Customer Advocacy and the Branded Experience

Summary of White Paper #26

Researcher and author Michael Lowenstein, PhD CMC, Executive Vice President
Market Probe, analyzes standout companies that have succeeded in creating consistent, positive experiences that appeal to customers – ones that customers consider worthy of passing along through informal conversation and recommendation.

These are some of the reviewed companies that use culture, discipline and purpose to separate themselves from the many B2B and B2C companies that offer vanilla experiences for customers that are almost guaranteed not to create outside-in advocacy:

• IKEA
• Zappos
• W. L. Gore
• USAA
• Apple
• Wegmans
  
  

What really leads to loyalty and advocacy is the company-wide commitment to strategic customer-centricity, ongoing creation of customer-perceived value and "barriers to exit." often best demonstrated through attractive and desired branded experiences. The value of creating branded experiences for customers is discussed in the paper, and in detail in Lowenstein’s new book, The Customer Advocate and The Customer Saboteur: Linking Social Word-of-Mouth, Brand Impression, and Stakeholder Behavior.