| The emphasis, as the title suggests, is clearly on service-oriented brands. Barrera illustrates how companies like Tivo, Hummer and Google redesigned their systems and implemented a holistic approach to customer service. For example, much of the success of Tivo, a digital video recorder touted as a breakthrough in America, came through word-of-mouth (freedom from TV schedules, freedom from ad breaks), which was part of the company's strategy. Media vehicles, understandably, were not too sold on the concept, but repeat mentions of Tivo in popular TV serials like Friends, Live with Regis and Kelly and even Sex and the City gave the brand just the salience it needed. And the company paid not a cent for publicity. Rare is a pricey gadget ($399 in this case) that achieves this. The secret, of course, is that Tivo more than met its promise""something of a stretch to begin with ""in spite of the reluctance of the incumbent power matrix to acknowledge it. |
| Drawing from his more than 20 years of research, the author uses his case studies and live examples to demonstrate how word-of-mouth driven successes have conquered what he calls "TouchPoint Branding" ""the art of making sure that every point of contact between a company and its customer goes towards fulfilling over-the-top promises made by the company. |
| That sounds quite similar to "360 degree marketing" that some ad agencies have been touting, but the cornerstone of Barrera's argument is that TouchPoint branding enables a company to build a brand far more efficiently and economically than any regular advertising-based strategy can. |
| Barrera goes on to explain the three components of TouchPoint Branding: Product TouchPoints, System TouchPoints and Human TouchPoints. Needless to say, most of the examples featured in the book are of extraordinary products, such as Apple's iPod, Sumerset Houseboats' end-to-end systems integration at its website and the Ritz Carlton Hotels' satisfactory levels of human contact. |
| The book is organised in two sections"""Overpromise" and "Overdeliver". In the first section, Barrera speaks of brand promises, how they drive a company's growth and how these can be used for effective TouchPoint Branding. It's not all about snazzy new technology or design. In one of the cases he cites, a brand of popcorn manages to make a special promise that puts it ahead of the crowd. |
| The second section of the book concentrates on meeting and exceeding customer expectations in each category of TouchPoints. As the author puts it, "An overpromise is nothing without a means of overdelivering it." |
| "Over", then, is used as a prefix to indicate a relevant edge over the competition, rather than simply achieving a better numeral for some performance measure on a linear scale. If Tadpole's gamble was to scrap some design elements to slash prices, American Express' game was to leverage technology to go all the way in ensuring satisfaction to its valued blue card owner. Some of the cases are abstract, such as the Blue Man entertainment group's strategic move to turn the implicit explicit. |
| While many of the examples have already appeared in several books and periodicals, what's new here is the treatment. From the TouchPoints perspective, a fine example mentioned is that of Washington Mutual Insurance Company (affectionately called Wa Mu by the author), which achieved a near perfect equilibrium among Product, System and Human TouchPoints. Likewise, Lexus is another case of equilibrium. |
| Some marketers may feel that this is just fancy repackaging of the approach they already have in place (even if only as a supplement to advertising). In many cases, they would not be way off the mark, either. But Barrera's book serves as a strong reminder that capturing your customer is primarily about making a special promise and then more than meeting it. |
| In a crowded business environment where everyone is shouting much the same message at top volume, Barrera offers lessons that anyone looking for "unshakeable customer loyalty" should not ignore. |
| OVERPROMISE AND OVERDELIVER THE SECRETS OF UNSHAKABLE CUSTOMER LOYALTY |
| Rick Barrera Penguin Portfolio Price: Rs 395; Pages: x+226 |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard