Praise for Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough "Jonathan recognizes that in today's Internet-fed, savvy-consumer world, it is the people-to-people connections, regardless of price point, that differentiate a customer's experience. Gimmicks come and go, but without sincere and caring people delivering the overall experience, from start to finish, well, it's true--chocolates on the pillow are not enough. A great read!" —David Neeleman, founder and CEO, JetBlue Airways Corporation "If you don't work for your customer, you're not doing your job. Who better to turn to for lessons in great customer experiences than Jonathan Tisch? He has long been one of the most respected leaders in travel and hospitality, and when it comes to treating all customers like guests, to put it simply, he gets it. And then some." —Millard S. Drexler, Chairman and CEO, J. Crew Group "What brings customers back to my restaurants? Why do viewers watch my TV show? It's more than Bam! It's delivering a kicked-up customer experience. Tisch is the guy who knows how to do this best. His book gives the inside scoop on how to excite your customers and bring 'em back for more." —Emeril Lagasse "Attention to detail, passion, and dedication are a few of the things that made me successful as an athlete. Jonathan knows that by doing the same in business, you maximize the customer's experience and outscore the competition." —Tiki Barber

Airlines willing to develop insight from foresight relating to the expected ’step phase changes’ will eventually improve their margins. However, the backward-looking airline, managed using old strategic levers and short-term metrics, will cease to exist, merge, shrink, become more dependent on government support, or become irrelevant. ’Management innovations’ are not going to deliver the required improvements; innovation within management is essential for airlines' survival. In Flying Ahead of the Airplane, Nawal Taneja analyzes global changes and thought-provoking scenarios to help airline executives adjust and adapt to the chaotic world. Drawing on his experience of real airline situations worldwide, the author concludes that there is a gulf between what executives are doing now and what they need to do to stay ahead of the curve. To close this gap, the author suggests that airline executives focus on just three relevant initiatives: a) aligning business and technology strategies, b) redesigning organization structures to centralize the role of the scheduling function, and c) developing relevant brands that integrate social networking technology. To support this third initiative, the book provides insights on branding from 20 fascinating non-aviation case studies from around the world. Flying Ahead of the Airplane will assist practitioners in airlines of every size to integrate future trends into their mainstream thinking and launch flexible business models to manage risk and compete effectively in the ’flattening world’.

Modern consumers are being bombarded with in-formation from every angle. They can’t handle it and, consequently, tune out large portions of the information. Consumers, therefore, often enter service transactions with predetermined men-tal scripts regarding how they predict the trans-actions will transpire and are not paying close attention. In order to gain their full attention, firms must find ways to surprise consumers dur-ing transactions; that is, firms must spawn mental script deviations for them. Research indicates that these script deviations can cement consumer loyalty. This book details how to create a surprise culture in a service firm. Because a consumer can only be “surprised” by a given tactic one time and surprise ideas can be copied by competitors, a firm with a culture that generates and implements a constant stream of surprise tactics is one that has the higher edge in achieving success in the modern envi-ronment of information overload.

The must-read summary of Adrian Slywotzky and Karl Weber's book: "The Upside: The 7 Strategies for Turning Big Threats into Growth Breakthroughs". This complete summary of the ideas from Adrian Slywotzky and Karl Weber's book "The Upside" shows that the new strategic imperative in business is to find practical ways you can harness the upside growth potential of every moment of maximum risk to your organisation. If you can use these events to generate some genuine growth breakthroughs, situations of maximum risk can become your greatest source of future profits and reward. This summary will teach you how to think about risk in a different way using a simple two-step process. Added-value of this summary: • Save time • Understand key concepts • Expand your knowledge To learn more, read "The Upside" and discover the key to sharpening your business strategy.

Every one of the largest, most successful corporations were, at some point, mere startups. McKee explains what enables some companies to growbigger and better, while others stumble along year after year, running but never winning the race. The difference is that the biggest and best brands aren't slaves to conventional marketing wisdom. McKee shows by example how the same, sometimes counter-intuitive, strategies used by the biggest brands can also best serve small and mid-sized companies. Among the topics explored: How can a company grow big by thinking small? Why do the best companies sometimes avoid being better? Why do brands that create the most memorable advertising stay away from focus groups? What is the secret to an effective slogan? When can admitting a negative become a positive? A diverse selection of companies provides powerful lessons, ranging from traditional icons like Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and General Motors, to new media models like Google and Facebook. This book appeals not only to time- starved executives, but also to middle managers and owners of small businesses who have a wide variety of marketing problems to address and who need to change the way they think about how to generate healthy, consistent growth.

Experiential marketing - or memorable customer experiences - is proving a popular tool amongst businesses seeking to make an impact in a competitive world. Yet the scramble to achieve a presence among experience providers has led many companies to design and implement experiential marketing without integrating it with their overall marketing strategy. These companies often end up dissatisfying their customers rather than delighting them. This research anthology investigates different angles of experiential marketing. The 16 chapters are organised in six sections. The first section considers whether memorable customer experiences result from the use of traditional marketing practices, perhaps implemented more effectively than previously, or require entirely new practices with new foundations that turn companies into experience providers. Section two details ways businesses seek to build brands through putting experiential marketing into practice, while section three asks whether there are general principles that can be applied to the design of customer experiences which ensure successful outcomes whatever market you may operate in. Section four examines how companies manage their customer experiences once they have made the strategic decision to provide them, and section five looks at methods available to evaluate the success of these customer experiences. 'Experiential marketing changes everything!' claim the management gurus, but is it really so significant that not joining this race is dangerous? The last section of the book offers a much needed critique of experiential marketing.

In an economic climate where cuts are becoming the norm, a boutique library service may seem a contradiction. In some academic libraries the trend is still towards centralisation programmes or offering generic services. However, the student as the customer now has an even greater vested interest in the learning process as their financial commitment increases and they are demanding better services. Personalised library services are tailored with a specific clientele in mind and will provide the enhanced service demanded by today's students. These services need not cost more money; but they do require inventive and customer-facing staff. They celebrate and promote collaborative ventures along with excellent communication and marketing. This book unpacks the boutique model and is full of practical advice, supported by a unique set of case studies reflecting international practice including Australian, American and Russian and UK library services.