Everyone wants a cool brand. Everyone can’t have one. I could end the blog there, but wait…there’s more. In our land o’ instant gratification it can be tempting to find a cool name, trendy colors, and a funky brand identity. It can be done, but it cannot be sustained if the brand’s delivery of the promise just doesn’t rise to the occasion.
Let me back track. So a used car salesman, a lawyer and a marketing director walk into a bar… But seriously, what these professions have in common is that sometimes you get a real sneer when they are mentioned. The negative connotations, however, are only fair when the used car salesman is trying to put pin striping on a lemon, the lawyer has a lying scumbag as a client, or the marketer is not being truthful about the brand she is hawking.
I seek out brands that I perceive are delivering on their brand promise at a 9 or 10 on the scale, but their marketing strategy and branding is scoring more like a 3. Selfishly, my company can shine in this ring because we simply have to find the compelling story of the company’s promise and polish, polish, polish! Marketers should tell the truth. In fact, they should tell a glorious, wonderful truth.
On the other hand, brands that do this in reverse may lunge out ahead at the beginning only to get smacked with promise delivery problems. Very quickly the brand can become marked as an anathema and worse. Ultimately they become a mockery of their supposed brand promise.
Overall can your brand portray the best side and skip over a few rough patches? You certainly don’t want to air any dirty laundry and no company has it all together all the time! I think when authenticity is the underlying motivation, clients will forgive a minor glitch in the system. So, brand up a little on the scale, but just don’t crank it up disingenuously.
How do you think your company ranks on delivery of brand promise and how does that match to the power of your brand?
Let Us Know What You Thought about this Post.
Put your Comment Below.