Going against the grain can be a prerequisite for innovation. And in a time when internet companies show no commitment to customer service, there are a few who are making an attempt to do so.

Yesterday, I discovered Pulse. The app that lets us read our news in a very “eye candy” way. I started using it for a few minutes and decided that it was enough for me to switch:

Hello @pulsepad goodbye feedly!

— Jorge Barba (@jorgebarba) August 9, 2012

After I posted this tweet, I noticed that one of the co-founder’s of Pulse retweeted and interesting observation from a Pulse user:

Most companies email you from a "do not reply" email address, but not @pulsepad. http://t.co/6kojQJj6

— Greg Gill (@greggill) August 9, 2012

Why is this important?

The news aggregator arena is crowded. Flipboard, Feedly, Newsle. Even Google has an offering with its Google Currents app. All these aggregators aim to do the same thing, help you filter what is most important in a very simple and intuitive way. And, anything one can do over that the other won’t can provide a potential area of perceived differentiation.

And judging from their BizDev lead, Pulse goes through every piece of feedback they receive:

@greggill glad you noticed that greg – we go through every piece of feedback we receive. 🙂

— Cristina Cordova (@cjc) August 9, 2012

People do notice. Is this all they have to do to become the preferred news aggregator? Probably not. What is a given is the app is beautiful and easy to use.But, that is a given in our tablet and mobile dominant marketplace. The other news aggregators can be equally beautiful if they start copying.

What Pulse is aiming for, I believe, is a more holistic customer experience strategy.

A unique and memorable customer experience is a sum of all the interactions people have with a company. And, if you are paying attention to your users through every interaction, people will take notice.

This is powerful stuff. The essence of strategy is discovering meaningful differences that make a firm inimitable, singular, and unique.

Remember the Golden Rule of Strategy: do what others are unwilling to do.