Bold

In every industry, some brands stand out from the crowd because of their distinct way of doing things. These companies challenge conventional wisdom and industry norms to win in their markets. They see their customers and employees as members of a like-minded community, deliver unique and remarkable customer experiences, and are able to create an almost cult-like following around their brand.

BOLD is about 14 such business. They put purpose before profit, go beyond what customers expect, and relentlessly differentiate themselves from everyone else. They know no compromise and show no timidity. They are bold in thought and execution, and they measure their success in new ways.

BOLD includes revealing interviews with key executives that tell each brand's story in ways that capture the unique culture of each company. The 14 business represent an international “who's who” in consumer insight and engagement, and include Virgin Galactic, 02, Chilli Beans, Six Senses, Burberry, BBH, The Greek Squad, TNT, JCB, WWF and Umpqua.

BOLD includes hyperlinks to the BOLD brands as well as video and audio material to make reading it on your iPad or e-reader an entirely new reading experience. Compare your company with the BOLD brands by downloading the free iPad app.

• Introduction.
• Chapter One: Virgin Galactic.
• Bold practices
• Sir Richard Branson — the visionary
• Will Whitehorn — the president
• Stephen Attenborough — the commercial director
• Trevor Beattie — the passenger
•  Brian Binnie — the pilot
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Two: O2
• Bold practices
• Ronan Dunne — the CEO
• Tim Sefton — the strategy guy
• Gav Thompson — the brand guy
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Three: AirAsia X
• Bold practices
• Azran Osman-Rani — the CEO
• Moses Devanayagam — director of operations
• Datin Shelina Razaly Wahi — director of legal and people
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Four: Chilli Beans
• Bold practices
• Caito Maia — the founder
• Mario Ponci Neto (Marinho) — the expansion and new business director
• Vanessa Rincon — director of products and supplies
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Five: Six Senses Resorts and Spas
• Bold practices
• Sonu Shivdasani — the visionary
• Bernhard Bohnenberger — the managing director
• Anand Rao — the chief talent officer
• Alasdair Junor — the COO
• Rochelle Kilgariff — the general manager
• Christopher Bailey — the customer
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Six: Burberry
• Bold practices
• Angela Ahrendts — chief executive officer
• Christopher Bailey — chief creative officer
• Sarah Manley — chief marketing officer.
• Reg Sindall-   executive vice president, corporate resources
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Seven: BBH
• Bold practices
• Nigel Bogle — founder
• John Hegarty — founder
• Gwyn Jones — global chief operating officer
• Charles Wigley — chairman of BBH Asia
• David Gates — global category director for whisky for Diageo and BBH client
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Eight: The Geek Squad
• Bold practices
• Robert Stephens — founder and chief inspector
• Jeff Severts — the promise maker
• Lee Williams — the Double Agent
• CasperThykier — the customer
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Nine: Zappos.com
• Bold practices
• Tony Hsieh — delivering happiness
• Wendy Fitch — the happy customer
• Alexa Farnes — the happy employee
• Rob Siefker — the happy manager
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Ten: Umpqua Bank
• Bold practices
• Ray Davis — the game changer
• Lani Hayward — the creative strategist
• Barbara Baker — the culture enhancer
• JoEllen Nieman — the customer champion
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Eleven: TNT Express
• Bold practices
• Marie-Christine Lombard — group managing director
• Michael Drake — the strategist; regional managing director North Asia
• Iman Stratenus — the visionary; managing director China
• Alex Xiang — the champion
• Chris Goossens — the advisor; global customer experience director
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Twelve: JCB
• Bold practices
• Sir Anthony Bamford — chairman
•  John Kavanagh — director of communications
• Matt McClurg — global marketing director
• Tim Burnhope — group MD
• Kevin Balls of J C Balls and Sons — the lifelong customer
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Thirteen: Innocent
• Bold practices
• Richard Reed — chief squeezer
• Dan Germain — guardian angel
• Steve Spall — paranormal greengrocer
• Jessica Sansom — head tree hugger
• Joe McEwan — juice figalow
• Karen Callaghan — chief grower
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Fourteen: WWF
• Bold practices
• Jim Leap — director general
• Natasha Quist — regional director, WWF Central Africa Regional Programme
• Lasse Gustavsson — executive director, conservation, WWF International
• Danielle Chidlow — director of brand strategy at WWF International
• Eric Bohm — CEO, WWF Hong Kong
• David Nussbaum — CEO, WWF UK
• Bold lessons
• Chapter Fifteen: How to be bold: practices, principles and people
• The bold practices: the what
• The bold principles: the why
• The bold people the who
• How bold are you?
• Chapter Sixteen: Bold practice survey
• Bold action — how do you build a bold brand?
• Bold — the keynote presentation
• Bold — the webinar
• Bold — the Brand Experience Masters programme

What can I say? Except reading this book made me happy and enlighted at the same time! It is mostly short descriptions of companies that have made something out of the ordinary and succeeded extremely well. And you may well say it is only branding, but I manage to find a lot more in this excellent book.

Buy it, read it, treasure it, enjoy it, learn from it… It is well worth the investment, regardless of your level of sophistication.