We are no doubt in the great age of the Brand." Tom Peters

We are no doubt in the great age of the Brand." Tom Peters

Brands have grabbed the imagination of the Cypriot consumer and taken deep root in our culture.  Recent additions to our island, such as Costa Coffee, as will as brands established decades ago are in the tough competition to arouse consumer interest and buying desire.

On a daily basis a wide range of tools are being used to communicate brand identity. One flick through a magazine will provide ample evidence of that.  Some of the most competitive brands are also using, “customer contact and experience” to reinforce their unique point of differentiation. In the words of Stelios Hadjioannou, the Chairman of Easy Group "Your brand is created out of customer contact and the experience your customers have of you."

By managing this customer contact, brands turn their marketing promises into reality. By delivering true to the brand experiences each pound spent on marketing is reinforced in a significant and unforgettable manner within the customer’s mind.

Recently I was a customer at the Aphrodite Hills. I had viewed the idyllic images of their adverts and was enticed by the promise created by the slogan ‘for the love of life…’ Naturally I had certain expectations of what my experience should feel like when I visited the resort.  The porter who greet us noticed my son’s football
T-shirt and started off a friendly conversation around my son’s “love of life”, the Arsenal football team. In that moment the Aphrodite Hills slogan was reinforced in a way that is memorable and unique to me.

These unique brand reinforcing moments may seem spontaneous and casual to the customer, however they are created by an integrated and strategic process, known as the branded customer service process. The process aligns the brand, with the culture and the customer service of an organisation. It is a quality process that ensures all customer experiences are aligned to the expectations created by marketing, and makes customer service so distinct it has as much value as the brand idea possesses.

The brand-building process, created by Dr Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart in the USA is fast spreading throughout the world and is currently being implemented by some of Cyprus’ brand leaders.

Brand DNA
Defining what differentiates the brand and how the brand should be viewed in the market place. Its about identify the emotions the brand will evoke and the words the market will want to use to describe the brand.

Measure on-brand behaviour
Measuring and evaluating the current customer service to discover where there is a gap between actual and ideal brand behaviours. It is then about identifying the actions needed to close the gap and deciding on the tools that will measure on-brand service improvements on an on-going basis.

Internal Brand Communications
Communicating the brand vision to all the staff. It is about enabling each staff member to understand his/her role in delivering the brand promise and creating channels of communication that will enable on-going brand delivery improvements
Service Management Systems
Systems that provide the infrastructure, within the organisation to support brand delivery. It is about aligning operationally systems and management style to the brand.

Engage with the Brand
Training staff, on specific on-brand imperatives, for external and internal customer service, that will reinforce brand differentiation. 

The branding process permeates all functions of the organisation to create a powerful and lasting bond between customers and the brand, because in the words of Richard Branson CEO of Virgin Atlantic, “what we call ‘shareholder value’ is best defined by how strongly employees and customers feel about your brand."
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