The index is part of Watermelon’s Canvas software, a platform for understanding customer feedback that the company launched last year.

The new Canvas Index combines brand metrics, including awareness, consideration and loyalty, with customer experience insights.

It issues brands with a combined score and visualises what actions will have the greatest impact for brands via an AI-based dashboard. The first wave covered around 100 brands across sectors including financial services and insurance.

Initial findings from the tool, according to Watermelon, suggest that brand factors, especially salience, result in the largest performance gaps, while CX remains key, particularly for smaller or emerging brands.

Mark Squires, chief executive, Watermelon, said: “Customers start forming opinions about a brand long before they become a customer, and those early impressions shape how they experience the brand once they do. The Canvas Index shows the full picture.”