Agile Brand Guide R

The Agile Brand Guide(R)

The 3rd Edition of the Popular Book on Journey Management and Orchestration. Now expanded with chapters from new contributors.A book for Marketers and Customer Experience professionals that cuts through the clutter with clear actionable steps to create customer journeys that are meaningful, engaging, and benefit both customers and brands. Most enterprises don't struggle because they lack customer data or tools. They struggle because they lack a repeatable way to translate customer signals into consistent decisions-across marketing, sales, service, and digital channels-without creating a new mess in the process. The Agile Brand Guide to Customer Journey Management & Next Best Action (2026 Edition) is a practical playbook for marketing and CX leaders who want to move beyond static maps and rules-based automation into a scalable, governed system for real-time decisioning. This curated edition-assembled by Greg Kihlström-includes contributions from multiple thought leaders and practitioners, bringing complementary viewpoints on strategy, operating model, data, governance, and measurement. Inside, you'll learn how to: Separate Customer Journey Management (definition, governance, measurement) from Orchestration (execution), and connect both through Next Best Action Build the core platform capabilities: mapping, triggers, event modeling, integrations, governance, analytics, and decisioning Design guardrails that protect customers (and the brand) while enabling speed and autonomy Measure value at the system level: outcomes, operational health, and momentum-not just channel metrics If you're aiming for personalization at scale without "random acts of automation," this guide gives you the structure to make it real-without pretending your org chart will magically cooperate.

AGILE BRAND GUIDE(R)

Systems Theory and Agile Brand Management

Brands started out as communication tools to influence the image of companies or products (inside-out thinking) but have developed into channels of social forces. Powerful brands impact not just customer decisions but also markets and social institutions, such as fashion trends, city life, or even social movements. This book explores the implications of Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems for the theory and practice of agile brand management, in particular highlighting the central role of brand aesthetics and of brands as channels for mutual education between companies and consumers. Since the rise of social media, “perfect” brands have become the mirror of community values as the communities themselves develop brand content. Brands themselves become “living systems” and evolve like systems do. The author introduces systems theory to provide a conceptual framework that integrates the different views of branding: inside-out and outside-in thinking. This Luhmannian theory of branding is discussed against the current background of (Western) societies, which are undergoing a broad shift from hard to soft selling in marketing, influenced by social media. The book is not about whether closed systems analysis and discussion can or should replace traditional management; moreover, it emphasizes the fruitful insights and demonstrates that the power of management is limited and should be extended by looking at the means of closed systems. This book will be of primary value to scholars with an interest in systems theory and thinking, brand theory, and management. The interdisciplinary approach also makes the book a valuable resource for those researching change management, agile management, and sociology.