BRAND MANNERS

How often has a company's handling of a customer's telephone call turned out to be a turn-off? How often has a customer query in the retail environment turned into a relationship-killer, rather than a loyalty-builder? No matter how good the work behind brand positioning and communication, a reputation can be ruined by one poor interaction with a customer. The challenge for any brand-focused company is to ensure that the whole organisation actually 'lives' the brand. New in paperback, Brand Manners is the runaway bestseller that demonstrates why a company needs, and how it can create, a branded service culture that consistently exceeds customer expectations. Drawing on a host of major case studies, Hamish Pringle and William Gordon show how any company can align its internal and external brand values to build a 'self-confident' organisation.

HAMISH PRINGLE is the director of Brand Beliefs Ltd and the IPA Consultant Director of Marketing Strategy. He has previously held the posts of Vice Chairman, Director of Marketing at Saatchi Saatchi, Chairman of NABs (the communication industry charity), Chairman of the IPA Advertising Effectiveness Committee, and has been an IPA Council Member. He gained a BA in PPE from Trinity College, Oxford. He is the co-author of the best-selling Brand Spirit: How Cause Related Marketing Builds Brands.

WILLIAM GORDON is Strategy Partner with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), one of the world's premier management consulting firms. He obtained a BSc in engineering at King's College London and an AMBA Diploma in INternational Studies at London Business School. He has previously held the post of Senior Vice President at Gemini Consulting.

"...enlightening and inspiring..." (Public Relations Quarterly, Winter 2001)

Introduction
PART ONE : The Brand Manners Book of Life
"Manners Maketh Man"
Customers-The Brand Promise and Individual Brand Manners
Corporations -
Happy Surprises
The Tesco Story
PART TWO: The Brand Manners Way
The Self-confident Organisation
Brand Manners Approach
Brand Manners in Action
The Orange Story
PART THREE: The Brand Manners Improvement Cycle
Section One: Individual Behaviour
Conditioning Creates Brands
How Boundaries Create Self-confidence
Making the Most of Habits
Reducing Stress in the Organisation
Section Two: Encounters
Being Ready to Defend the Brand
Minimising Corporate Distance
Managing the Irrational
How Trust Fits In
Section Three: The Brand Promise
High Tech, High Touch in Branding
Dealing with the New Consumerism
How Brand Problems can be Part of the Solution
Protecting the Brand
Section Four: "Happy Surprises"
How Defining Gestures Build Brands
Really Listening Adds Real Value
The Power of Customer Pledges
Moments of Truth
Section Five: "Feeling Good"
Defining Outstanding Customer Service
The Importance of Under-promising and Over-delivering
How Enabled Employees can Deliver for Customers
Recruiting in Line with the Brand's Values
PART FOUR: The Brand Manners How-To Guides
The Chief Executive Officer
The Marketing Director
The Employee
Management
Customers
Conclusion