“B.J. Bueno and his team at The Cult Branding Company respect
and understand what so many strategists miss: before we can be
experts on product, sales, or the market, we must fi rst be experts
on human nature. They have a proven track record of building
healthy, sustainable businesses for some of the best brands in the
world—using the very process outlined in this book.” —BERT JACOBS,
chief executive optimist, The Life is good Company “B.J. Bueno yet
again deftly captures the essence of what is required to build and
sustain a great brand. If you want to attract and retain highly
profi table “brand lovers” rather than stalk new customers, then
carefully read this book. B.J. wisely outlines why this is vital
and importantly, how to actually do it in today’s marketplace! —
DARRYL “DC” COBBIN, president, Brand Positioning Doctors, and
former VP of Marketing, 20th Century Fox “Customers First tells the
truth. I got a shiver up my back reading this book: What if my
competitors read this and follow B.J.’s advice? I don’t care what
size business you run, you could and should do exactly as this book
instructs. As I was reading, I kept thinking of ways to get my
customers to tell me how to be better.” —DAVID RATNER, owner,
Dave’s Soda and Pet City MASTER THE SCIENCE OF MARKET DOMINATION…
Brand Lovers are the best of your best customers. They power
Harley-Davidson to the top of the enthusiast motorcycle market;
they’re the core of Apple’s dominant position in portable devices;
and they’re the reason why no other premium grocery chain can take
a bite out of Whole Foods’ market share. Customers First, by top
branding strategist B.J. Bueno, shows how your business will
achieve this level of extreme customer loyalty through Brand
Modeling, the objective and scientific analysis of your
organization’s performance across a wide range of situations. An
accurate Brand Model will arm you with hard data to pinpoint and
engage your brand’s most passionate customers—and give you an
action plan for inspiring and empowering these Brand Lovers to be
your most effective evangelists. Much more than a summary of who
you are and what you do, a Brand Model maps your business’s DNA to
help you build an unbeatable competitive advantage. Through
examples of real-world success stories—among them, IKEA, Nike,
Coca-Cola, apparel upstart The Life is good Company, Starbucks, and
Southwest Airlines— and a detailed sample case study that shows
effective Brand Modeling practices in action, Customers First
delivers strategic insights and proven techniques for you to:
Differentiate your products in ways that are meaningful to your
best customers Drive growth by creating brand extensions that are a
natural fit with your existing products Significantly improve
marketing ROI by avoiding customers not interested in your brand
Visually and verbally communicate brand values that resonate with
your best customers Brand Modeling evolves the current state of
marketing to a new level of sophistication. In Customers First,
B.J. Bueno shows how to use this critical tool to eliminate
guesswork from your marketing efforts and focus more clearly on
understanding and pleasing your most valuable ally in the battle
for market dominance: The Brand Lover. B.J. BUENO is founder and
managing partner of The Cult Branding Company, the premiere Brand
Modeling and consumer insight research firm. He is a board member
of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association and a member of
the Chief Marketing Officers board for international retailers.