OK â“ Iâ™ve been itching for ages to write about what I believe is probably my favourite company in the world, but saw something earlier that gave me a kick up the arse I clearly needed and to just blurt out “I LOVE ZAPPOS”.nnSo who are Zappos I hear you ask (well â“ youâ™ll know if you're reading this in America of course as $1bn in sales kinds of make it a significant business, let alone its pioneering approach)? In short Zappos is an American online retailer that has not long celebrated its 10th birthday (Happy birthday!).nnnnBut if I'm blogging about a company best I say what I “love” so much about a company that I have never interacted with as a customer (moresâ™ the pity). To me they are a shinning model of:n1.    a company that understands itâ™s employer brand is intrinsically linked with its product/service brand â“ and acts accordingly!n2.    a business that plays the long term game - putting the customer first everytime (and as more than just an advertising slogan), because they know a repeat customer is the most valuable sort and that a happy, neigh delighted, customer is also the most valuable marketing channel there is.n3.    management live and breath this approach, and are comfortable enough in their own skin to maintain the unified ethos and literally work alongside their colleagues.nnThereâ™s plenty written stateside about the company and what it does so right â“ mostly by the staff themselves.  Hell, they even had to do some lay-offs earlier in the year and they handled it all so positively the brand actually got a boost from it (although Iâ™m glad to say theyâ™re back hiring again â“ and pay attention UK retailer web management monkeys who insist on not giving hiring a prominent web presence ⓠ“weâ™re hiring” is splashed across their site. Itâ™s a positive message and not something to be ashamed of!!).nnnnAnyway - they also produce a book called “Zappos insights” â“ as Tony, CEO, mentioned in the video above, where he also offers for you to email him and heâ™d send you a book. So I did. What did I get? A personal email response from Tony and 4days later an excellent book from the states which Tony had signed. Did he need to send me a book? No â“ I was after a PDF as being in the UK thought postage would be excessive. Did he need to sign it? No â“ but for a few moments of his time and engaging with me this way I have gone from a fan of Zappos to a Zappos evangelist.nnBut there is a down side â“ Iâ™ve just found out that they now deliver to the UK at a time when the exchange rate is a real killer :(  Never mind. At least I know that one day Iâ™ll be able to partake in some of that legendary customer service built that they've from a clear understanding that employer brand and product service brand is truly intrinsically linked!nnAnd the thing that kicked me into posting this - the offer of attending a Zappos insights live BootCamp . I am so gutted I don't just happen to be in Vegas over those two days. Maybe next year eh!nnOh - and for all you social media aficionados out there - this company kicks arse there too. This is engagement 2.0 ;-)nnhttp://www.youtube.com/zappos nnhttp://twitter.com/zappos nnhttp://twitter.zappos.com/ nnhttp://blogs.zappos.com