Glossary

The value of a brand rises and falls with its communication. Even strong brands have to communicate their values to be perceived by consumers and sell.

Successful brand communication has two clinchers: Enthusiastic customers and satisfied employees. As recently as ten years ago, companies created their own realities with advertising and PR - today, employees and customers define the reality and reputation of a brand name company. They talk to others about their experience with the company and its products around the clock.

Trust is the greatest asset in all this: It only arises when the customer has a consistent, credible brand experience at all brand touchpoints. Consistent brand touchpoint management is therefore an important control tool of brand communication.

But the best lever for earning the customer's trust are a company's employees, when they act as (trained) brand ambassadors, and credibly live and communicate the brand values and brand positioning. This can be clearly illustrated by using the Apple brand as an example: The term "APPLE" is used internally as an abbreviation for "approach, probe, present, listen, end" – meaning "approaching" the customer, "probing" him about what he wants, "presenting" a solution, "listening " to feedback, and "ending" the conversation with a heartfelt invitation to come back.

So-called "context-based" brand communication has increasingly emerged as a key to success in the digital media world: Proving the relevance of brand messages by systematically aligning them with the context. Companies use targeting techniques for approaching target groups to accomplish this.

Our recommendation:

Buch: No. 1 Brands – Die Erfolgsgeheimnisse starker Marken