outset: simpler onboarding, self-service management, modular products, fewer barriers to entry and clearer pricing and terms.
A good example is the rise of digital-first connectivity models such as Pi by MTN, a digital network operator (DNO) powered by the MTN network. Rather than locking consumers into rigid contracts or predefined bundles, the model leans into flexibility, self-service and modularity, letting users build plans around their own needs, manage services digitally and stay in greater control of how they connect. In many ways Pi reflects a broader shift away from one-size-fits-all structures towards more user-directed experiences.
No passing trend
What makes this evolution worth watching is that it does not seem to be temporary. With the control-first consumer now expecting to co-create their own experience, choosing when, how and on what terms they engage, it becomes very hard to reintroduce friction without consequence.
That leaves brands with a simple, if slightly uncomfortable, question: why are we still asking customers to work around our systems when the rest of their digital life no longer works that way?
About Pi
Pi is a digital network operator offering customers an app- and web-based platform to manage both mobile and home connectivity through a single, integrated account. Though a standalone digital brand, Pi leverages MTN’s national network for reach and reliability, keeping customers connected anywhere in South Africa. As the first brand endorsed by MTN, Pi delivers a simple, flexible service backed by one of the country’s most trusted networks. Visit www.pi.co.za or download the Pi app from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or Huawei AppGallery. Learn more on Instagram and Facebook.
- The author, Ernst Fonternel, is chief consumer officer at MTN South Africa
- Read more articles by MTN on TechCentral
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