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2. Forgetting the customer

3. Being internally focussed In summary keep it simple: 1. Define your brand 2. Develop strategies in line with brand 3. Deliver your promise to the customer Think the unthinkable, be different – someone else will have already thought of it, if you don’t. Do anything that keeps the brand promise, be brave, and don’t do anything that does not

Why big brands are failing to win or retain customers Anyone who ignored their customers in 2006 is probably terminally ill! I have just read the article in ‘The wise marketer’ entitled ‘Is 2007 going to be ‘the year of the customer’. I now feel I must write a response In short: Every year must be the year of the customer. Why? Well ‘your brand promises something to you customer’. If you fail to deliver on that promise then you are on the slippery road. Companies cannot just focus on cost cutting or the next new project. They must balance everything. Look at Ford – A key brand that relies heavily on discounting to drive its growth, it has now formed that habit. It is sad to note that Ford has global appeal. The issue being they have not defined their brand. Therefore they cannot provide in line with that brand. Lesson 1 – Define your brand and its values early. Build on them, or you may have lots of ‘fans’ but no customers, even with apparent success. Consider British Airways. The brand is ‘The world’s favourite airline’; BUT BA has shown little/no understanding of what makes them that. This means key ‘health’ indicators drop. They appear to show success, but ?1,157m (all the growth) is fuel surcharges. This is not sustainable and only masks the real issue. BA needs to focus on delivering the brand promise.Lesson 2 is – Everything must always deliver against your brand values. This includes people, marketing and product. Finally you can continue to cost save/balance as well as deliver the promise. The issues are:

1. No board level marketing

2. Forgetting the customer

3. Being internally focussed In summary keep it simple: 1. Define your brand 2. Develop strategies in line with brand 3. Deliver your promise to the customer Think the unthinkable, be different – someone else will have already thought of it, if you don’t. Do anything that keeps the brand promise, be brave, and don’t do anything that does not

fail to deliver on that promise then you are on the slippery road. Companies cannot just focus on cost cutting or the next new project. They must balance everything. Look at Ford – A key brand that relies heavily on discounting to drive its growth, it has now formed that habit. It is sad to note that Ford has global appeal. The issue being they have not defined their brand. Therefore they cannot provide in line with that brand. Lesson 1 – Define your brand and its values early. Build on them, or you may have lots of ‘fans’ but no customers, even with apparent success. Consider British Airways. The brand is ‘The world’s favourite airline’; BUT BA has shown little/no understanding of what makes them that. This means key ‘health’ indicators drop. They appear to show success, but ?1,157m (all the growth) is fuel surcharges. This is not sustainable and only masks the real issue. BA needs to focus on delivering the brand promise.Lesson 2 is – Everything must always deliver against your brand values. This includes people, marketing and product. Finally you can continue to cost save/balance as well as deliver the promise. The issues are:

1. No board level marketing

2. Forgetting the customer

3. Being internally focussed In summary keep it simple: 1. Define your brand 2. Develop strategies in line with brand 3. Deliver your promise to the customer Think the unthinkable, be different – someone else will have already thought of it, if you don’t. Do anything that keeps the brand promise, be brave, and don’t do anything that does not

annot provide in line with that brand. Lesson 1 – Define your brand and its values early. Build on them, or you may have lots of ‘fans’ but no customers, even with apparent success. Consider British Airways. The brand is ‘The world’s favourite airline’; BUT BA has shown little/no understanding of what makes them that. This means key ‘health’ indicators drop. They appear to show success, but ?1,157m (all the growth) is fuel surcharges. This is not sustainable and only masks the real issue. BA needs to focus on delivering the brand promise.Lesson 2 is – Everything must always deliver against your brand values. This includes people, marketing and product. Finally you can continue to cost save/balance as well as deliver the promise. The issues are:

1. No board level marketing

2. Forgetting the customer

3. Being internally focussed In summary keep it simple: 1. Define your brand 2. Develop strategies in line with brand 3. Deliver your promise to the customer Think the unthinkable, be different – someone else will have already thought of it, if you don’t. Do anything that keeps the brand promise, be brave, and don’t do anything that does not

?1,157m (all the growth) is fuel surcharges. This is not sustainable and only masks the real issue. BA needs to focus on delivering the brand promise.Lesson 2 is – Everything must always deliver against your brand values. This includes people, marketing and product. Finally you can continue to cost save/balance as well as deliver the promise. The issues are:

1. No board level marketing

2. Forgetting the customer

3. Being internally focussed In summary keep it simple: 1. Define your brand 2. Develop strategies in line with brand 3. Deliver your promise to the customer Think the unthinkable, be different – someone else will have already thought of it, if you don’t. Do anything that keeps the brand promise, be brave, and don’t do anything that does not

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2. Forgetting the customer

3. Being internally focussed In summary keep it simple: 1. Define your brand 2. Develop strategies in line with brand 3. Deliver your promise to the customer Think the unthinkable, be different – someone else will have already thought of it, if you don’t. Do anything that keeps the brand promise, be brave, and don’t do anything that does not support this goal.