and the song were just the opening paragraphs of the rest of the story for each entitys branding saga. Just as Aerosmith had to fix the addic- tion and relationship problems of the bands members before releas- ing its next album and attracting new fans, so did VW have to fix its brand before unleashing a new advertising campaign and attracting new customers. Fixing the brand meant solving product quality and reliability issues that had alienated customers in the late 1970s and 1980s. If there is something wrong with the brand or the product, the worst thing a marketer can do is create a great advertising campaign that attracts customers. Why? Because their trust is tough to gain the first time, let alone the second time, after theyve been disappointed. Good advertising only accelerates the demise of poor products, brands, or companies. Volkswagen had been there, done that, and, frankly, didnt want to do it again. Instead, it got support from the dealerships and delivered quality standards consumers expected, understanding that a fundamental principle of taking brands from good to great is exceeding, not just meeting, customer expectations. All in all, the rebirth of Volkswagen was a triumph in marketing, branding, and engineering.       Reverse Custo mer Intimacy   Customer relationship management (CRM) has received much atten- tion from marketing and branding executives in recent years, with the goal being to learn more about customers in order to connect better with them and at a deeper level. This in turn allows firms to tailor     offerings to specific customers or stock items certain customers prefer, all in the name of building brand loyalty. In the CRM vein, Aerosmith monitors its fans behaviors during concerts, understanding that the right balance between classics, con- temporary favorites, and new releases is important in keeping fans engaged during a three-hour show.* Legendary bands do that better than most fledgling bands because of the depth of material they can play. In notes published on the web site of AeroForce One (Aero- smiths official fan club), talking about their experiences on the road, Tom Hamilton admits to watching audiences from the stage, espe- cially when performing new songs. When the crowd starts singing songs from a new album, they know they have been adopted by fans, giving the band guidance as to which songs to keep performing dur- ing the tour, which ones to add to the next tour, and perhaps when to add another new track to the set list. On that web page, fans are