Stop Listening to the Customer

Don't let the customer get between you and building a strong valued brand If you want to stand out from the crowd, develop a clear and consistent brand voice, and ultimately build a fruitful business – listen to your brand. Stop Listening to the Customer offers insights into how consumers are driving homogeneity in brands and shares the proven strategies you can implement to amplify your own position in the world. The customer is not always right. In fact, our obsession with the customer risks devaluing brands by making them generic and forgettable. Brands have become too consumer-led, where they are driven by journey-mapping, customer-centric design, and an excessive focus on consumer-driven data. Instead try redressing the balance, and be brand-led, where brands and businesses can truly become unique, interesting and highly profitable. Multi-award-winning brand strategist and consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier shares his contrary approach to building a strong brand in Stop Listening to the Customer. Backed by science, real-world examples and extensive industry experience, Ferrier explores the dangers of listening to the consumer too much, shares lessons from successful businesses who prioritise their brand, and reveals the brand-building secrets of their success. With insights from Jules Lund, Lisa Ronson, John Newcomb, Rory Sutherland, and many more, this invaluable book will enable you to: Avoid the pitfalls of drowning in customer data Establish a strong, brand-led business Develop a unique brand by embracing and leveraging your weaknesses Define your brand Get your customers to invest into you Stop Listening to the Customer is ideal for those looking to grow their brands and businesses by defeating consumer-driven mediocrity, standing out from the crowd, and listening their own brand.

Dedications and thanks ix Preface: getting from awkward to awesome xi Introduction xv 1 Stop the consumer obsession 1 2 Consumers lie 13 3 Listening to the consumer eliminates value 29 4 Listening to the consumer makes your business homogeneous 47 5 They who hear their brand 65 6 Create the category 81 7 Define the brand 89 8 Gonzo marketing 1: Fire the CEO 111 9 Gonzo marketing 2: Put the customer second 123 10 Embracing the negative 133 11 Creating weakness 151 12 Ask what your consumer can do for you 165 13 The closing argument 173 Appendix: The ‘how cool are you’ questionnaire 177 About the authors 181 Endnotes 183 Index 189