To compete in the online travel business, Travelocity changed its entire company culture and processes to be a trusted advisor for customers.

<b>Create an experience</b><br> Apple has built loyalty by building an experience, and redefining geek chic. “They [redesigned] the Apple Stores, and there are not that many of them, but they have made them so experimental that 25-year-olds to 35-year-olds are showing up for a social networking opportunity,” Krause says.

The software company finds the most value talking to current customers and prospects face-to-face.

Instead of adding a million bells and whistles to its systems, the financial services firm only makes improvements that its customers want.

Without a doubt, the issues attendant to information
security — including consumer privacy and identity theft —
are top of mind with businesses and consumers alike.

Privacy issues exploded into the mainstream in 2005, thanks
to some very high-profile cases so far this year. With privacy
now part of American consciousness, businesses should be
prepared for what's around the next bend.

Trust is becoming a vital component in customer loyalty and
brand strength.

Banks are missing an opportunity to start a
dialogue with prospective customers, the beginning of a
learning relationship.

For Lexus and Virgin Records, it's not about
generating messages. It's about generating feedback.

There was a difference of opinion among ad experts about the role of customer insight at the recent Advertising Research Foundation conference.