Word of Mouth
	When a customer complains about your product, service, guarantee, or Web site, it\'s not always because the quality was lousy. It may have been because you didn\'t manage that customer\'s expectations.
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	Webogram Power
	We\'ve all done it. We\'ve entered a store planning to purchase a single item -- a set of bags for the vacuum cleaner or perhaps some tomato paste. Then, before you know it, we\'re at the checkout with vacuum cleaner bags, a new vacuum cleaner, extension cords, optional attachments, an extra two-year warrantee, and maybe some tomato paste.
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	Turn Customers Into Marketers
	P2P marketing is hardly a new phenomenon, however it is a phenomena that is about to be leveraged to unprecedented heights using our next generation of kids. During my \"BRANDchild\" research, one of the brands that impressed me most was U.S.-based Jones Soda. The product itself is hardly different from any other soda. What distinguishes it from the pack is it\'s created a persona that draws kids to it like a magnet.
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	Three Step Brand Check Up
	Sorry, but this is for your own good. Open wide. Say, \"Uniqueness, consistency, consumer focus.\" Well, say what you like, so long as you use your brand\'s distinctive voice, use terms that are recognizably your brands, and speak from your customer\'s point of view. I\'m checking how well you handle your online brand presence. Thing is, if you\'re stuck with the same thing all day, every day, you tend not to notice the obvious. You don\'t see the forest for the trees. This exercise may be both obvious and painful. In the end, you\'ll agree that by facing up to the examination, you\'ll help yourself help your brand.
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	Tell The Truth
	Some years a go a British real-estate chain decided to go the totally reverse way when selling houses and apartments. We all know the usual real-estate jargon using words like breathtaking, stunning and exquisite in every sentence when describing even the most miserable apartment using sentences like: “This stunning apartment, presenting an excusive panorama view of a breathtaking backyard in the central city is a must see…” The interesting fact is that we all know the description hardly reflected the reality but only some real estates fascinating writing talent. Well this real-estate agency went the totally opposite way by describing the reality as it was … yes you read it right – as it is!
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	ROI Branding
	The days where branding was all about big budgets and doubtful return on investments is long gone. Even though the big brand image campaign still might work – its harder and harder for any company justifying the big investments they require leading to alternative ways of building and maintaining brands – like ROI Branding. Let me check up the health of your brand – from a ROI point of view – ensuring that you haven’t overseen three of the most effective alternative ways of building brands. Team up…
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	Over Deliver
	For most manufacturers this initially would sound like a nightmare – but is it? Recently I checked into The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. Knowing the brand your expectations are by default tuned to the highest level – still I’ve time after time managed to be surprised. When I wished to access music in my room, I was told that the CD library didn’t exist in this particular hotel. The apologetic concierge however asked me out of curiosity which CD’s I was looking for. Listing all my favourite names I hang up wondering the reason for this curiosity. 20 minutes later the bell rang on my door. The same person as I’ve been speaking with over the phone handed over a bag with three CD’s purchased by the hotel, all matching my name – and given as a gift to me.
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	How to Rip Out the Competition in One Go
	Some years ago, an Australian takeout pizza place used the Internet in an attempt to boost sales. Traffic was slow. Hardly anyone visited the site. The need for an increase in traffic was urgent. If traditional online media planning had been used, banners and links would have been purchased and the URL added to the shop\'s phone-book entry. It might even have invested in some traditional ads. The pizza place went a different route. Instead of spreading money between off- and online ads, it spent the entire budget on radio. The spots were simple but extremely effective. So effective, the restaurant\'s increased business caused most of the local competition to shut down.
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	Emotional Ties
	A couple days ago, I was in a Scandinavian airplane on my way Los Angeles. Ignoring the airline food, I noticed a cute little branding experiment on the tray. A small notice was printed on an item. It declared, \"Pepper has been called the gift of the East.\" (I overlooked the fact \"gift\" means poison in my native Danish.) The statement aptly communicates the airline\'s Scandinavian values: among them the Northern European delight in thoughtful detail, appropriate explanation, and historical attribution.
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	Creative Thinking is Required
	Some years ago, an Australian takeout pizza place used an untraditional channel in an attempt to boost sales. Traffic was slow. Hardly anyone visited the site. The need for an increase in traffic was urgent. If traditional media planning had been used, print ads or direct mail would have been purchased and the phone number added to the shop\'s phone-book entry. It might even have invested in some online ads. The pizza place went a different route. Instead of spreading money between off- and online ads, it spent the entire budget on radio. The spots were simple but extremely effective. So effective, the restaurant\'s increased business caused most of the local competition to shut down. How\'d it do it?
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	Country Branding
	While the whole world was celebrating New Years Eve one country had another point on the agenda – to leverage those pressures seconds after the clock had turned twelve to brand it self. Australia among many countries has developed a highly sophisticated branding program with one focus – to attract the world’s eyes on their beautiful country. Turning in some eyes the disadvantage of being on the other side of the world – far away from Europe and the U.S. – the country has ever since 2000 spend tons of millions of dollars establish a fire work – which conveniently is leveraging the time zones and is beamed to the rest of the world in time for the news reports and all the chaos when the time is reaching twelve in Europe and the U.S.
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	Brand Survival
	As the international financial downturn continues, so does the test of branding. I’m sure you’d agree with me that the easiest strategy for securing a couple more customers is to reduce the price of your product or service. But, needless to say, this is also a strategy, which will damage your brand, weakening it in the eyes of consumers. As soon as the economy starts looking up, your discounted brand will be cast aside in favour of those perceived to be market-leaders. Your competitors will generate customer loyalty and you’ll lose the custom you thought you’d harnessed. So, no matter how tempting the price-reducing strategy might seem, don’t adopt it. The world of branding offers you a lot of other survival strategies, based both on rationality and emotion. Here are a couple of hints to help you generate sales in the hard times and to even bond your brand more strongly to your customers.
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	Brand Alliances Put to the Test
	I\'ll bet that, more than once in your career, you\'ve pondered the risk of teaming up with some other brand in a co-branding deal. The deal probably looked good; the conditions were perfect; but the brand... would it damage your own? It would be an exaggeration to claim that a number of studies have examined co-branding. But, luckily enough, I\'ve managed to get hold of one study that might help us shed light on the issue. The Journal of Consumer Marketing published the study I’m referring to in 2000. It reveals a lot of interesting data and highlights facts of which we are possibly instinctively aware -- by confirming them empirically. The study was based on potato chips and dips. By offering various combinations, the tests helped the research team determine how human beings value brand alliances.
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