Using brand strategy to manage the customer experience

Thursday, October 18, 2007, hosted by Freshfields, Frankfurt

McKinsey generates a significant portion of their business from former McKinsey- Consultants who have moved to management positions on the client side. No coincidence, says Andreas Back, partner with Prophet, a leading brand strategy firm based in San Francisco. McKinsey puts enormous efforts into reinforcing its brand message to their former consultants. All customer touch points should deliver on the brand promise a company gives, explained Andreas. Marketing and branding entails a lot more than just Marketing Communications in terms of PR, advertising and events. Optimizing the purchase-experience might include checklists for briefing meetings, consistent standards for presentations and even a dress code for client interfacing personnel.

• A German law firm that defines itself as truly international should meet the needs of overseas clients and should be reachable by phone during US- and Asian work hours.

• Joint PR with clients enhances a positive post-purchase-experience. Law firm and client can jointly place their success story in the media and share positive market response.

• Former clients should be contacted regularly and asked about the progress of completed projects. That gives law firms valuable insights into their clients, potential competitive threats - and the perception of the value of their work.

Mit dabei waren: Gabriele Chomrak, Iris Meinking (Baker & Mc Kenzie); Nicole Kochenburger, Bettina Lehmann, Nicole Neises, Eva Sipova, Irit Cohen (Clifford Chance LLP); Julia Groesser (Faegre & Benson LLP); Jan Bessling, Christoph Tillmanns (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer); Jill Warren (Lovells LLP), Elise Vanier (MAZARS Hemmelrath); Martha Guttmann (Morgan Lewis); Andreas Back (PROPHET); Carola Heinig (Shearman & Sterling LLP); Andreas Gerhards(Simmons & Simmons)