What is your Promise?

The other day, I had the pleasure of listening to a great speaker talk about branding. She used a common phrase to define a brand ..."Your brand is really your promise." Your promise to your market. So, what is your promise? How do you determine your promise?

I'll begin by telling you what your promise isn't ... it isn't about you. It is, however, entirely about what your market wants you to deliver to them. What is important to your market?

It's imperative to step back, separate your emotion, wants and needs, from your product, and take a good look at what your market is demanding from you. Your promise will be based on those demands.

Most importantly... once you make your promise, make sure you deliver. There is nothing worse than looking dishonest to your customers. You lose their trust and their business.

We see companies re-brand, successfully, all of the time. We also see strong brands lose sight of their promise to the detriment of the brand.

Dove created their campaign for real beauty after listening to a vast majority of women (their market) who expressed the desire to see women of all shapes and ages represented in the media. The Campaign for Real Beauty is their promise and the phrase has become synonymous with their brand. The result, in addition to prompting social reform, has been a huge increase in their market share.

Starbucks, on the other hand, had an amazingly strong brand that promised the best coffee, and an almost spiritual experience in their stores. Somewhere along the way, perhaps due to an inflated corporate ego, they lost sight of that and began taking on new products and markets because they could. Who would have thought that the latest music by a mainstream artist would only be available where you go for your premium cup of joe? Who would have thought that you could buy two of your kids' stocking stuffers at Starbucks in the form of mini stuffed penguins. OK... I admit I did this, but ask me when was the last time I actually stayed in the store to chat with a great friend over my Latte... but I digress...
The silver lining is that Starbucks seems to have had the foresight to catch this problem and should recover the brand before it's too late.

So how do you keep your promise? It really isn't that difficult. Stay close to your brand, don't hand it off. Stay in touch with your market... listen to them... don't get overly confident by assuming that you know what they want without checking in.

Do all of this and keeping your Promise is a given.

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