The aim of this thesis is to critically examine and empirically test the branding approach Managing the Customer Experience by Smith and Wheeler. A comparison of branding theories, differing in their focus internal or external of the organisation during the brand development and implementation process, is carried out. Smith and Wheeler suggest an external orientation during the brand creation. The evaluation shows however that an additional focus internal of the organisation is indispensable:
During brand development the management brand vision and the organisational culture should be considered, as Harris and De Chernatony suggest. Internal acceptance of the brand, avoidance of resistance, and use of internal knowledge can be achieved by this. Furthermore the company vision, mission and values have to be considered as Davis suggests. Misalignment between the brand and company strategy can cause negative consequences like a dilution of strategic focus. After empirically testing the Smith and Wheelers brand development process by means of Persona International, the previously identified shortcoming are practically explored. Implementing the brand, Smith and Wheeler suggest to aim at creating an unbeatable customer experience with the help of employees. This idea is shown to be promising..... *** Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit hat das Ziel, sich kritisch mit der Theorie Managing the Customer Experience von Smith und Wheeler auseinander zu setzen und diese empirisch zu prüfen.
Hochschule Reutlingen
Lancaster University
European School of Business Management School
Successful Branding
A critical examination of
Customer Experience Management
for Persona International
Freie wissenschaftliche Arbeit
zur Erlangung des Grades eines Diplom-Betriebswirtes (FH)
und Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Datum der Abgabe : 09. Februar 2005
II
Creating a Successful Brand
CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ... V
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ... VI
ABSTRACT ...VII
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG... VIII
1. INTRODUCTION ...1
1.1
D
EFINING THE
T
ASK
... 1
1.2
T
HE
A
IM OF THE
S
TUDY
... 2
1.3
T
HESIS
O
UTLINE
... 2
2. OUTLINE OF BRANDING ...4
2.1
D
EFINITION OF
"B
RANDING
"... 4
2.2
H
ISTORY OF
B
RANDING
... 5
2.2
T
HE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING
... 5
2.3
D
EFINITION OF FURTHER TERMS
... 7
3. DISCUSSION OF THEORIES ABOUT BRANDING...8
3.1
B
RANDING WITH AN
E
XTERNAL
F
OCUS
... 8
3.1.1 The Trend towards Creating a Customer Experience ...8
3.1.2 Introducing the Ideas of Smith and Wheeler ...9
3.1.3 The Customer Experience Management Model...13
3.2
B
RANDING WITH AN
I
NTERNAL
F
OCUS
... 16
3.2.1 Developing an Internal Focus ...16
3.2.2 Background of the Model by Harris and De Chernatony...17
3.2.3 The Brand Identity Reputation Model ...18
3.3
B
RANDING WITH A
B
ALANCED
I
NTERNAL AND
E
XTERNAL
F
OCUS
... 20
3.3.1 Introducing the Balanced Focus ...20
3.3.2 Introducing the Underlying Ideas of Davis ...22
3.3.3 The Brand Asset Management Model...22
III
Creating a Successful Brand
3.4
C
OMPARISON OF THE THEORIES
... 27
3.4.1 Comparing the Focus during the Brand Development Process ...27
3.4.2 Comparing the Focus when Implementing the Brand ...29
3.5
C
RITICAL
E
VALUATION OF
CEM
AND
I
MPROVEMENT
S
UGGESTIONS
... 30
3.5.1 Suggested Focus when Developing the Brand ...30
3.5.2 The Brand Promise and the Differentiation Strategy ...32
3.5.3 Suggested Focus when Implementing the Brand ...33
3.5.4 Illustrating the Balanced Approach ...34
4. EMPIRICAL PART PRACTICAL VALIDATION OF CEM...35
4.1
I
NTRODUCTION OF
P
ERSONA
I
NTERNATIONAL
... 35
4.1.1 The Company Persona International ...35
4.1.2 The Products of Persona International ...37
4.1.3 Vision, Mission and Values ...38
4.1.4 Objectives of the Branding Initiative...39
4.2
M
ETHODOLOGY OF
P
ARTNER
R
ESEARCH
... 40
4.2.1 Data collection ...40
4.2.2 Sample Selection ...41
4.2.3 Limitations...41
4.2.4 Data analysis...42
4.3
F
INDINGS AND
D
ISCUSSION OF THE
R
ESEARCH WITH
P
ARTNERS
... 44
4.3.1 Setting up and Evaluating the Expectation Map ...44
4.3.2 The Brand Promise based on Partner Expectations ...49
4.4
M
ETHODOLOGY OF
E
ND
-
USER
R
ESEARCH
... 50
4.4.1 Data Collection ...50
4.4.2 Sample Selection ...51
4.4.3 Limitations...51
4.4.4 Data Analysis ...52
4.5
F
INDINGS AND
D
ISCUSSION OF THE
E
ND
-
USER
R
ESEARCH
... 54
4.5.1 Findings of the End-user Research ...54
4.5.2 Complementing the Brand Promise ...55
4.5.3 Evaluating the Brand Promise ...55
4.6
T
ESTING THE
S
HORTCOMINGS OF
CEM ... 56
4.6.1 Employee Values and Assumptions ...56
4.6.2 Alignment of Persona Vision, Mission, Values and Brand Promise ...57
IV
Creating a Successful Brand
5. CONCLUSION ...60
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...63
CONTENTS OF THE APPENDIX...67
EIDESSTATTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG
V
Creating a Successful Brand
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BAM
Brand Asset Management
BCE
Branded Customer Experience
ROBI
Return on Brand Investment
Persona
Persona International
CEM
Customer Experience Management
CEM+
The Customer Experience Management Tool
ESB
European School of Business Reutlingen
BCG
Boston Consulting Group
R&D
Research and Development
VI
Creating a Successful Brand
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
List of Figures:
Figure 1: Organizational Chart Persona International ... 36
Figure 2: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ... 10
Figure 3: Characteristics of the Branded Customer Experience ... 11
Figure 4: Coherence between Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction... 12
Figure 5: The Process of Managing Brands by De Chernatony... 18
Figure 6: The Brand Value Pyramid by Davis ... 23
Figure 7: Brand development by Smith and Wheeler... 27
Figure 8: Brand development by Harris and De Chernatony... 28
Figure 9: Brand development by Davis ... 28
List of Tables:
Table 1: Metrics to Measure the ROBI... 26
Table 2: The five most important Expectations ... 48
VII
Creating a Successful Brand
ABSTRACT
The aim of this thesis is to critically examine and empirically test the branding
approach Managing the Customer Experience by Smith and Wheeler.
A comparison of branding theories, differing in their focus internal or external of
the organisation during the brand development and implementation process, is
carried out. Smith and Wheeler suggest an external orientation during the brand
creation. The evaluation shows however that an additional focus internal of the
organisation is indispensable:
During brand development the management brand vision and the organisational
culture should be considered, as Harris and De Chernatony suggest. Internal
acceptance of the brand, avoidance of resistance, and use of internal knowledge
can be achieved by this. Furthermore the company vision, mission and values
have to be considered as Davis suggests. Misalignment between the brand and
company strategy can cause negative consequences like a dilution of strategic
focus. After empirically testing the Smith and Wheelers' brand development
process by means of Persona International, the previously identified shortcoming
are practically explored.
Implementing the brand, Smith and Wheeler suggest to aim at creating an
unbeatable customer experience with the help of employees. This idea is shown to
be promising as strong customer loyalty can be created, in turn allowing to profit
from all the benefits a strong brand embodies.
VIII
Creating a Successful Brand
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit hat das Ziel, sich kritisch mit der Theorie
Managing the Customer Experience
von Smith und Wheeler auseinander zu
setzen und diese empirisch zu prüfen.
Zunächst werden Branding-Theorien in Vergleich gestellt, die sich durch ihren
unterschiedlichen Fokus innerhalb oder außerhalb der Organisation während der
Markenentwicklung und Implementierung differenzieren. Smith und Wheeler
schlagen dazu eine externe Orientierung während der Branderschaffung vor. Die
Auswertung zeigt jedoch, dass ein zusätzlicher Fokus innerhalb der Organisation
unentbehrlich ist.
Wie Harris und De Chernatony vorschlagen, sollten während der
Markenentwicklung die Brand-Vision des Managements, sowie die
Organisationskultur berücksichtigt werden. Dadurch kann die interne Annahme
der Brand, Vermeidung von Widerstand und das Nutzen von internem Wissen
erreicht werden.
Des Weiteren sind nach Davis die Vision, Mission und Werte des Unternehmens
einzubeziehen. Fehlausrichtungen der Brand- und Firmenstrategie können
negative Auswirkungen haben, wie zum Beispiel die Schwächung des
strategischen Fokus. Nachdem der Markenentwicklungsprozess von Smith und
Wheeler mittels Persona International empirisch getestet wurde, wird auf die
identifizierten Schwachstellen der Theorie praktisch eingegangen.
Bei der Markenimplementierung empfehlen Smith und Wheeler das Schaffen
einer unvergesslichen Erfahrung für den Kunden durch die Hilfe der Mitarbeiter.
Dieser Ansatz wird als viel versprechend empfunden, da auf diese Weise starke
Kundenloyalität erzielt werden kann, die wiederum ermöglicht, von allen
Vorteilen einer starken Marke zu profitieren.
1
Creating a Successful Brand
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Defining the Task
"I believe there is almost no limit to what a brand can do,
but only if used properly"
Richard Branson
1
In a highly competitive business world, differentiation is an essential key to
success for companies. Branding has been a long discussed method to create such
a necessary competitive advantage, however an effective and smart branding
approach is necessary to ensure success, as the quote of Richard Branson shows.
The American company Persona International, offering consulting tools and
methodologies to their licensees, recognizes the importance of branding to stay
ahead of competitors. Thus, it was decided to launch a branding initiative. The
branding strategy Managing the Customer Experience by Smith and Wheeler was
chosen by Persona, which is also sold in form of a tool designed by Shaun Smith,
called "Customer Experience Management CEM+"
2
. The idea behind this theory
is to establish and reinforce a brand by offering the customer an unforgettable
experience with the product or service of the company. Consequently, the brand
promise is developed on basis of the customer expectations.
As for Persona, two kinds of customers exist, one being their direct partners and
the other being the clients of the partners, who are the end-users of the tools. It
was decided that the branding initiative should be focused on the partners first, as
they are mostly also aware of the needs and expectations of their clients.
1
Branson, R. in Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (2002) p.xiii
2
Trademark by Shaun Smith
2
Creating a Successful Brand
However, the expectations of some end-users were to be explored by surveys to
round up the view on the customer expectations.
Is the Customer Experience Management (CEM) theory an optimized approach to
branding or can any issues be identified which could be improved? How could
any highlighted shortcomings be overcome? The following work examines these
questions closer and analyzes them by means of literature and a critical
examination in order to find responses and solutions for the posed questions. The
link to the business world is established through the empirical testing of the brand
development phase. Hereby a part of the CEM theory is applied and expert
interviews and end-user surveys are conducted.
1.2 The Aim of the Study
The aim of the critical evaluation of the branding strategy of Smith and Wheeler is
to validate the branding approach and to find suggestions for possible
improvements of the CEM theory and by testing one suggestion to facilitate the
implementation of an optimized branding strategy for Persona.
1.3 Thesis Outline
Having set the aim of this thesis, the second chapter gives an introduction to
branding in order to equip the reader with a basic understanding of the matter. It is
described how multi-facetted branding can be defined and some historical
background of branding is given. Thereafter, numerous benefits of branding are
illustrated and finally, additional specific branding terms used in the thesis are
explained.
Chapter 3
aims at a critical discussion of the Smith and Wheeler theory and to
develop improvement suggestions of any shortcomings highlighted. Therefore
3
Creating a Successful Brand
different branding theories are introduced at first. The approaches differ in their
focus during the brand development process and the brand implementation. The
orientation can be on sources external of the organisation such as the customer or
on internal sources such as the management and the employees. Smith and
Wheeler represent such a rather external focus, Harris and De Chernatony propose
an internal focus and Davis suggests a balanced internally and externally oriented
approach. Subsequently, the three different approaches are compared concerning
their views of brand development and the implementation process.
On basis of the discussed theories, a critical examination of the Customer
Experience Management theory is facilitated, supplemented by thoughts of the
author.
The empirical part in chapter 4 puts the CEM approach in brand development into
practice to validate it. In order to do so, the brand promise for Persona
International, an American consulting tools and methodologies provider, is set up
as Smith an Wheeler suggest based on their customers expectations. Research is
conducted with the Persona licensees by means of interviews and with the
licensee clients, the end-users of the tools by conducting surveys. To overcome
one identified shortcoming of the theory, which is the necessity to align the brand
promise with the company vision, mission and values is the task of the final
empirical part. The suggested brand promise of Persona is tested against the
Vision, Mission and Values of the company.
Chapter 5
summarizes the findings of the thesis in general and also regarding
Persona International. Recommendations for further research and next action steps
are given.
4
Creating a Successful Brand
2. OUTLINE OF BRANDING
This chapter will explore the context and field in which this thesis was developed.
Initially, the term branding is defined, historical background given and the
benefits of branding demonstrated. Thereafter, definitions of further branding
specific terms, used in this work, are explained.
2.1 Definition of "Branding"
As the main topic of this thesis is branding, it is important to define and
understand the term branding. Branding, the effort of creating a brand, is a long
discussed topic between academics, managers and consultants. Thus many and
diverse definitions have been used in literature over the years. Kotler noted that
"A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them
intended to identify goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competitors."
3
His definition is considered to be rather narrow in today's understanding as for
example name, sign, design etc. are only part of what a brand is. De Chernatony
considers brands as shorthand for all knowledge and experience consumers have
acquired.
4
Thus a brand is built through the total experience it offers, not just
through effective communications or appealing logos. Smith and Wheeler explain
that it represents a pact between supplier and customer where the brand owner
promises to deliver a particular experience and the purchaser promises his
business in return.
5
This in turn creates customer loyalty.
3
Kotler, P. (1997) p.44
4
See De Chernatony, L. (1997) p.45
5
See Smith, S. (2002) pp.6
5
Creating a Successful Brand
2.2 History of Branding
With the appearance of packaged goods, brands emerged. Industrialisation moved
the fabrication of household goods in the 19
th
-century from small production
processes and local markets
6
to centralized plants. The need to sell the mass-
produced products to a wider market required to compete with locally offered,
familiar products. Thus the product package had to create the confidence in the
customer that this product was as trustworthy as any local product.
7
They had to
appear and feel as familiar as locally produced goods. From creating this
appearance, the manufactures learnt by the help of advertising to create the
association of other values with the products.
8
The practice of branding as it is
known today was initiated. In recent developments, the trend has gone from
product to corporate branding
9
and the theories discussed in this thesis follow this
progress.
2.2 The importance of branding
In the following, numerous advantages and benefits branding facilitates shall be
discussed. Appreciating the named effects, it becomes obvious why branding is
essential in the modern and highly competitive business world of nowadays.
Loyalty is one of the key advantages of branding. According to Aaker, the worth
of a brand to a firm largely depends on the customer loyalty it commands.
10
This
statement can be confirmed by a study conducted by Satmetrix Systems. It
highlights that companies with above average customer loyalty index scores have
a price earning ratio twice as high as the ratio of their competitors.
11
6
See Palmer, A. (2004) p.214
7
See Wikipedia http://en.wilipedia.org/wiki/Brand
8
See Wikipedia http://en.wilipedia.org/wiki/Brand
9
See Hatch, M. & Schultz, M. (2003) p.1041
10
See Aaker, D. (1996) p.21
11
See Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (April 2002) p.1
6
Creating a Successful Brand
Another study quoted in Aaker shows that the reduction of defections by just 5
percent created 85 percent more profits in a bank's branch system, 50 percent
more in an insurance brokerage, and 30 percent more in an auto-service chain.
12
According to Smith and Wheeler this effect can only be confirmed if loyalty is
turned into advocacy. Then higher price margins can be achieved, as advocates
are a lot more interested in product and service quality and considerably less
interested in prices. Moreover, Davis adds that loyalty drives repeat business
13
.
Due to the described effects, sustained competitive advantage
14
is achieved
through branding. Furthermore, new product introductions are given immediate
credibility and company mistakes are forgiven more easily.
15
Brand extensions are
another area, where branding has positive consequences according to Jobber. He
says a "strong brand provides the foundation for leveraging positive perceptions
and goodwill from the core brand to brand extensions"
16
.
There are more positive effects of branding for the organisation internally, such as
to be able to attract and recruit top candidates and to enhance employee loyalty.
Summarizing the various advantages of branding creates the following listing:
Enhanced customer loyalty
Premium prices
Higher profit margins
Sustainable competitive advantage
Repeat business
Credibility to new product introductions
Mistakes forgiven easier by the customer
Base for brand extensions
Attract best employees and keep satisfied employees
12
See Aaker, D. (1996) p.22
13
See Davis, S. (2000) p.6
14
See Kowalczyk, S. & Pawlish, M. (2002) p.162
15
See Rich, M. (2001) p.70
16
Jobber, D. (2004) p.265
7
Creating a Successful Brand
2.3 Definition of further terms
Apart of the key terms explained in this paragraph, most branding specific terms
used in this thesis are clarified when they occur.
Brand promise is used many times and plays an important role in the theory of
Smith and Wheeler and therefore shall be defined separately. Brand Promise is
the "spoken or unspoken expression of the continuing, important and specific
benefits clients connect with a firm, service or product."
17
Brand equity also appears in the text. It refers to the goodwill associated with a
brand name. Goodwill adds tangible value to a company as sales and profits
increase.
18
17
Jaffe Associates Branding Glossary www.jaffeassociates.com/JaffeNews/00BrandGlossary.html
18
See Jobber, D. (2004) p.299
8
Creating a Successful Brand
3. DISCUSSION OF THEORIES ABOUT BRANDING
The aim of Chapter 3 is to explore the CEM theory in greater detail and to give an
overview of other branding approaches. Numerous branding theories based on
different ideas exist. Thus, the differentiating criterion chosen in this thesis is the
category of focus of the organisation during the brand development process and
implementation. The options are to be focused internally or externally or to
combine the two. Internal orientation implies a focus on people inside of the
organisation and an external orientation implies a customer-centred approach.
One author respectively is introduced in detail for each focus tendency,
complemented by authors with a similar train of thoughts. After a comparison of
the theories, the CEM theory is critically examined.
3.1 Branding with an External Focus
Recent theories on branding take a strongly customer-centred approach. To
deliver an unbeatable experience to the customer and thereby create strong loyalty
is at the centre of attention. Focusing on the creation of a customer experience as
the goal of branding results in an external focus. Smith and Wheeler stress the
importance of external input when the brand promise is created, by basing it on
customer expectations. However, they also admit that for the implementation of
the branding concept a strong involvement of sources internal of the organisation
is necessary.
3.1.1 The Trend towards Creating a Customer Experience
Already in 1991, Aaker refers to brand loyalty as the core of a brand's equity
19
because it is the measure of how likely a customer will switch to another brand.
Hence, he recommends in his "Managing Brand Equity" model to create and
maintain loyalty by satisfying customer expectations.
19
See Aaker, D. (1991) p.39
9
Creating a Successful Brand
This can be achieved through close contact with the customer by creating a
customer culture, measuring and managing customer satisfaction and providing
some unexpected extra service
20
.
In accordance, Gregory and Sellers see the brand as a collective of perceptions of
a company based on customer experience
21
and Keller centres the brand
experience and learning of the customer at the heart of brand equity
22
. This does
not contradict Aaker, who considers brand loyalty to be at the heart of brand
equity, as loyalty is created through positive experiences.
Boston Consulting also recognized the trend towards a branded experience in
order to deepen the relationship with the customers in 1997. Branding is
considered to be about the total experience a customer has with the products or
services
23
hence all actions of the company have to be orchestrated to deliver such
a highly differentiated and consistently positive experience
24
.
Zeithaml explores this idea of a strong customer focus deeper and encourages to
develop all strategies with an eye on the customer and to carry out all
implementations understanding the impact they have on the customer
25
.
3.1.2 Introducing the Ideas of Smith and Wheeler
Smith and Wheeler present the previous ideas in their Customer Experience
Management approach, which is described closer in the next part. Based on the
idea of focusing on the customer experience, they also suggest an approach to the
branding development process and the brand implementation. In the
implementation phase they emphasize the importance of internal resources, which
Gregory, Seller and Keller do not emphasize.
20
See Aaker, D. (1991) p.50-51
21
See Gregory, J. & Sellers, L. (2002) p.44
22
See Keller , K. (2000) p.157
23
See Stalk, G. (1997) p.2
24
See Rhodes, D. et al. (1999) p.2
25
See Zeithaml, V. (2003) p.27
10
Creating a Successful Brand
Nowadays, the creation of a customer experience, which becomes synonymous
with the companies' brand, is one of the keys to corporate performance, according
to Smith and Wheeler. "Consumers are looking for experiences that enable them
to realise their dreams and achieve their desired lifestyle"
26
.
The underlying rationale of this statement is supported by Maslow's hierarchy of
needs. Maslow proposes five stages of motivation humans go through, shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
27
The lowest needs in the hierarchy are physical and safety needs, followed by
social needs and ego or esteem needs with self-actualisation on the highest level.
It can be observed that once the lower needs of humans are satisfied, higher ego
needs become dominant.
As in our time the basic needs are usually fulfilled, social and mostly ego needs
are dominant. The ego needs in turn drive our aspiration for "self-actualisation",
the desire to fulfil one's potential. In modern economy the strive for self-
actualisation is fulfilled by pursuing the desired lifestyle.
26
Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (2002) p.1
27
See Chapman, A. (2002) Based on Maslow's Hierarchy of needs
http://www.businessballs.com/maslowhierarchyofneeds5.pdf
11
Creating a Successful Brand
Smith and Wheeler link Maslow's ideas to the history of branding and discover
interesting developments, also based on Pine and Gilmore's argument about the
history of the economic progress
28
, that each generation of consumers has
enhanced the buying experience. Namely - in the beginning of the twentieth
century brands were a way to identify goods. Then, over time, brands became
synonyms for quality and reliability due to our need of safety and security.
Nowadays, being wealthy and driven by ego needs the consumers are looking for
service experiences complementing their lifestyle and brands that make a
statement about their aspirations
29
.
If this service experience is consistent, intentional, differentiated and valuable
30
to
the customer, loyalty is being created as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Characteristics of the Branded Customer Experience
31
28
See Pine, J. & Gilmore, J. (1998) p.97
29
See Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (2002) p.5
30
See Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (2002) p.1
31
See Smith, S. (February 2001) p.3
12
Creating a Successful Brand
However Smith and Wheeler stress, that attention has to be paid to the fact that
loyal customers are more than satisfied customers. A research by Forum
Corporation has shown that "80 percent of customers who switch their suppliers
actually expressed satisfaction with their previous supplier."
32
Thus, customer
satisfaction is not much about classical loyalty and retention but rather about
advocacy, which is genuine, truly felt, loyalty
33
. The coherence between customer
loyalty and satisfaction is shown in Figure 3.
Advocate
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Critic
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Critic
extremely
dissatisfied
extremely
dissatisfied
somewhat
dissatisfied
somewhat
dissatisfied
slightly
dissatisfied
slightly
dissatisfied
satisfied
very
satisfied
very
satisfied
zone of
defection
L
oy
al
ty
(R
et
en
ti
on
)
Vulnerable
zone of
affection
Figure 3: Coherence between Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction
34
Advocates buy more, are prepared to pay higher prices which results in increased
margins and they stay with the company. Brand advocates refer friends, family
and colleagues; they act as the best salespeople of the company and are prepared
to argue in favour of it.
Reichheld describes these interdependencies in his article "Loyalty-Based
Management"
35
, and Heskett et al. develop these ideas further into a service-profit
chain. It is shown how profitability, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction,
loyalty and productivity are interdependent by means of a service-profit chain.
32
Smith, S. (February 2001) p.3
33
See Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (2002) p.35
34
Adapted from Heskett, J. et al. (1994) p.167
35
See Reichheld, F. (1993) p.72
13
Creating a Successful Brand
Profit and growth are stimulated by customer loyalty, which is a result of
continuous customer satisfaction. This satisfaction in turn is mainly influenced by
the value of services offered. Value is generated by satisfied, loyal, and
productive employees. Employee satisfaction, again, is created as results from
high-quality support services and policies, enabling the employees to deliver
results.
36
. On basis of the service-profit chain dynamics, Smith and Wheeler
developed their four step concept, the Branded Customer Experience Management
Model.
3.1.3 The Customer Experience Management Model
According to Smith and Wheeler the model consists of four interlinked main
stages illustrated below.
Defining customer value
To build a branded experience, the target customer segments have to be identified
and to be focused on. The aim is to develop a brand promise for the company,
which differentiates from the competition.
37
In order to do so the customer
behaviour has to be considered and found out, what they value or expect and
which values have the greatest impact on their customer loyalty. The research
result is a brand promise, identifying what customers expect in any interaction
with the organisation, on which the differentiating brand promise is based. This
promise drives all of the company's actions and investments in people, processes,
products, technology and delivery channels. By meeting or exceeding the promise
in every customer interaction, loyalty and advocacy will be created. As part of the
empirical chapter, the brand promise for Persona International is developed.
36
See Heskett, J. et al. (1994) p.165
37
See Smith, S. & Wheeler, J. (April 2002) p.2
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- Antje Walliser (Author), 2005, Successful Branding - A critical examination of Customer Experience Management for Persona International, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/186104
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Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
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Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X.