The Power of your Brand Promise

What is your brand’s promise?

Not your brand’s slogan, logo, package, or image…those aren’t promises, they are marketing tools.  Your brand promise is everything a brand is, everything it does, everything it stands for, and every way it affects the life of your customer.

A strong brand promise is one that connects your purpose, your positioning, your strategy, your people and your customer experience.  It enables you to furnish your brand in a way that connects emotionally with your customers and differentiates your brand.

But why do so many brands struggle to deliver their promise?  Because they’re often too vague.

When thinking about your company’s brand promise, consider what you’d like the history and reputation of your company to be…

• Establish realistic expectations…Do not create hopes that cannot be met or guarantee what you cannot deliver.  Broken promises will create hostility and disappoint your customer.
• Your promise must be unique and convincing and authentic then it will build trust and integrity.
• Gallup research has found that only 40% of employees feel they really understand their company’s brand promise and the closer the employee is to the customer, the less able they are to articulate the company’s brand promise.  Your staff needs to know exactly what should happen behind the scenes and in front of the customer so they and you can deliver on the promise.
• Make sure that when you convey your brand promise you emphasize the things you are in control of…quality control, service claims, or product attributes, etc.
• Reliability is everything with your communication.  Use social media to help get your message to your audience constituency on a regular basis, it will create awareness and build trust.
• View your promise, as an irreversible credence between you and your customer and delivering on your promise is the best way you build your business!

Remember…your brand promise is what you’re committing to your clients and a description of the company’s character.

BRANDING = TRUST…so, whether for business or personal products or services, consumers will select brands they believe will serve them best…even if that brand is charging a premium!

As you create and develop your brand promise remember what you’d like to deliver to your clients.  Keep in mind some of the successful companies that we’ve all grown to know because they deliver on those promises:

• The NFL: “To be the premier sports and entertainment brand that brings people together, connecting them socially and emotionally like no other.”
• Coca-Cola: “To inspire moments of optimism and uplift.
• Virgin: “To be genuine, fun, contemporary, and different in everything we do at a reasonable price.”
• Target: “Expect more. Pay Less.”

Remember a brand is only as good as the promise it keeps!

What is your brand promise?

Dave Baney is the founder and CEO of 55 Questions, LLC.  We work with successful top executives with a driving ambition to crush their competition.  We help CEOs and Entrepreneurs improve alignment, communication and accountability throughout their organization. www.55Questions.com

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