Companies like American Girl, Best Buy, Washington Mutual, and TiVo came out of nowhere to virtually own their respective markets. How did they scoop their bigger and wealthier competition? It wasn't through a fat marketing budget. It was because they kept their promises . . . and not just any promises, but dangerously ambitious promises. In fact, these companies over promised to lure customers in - and then over delivered to keep them.
Rick Barrera, a respected marketing consultant and business lecturer, has studied these word-of-mouth-driven successes and concluded that they are masters of what he calls TouchPoint Branding - the art of making sure that every point of contact between a company and its customers is well executed and fulfils an over-the-top brand promise.
