Brand Manners How to create the self-confident organisation to live the brand

How to create an organizational culture that promotes brand image and builds customer loyalty Nothing can undermine a brand's reputation or lose a customer faster than a bad customer/brand rep interaction. That's why, as the authors of this groundbreaking book clearly demonstrate, one of the biggest challenges facing top management at brand-reliant companies is to ensure that their whole organization, especially those staff members who interact directly with customers, "live the brand." With the help of case studies chronicling the success (and failure) stories of several international brand giants, the authors develop a comprehensive framework that managers can use to evaluate customer brand expectations and create a branded service culture that meets or exceeds those expectations, every time. Among other things, readers learn proven techniques for enlisting a sales force, call service, shop floor, and even the entire boardroom into doing their parts to promote brand loyalty. Hamish Pringle (London, UK) is a Principal in Brand Beliefs, Ltd. William Gordon (London, UK) works as Partner in Strategy for Accenture, previously Andersen Consulting, in London.

<B>HAMISH PRINGLE </B>is the director of Brand Beliefs Ltd and the IPA Consultant Director of Marketing Strategy. He has previously held the posts of Vice Chairman, Director of Marketing at Saatchi Saatchi, Chairman of NABs (the communication industry charity), Chairman of the IPA Advertising Effectiveness Committee, and has been an IPA Council Member. He gained a BA in PPE from Trinity College, Oxford. He is the co-author of the best-selling <I>Brand Spirit: How Cause Related Marketing Builds</I> <I>Brands</I>. <P> <B>WILLIAM GORDON</B> is Strategy Partner with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), one of the world's premier management consulting firms. He obtained a BSc in engineering at King's College London and an AMBA Diploma in INternational Studies at London Business School. He has previously held the post of Senior Vice President at Gemini Consulting. 17 02 When a firm's employees convey a brand's essence in everything they do on its behlaf for its customers and other stakeholders, they can improve significantly their success in the market place. At the same time they can make the world a better place for themselves and their customers. <BR> The customer's perception of the quality of service received in a given situation is almost entirely a function of their pre-existing expectations created by the brand. Perceived brand performance depends, to a large degree, on whether these expectations were, or were not, satisfied as a result of a customer's interaction with employees in the delivery of the product of the service. <B>Hamish Pringle</B> and <B>William Gordon</B> show how an oragnisation can ensure a holistic delivery of the brand. <BR> The authors have put together a solid framework that allows companies to move beyond the traditional mode of "command and control" into a new management space, that of "self-confident" organisation. Their framework allows top management to evaluate their customers' expectations of their brand and to set about creating a branded service culture that consistently exceeds them. The aim of the process is to develop a reputation for an organisation's brand that will generate customer loyalty, recruit new users, and significantly increase profitability. <BR> This book shows how a sales force, a call centre, a shop floor, a management team and an entire boardroom can be enlisted for the benefit of the brand and the company.