Is Your Ad Agency Doing Branding or Customering?
- Posted by Jim Tobin on December 3rd, 2007
filed in Advertising | - Comment now »
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Brand building has become the holy grail that businesses fervently seek. And they are wise to do so, but they cannot neglect the reason they are in business… the customers. Don Schultz, Professor Emeritus of Integrated Marketing at Northwestern University says “It’s not the brand that has value in the marketplace. It’s the customer.”
The brand is indeed vital because it is an expression of the unique promise that a company makes to its customers. Agencies are devoted to helping companies develop and express their brand. But a good agency takes this a step further. A good agency cannot stop at developing a great brand image. They cannot stop after developing the brand promises. A good agency goes the extra mile and promotes “customering”.
Customering means that a brand is activated throughout all touch points, consistently. It is the natural extension of the brand development process. An agency that practices “customering” works strategically with their clients to bring that brand promise to customers in consistent, creative, multi-channeled ways. That agency will tirelessly suggest multiple and varied touch points to put the brand and the customer together.
Who does this well? If you see a campaign that engages customers in the brand promise in multiple, unique and consistent touch points, let me know!