if brands represent promises of what to
Ie xpect from a product, this should impact on what we expect of the company
delivering the brand. Thus ‘brand manners’ are
the way in which an organisation can manage its
promise to customers in every encounter that
takes place. Wishful thinking? The authors of
‘Brand manners":., a senior strategy partner
with Accenture (formerly Anderscn Consulting)
and an advcrtising and brands specialist,
certainly present a solid framework to
encourage companies to move beyond the
‘command and control’ mode and into a more
self-confident organisation.
Tesco is one of the examples quoted and is
worth quoting, not because retailing is particularly
relevant to readers of EMJ but Tesco’s
grocery storcs will be familiar to many who are
weekend shoppers! In the 1970s Tesco was
widely seen as being in headlong decline. It is
now the most admired retailer in thc Financzal
Times’ annual survey and a UK market leader
serving 10 million pcople per wcck. In late 1993
Tesco was worth 93.5 billion; now it is valued at
almost 520 billion.