There are surprisingly few valuable services brands, which may be due to the lack of services branding knowledge and the inappropriate use of product based branding advice. To contribute to services branding knowledge we firstly undertook a review of the services management and services branding literature, followed by depth interviews with 28 leadingedge consultants. We found a need for ruthless clarity, not just about the positioning of the services brand, but equally about the corporation's genuinely felt values. Success is more likely when everyone internally believes in their brand's values. When management behaviour is based on genuine conviction, shared values are likely. Through shared values, there is a greater likelihood of commitment, internal loyalty, clearer brand understanding, and importantly, consistent brand delivery across all stakeholders.

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This article examines the services-brand-building process, based on depth interviews with leading-edge brand consultants. A model is posited of the factors involved when building a services brand from scratch. Insights about those involved in the services-brand-building process are provided along with a consideration of the impact of the organisations internal/external orientation. The results show that, in comparison with the goods model, more work is required in terms of organisational culture and internal branding when building services brands. It is recommended that organisations utilise cross-functional teams, a strong customer orientation and a brand-supporting culture to maximise the success of their services brand.

This article explore s how professional service firms manage across borders. When clients require consistent services delivered across multiple locations, especially across borders, then firms need to set up an organization that is itself sufficiently flexible to be able to support such consistent service delivery. Our discussion is illustrated by the globalization process of law firms. We argue that the globalization of large corporate law firms primarily takes place in terms of investments in the development of protocols, processes and practices that enhance internal consistency such that clients receive an 'effortless experience' of the service across multiple locations worldwide. Over the longer term the ability to deliver such effortless experience is dependent upon meaningful integration within and across the firm. Firms that achieve this are building a source of sustainable competitive advantage.