Commercial: Cold touch

The other day, a representative of a brand that shall remain nameless came to talk us about the way in which they manage their brand assets; logotype usage, font size and style, where templates can be found, that sort of thing.

During this 90 minute presentation, the representative was describing the way in which post-purchase material was less pretty, indeed less engaging, than sales material. He said:

"You've bought the product, so you don't get the pretty pictures. That's life."

One of the basic lessons you're taught in branding 101 is that every customer interaction matters, especially in sectors - like financial services - where the product is not tangible. The only things that you touch a customer with are service interactions, or the literature you give them or the documents you send them. Because they all matter, you should as a brand owner give all these points on the customer journey the same sort of love, care and attention that you would a big, splashy above the line acquisition campaign.

And yet, here was a senior person responsible for a famous brand effectively saying the opposite. And when put together with that brand's reputation for poor customer service and chaotic internal working structure... well, a lot of things made a lot of sense.

And when this brand disappears - which it will - very few people will weep for it. Most likely as they'll have long since moved from the brand, to others that actually care about them, and deliver a service that makes them feel valued, long after the purchase has been made.