Our thinking appears in marketing articles and publications around the world

A framework by which a company can identify, analyze and correct inconsistencies across its customer touchpoints.

The days of brand building defined simply by awareness and driven by marketing alone are over. Prophet believes that brand is the essential underpinning to a holistic business strategy, requiring that the brand be managed at the highest levels within the organization.

Roland Bernhard talks about the importance of the new networked era based on social media and how marketers should be communicating more transparently about their brand.

In this interview published in M&K, the leading Swiss marketing communications journal, Roland Bernhard addresses some of the most challenging topics marketers face today. Roland talks about customer experience, innovation and marketing accountability and explains how commanding these topics help marketers gain a competitive advantage, even in difficult times. *Please note, this article is in German.

When thousands of people lost their jobs during the Great Depression, many of them started riding the rails across the country in search of work and food. Hobos, as they were called, had been hopping trains since the 1870s, working as migrant laborers wherever they could find a job. They often traveled by themselves, leading to the inevitable problem of knowing what to expect when arriving in an unfamiliar place. Some cities might be welcoming while others might be less hospitable. A farmer might feed those who worked his fields while others might turn you into the police. A secret language of signs was developed that informed hobos about what awaited them. To the casual observer, the signs were gibberish or graffiti; but to the hobo, they could mean the difference between a hot meal and a night in jail. And therein lies a key question for today’s companies to ask themselves:

A critique of Britain's customer service within the context of how it may impact brands on a global scale.*

A commentary on the challenges of branding in the financial services sector. Advertising may increase awareness, however, it is the delivery of excellent customer experience that truly makes a positive impact on a company's brand.

This article was co-authored with our client, UBS, and has been translated into English from the original German text. It illustrates how active touchpoint management can help in converting prospects to clients, extending relationships to existing clients and therefore driving business results.

Marketing's role in driving growth is threatened by the chasm between its need to influence the customer experience and its ability to do so. Leveraging the internal relationships necessary to impact the customer experience that drives business growth is a huge obstacle, with many marketers claiming no role whatsoever in shaping key customer touchpoints. This gap is one of the highlights of the new 2005 State of Marketing Survey sponsored by Prophet and conducted by IDG Research.

Our first report in an upcoming series examines the customer experience in the UK’s retail banking sector. Under the microscope for months, and the subject of intense criticism over its role in the current economic crisis, the banking sector perhaps has most to fear in terms of customer backlash.

Our second report in the series examines the customer experience in the UK’s supermarkets. The phenomenal change in the food retailing landscape over the last ten years clearly shows that consumers are more than happy to change brands. That change is not just based on price, but price combined with customer experience.

A perspective on the importance of knowing what your brand means to target stakeholders, and which elements of it drive value so that brand building investments can be prioritized.

Jay Milliken and Andres Nicholls discuss how strategy-led design and understanding customer behavior are the key elements for the success of Emart.

In this article, Andrew argues that the question for most companies is not if they will take action to make their brands environmentally friendly, but when and the extent to which they will do so. He then discusses what it takes to successfully make green work as a business and brand builder.

The National Hockey League is a remarkable turnaround story serving as a lesson for brand reinvention.

Andy uses the example of the Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport to show three ways to "recombobulate" to better deal with the known uncertainties of today's business times and re-spark your creative edge.

Got engagement? You’d better hope so. Customer engagement is an important indicator of marketing and value proposition performance. Kevin and Brian outline a three-step process for ensuring success.

Loyalty programs have become all about earn and burn: customers spend money, earn points and then redeem them. It's time to rethink this concept.

In this article, Fred and Chiaki outline the concept of Signature Touchpoints, the third dimension of marketing, which is just as important as new product development or campaign development to achieve breakthrough in both B2B and B2C markets.

Making customer-centricity a business priority is a process best undertaken with a long planning horizon. Chiaki and Fred talk about the 5 tenets to embrace to improve your customer relationships.