Marketing and communications expert Ralph Crosby, of Crosby Marketing, defines customers as “Those whose satisfaction is key to the organization’s success.” Brand-building requires consistent positive contact with the customer. Personal relationships with customers will give you a competitive edge, but brand-building requires even more.
In his new book, It’s The Customer, Stupid, Ralph describes why many entrepreneurial ventures fail.  It isn’t because of a faulty product or lousy idea, it has to do with not placing enough attention on customers.  Most businesses focus too much attention internally, to their detriment.
You can check out Ralph’s ideas about building brand loyalty at his blog, where he has excerpted several chapters of his own book for your review!
And, having worked with Ralph over ten years ago for our mutual client, DuPont, I can tell you that he is a man of integrity and practices his own words of advice about focusing on the client’s satisfaction.
Check out the chapter excerpt on Building Brand Loyalty here!  Here’s a bit more about branding from Ralph…

Consistency Helps Build Loyalty

Some marketers confuse a brand with a brand identity.  Brand identity is the design-driven process that helps an organization develop a name, graphic, logo, colors, and design standards and gives the brand a unique personality.  When this identity becomes widely known (think Nike’s “swoosh”) it differentiates the product or organization and creates value in the marketplace.  But it’s not the brand; it is only a representation of the brand.
A brand itself is intangible.  It exists in the mind of a customer as a pattern of feelings, associations and ideas – the brand’s attributes that customer has come to value through experience.  It represents your promises to the customer.  To give the brand credibility and appeal, the promises it represents must provide evidence that the organization is unique in a way that is meaningful and beneficial to the customer.
In exchange for that value, customers give their loyalty to the organization, its products or services.  It demands a special relationship, or bonding, with the customer, one that satisfies the customer’s wants or needs, practical or emotional.  The value of this loyalty between customer and organization is called “brand equity.”  It is the monetary or activity result of having customers who are committed to the brand, and they often are willing to pay more, give more, or advocate more for it.
Consistency – Key to Brand Building
Brand loyalty requires…[READ MORE]