BRAND MANNERS

The one-sentence summary: Customer perception of brand quality is a combination of pre-existing expectations and experience when interacting with it, so companies need to practice what they preach.

WHAT THE BOOK SAYS

• Companies need to align their internal and external brand values to build a self-confident organisation.
• Customer perception of quality is a function of their pre-existing expectations of the brand, coupled with their experience when interacting with it.
• Brand reputations can be ruined by a poor interaction.
• The Brand Manners Improvement Cycle has five stages:
• Individual Behaviours. It’s not enough to talk about missions and values – they have to be manifested in the concrete reality of individual actions.
• Encounters. Stay close to customers and staff, and engender an atmosphere of trust.
• Brand Promise. Technology and automation must not be allowed to remove humanity from brand interaction.
• Happy Surprises. Direct human interface generates defining gestures, pledges to customers, and moments of truth that should reflect the brand.
• Feeling Good. The art of ensuring continually satisfied customers is to define your version of outstanding service, realising the importance of under-promising and over-delivering, and recruit in line with the brand’s values.

WHAT I PARTICULARLY LIKE

• The Brand Manners cycle makes good sense and enables you to start a strategic debate with clients that goes way beyond marketing communications.
• The philosophy of the book is a useful antidote to macho marketing styles.
• Case histories include Orange, Tesco, Coca-Cola, Ronseal, HSBC, and Pret a Manger – many of which could be directly applicable to your business.
• The format is in user-friendly chunks, with lots of diagrams that may help to inspire the content of other presentations.