THE HONEST BRAND PROMISE SERVES THE TRUST OF CUSTOMERS – This is the Rhythm to Which The Heart of The Entire Company Beats!

Consumers are getting tired of empty promises and fluffy talks by brands. More importantly, it’s important to understand that not all of them believe what they hear or see in an advertisement or a sponsored video on YouTube. They want to understand what is the real promise of the brand they buy from or work with on a deeper level.

Maybe it is bad news if you hear it for the first time but you’d better be prepared for that more and more people become more educated on how to do their own research and check if the brand promise is true. They will go to Social Media groups to ask the members about their experiences without hesitation, read the customer reviews and the ratings and also take into consideration the information that came from their family members or acquaintances in the first place before jumping into a purchase.

“This is literally the rhythm to which the heart of the entire company beats! It is critical to both the overall success of the company and customer trust that the Brand Promise is lived and breathed by the entire company, from top management to all employees!” (Strategyscope)

?? WHAT IS BRAND PROMISE

RULE 1 – Branding strategy always starts from within, meaning you and your team must define WHO YOU ARE and what BRAND VALUES you identify with the brand.

RULE 2 – A brand cannot exist without a promise, it's as simple as that. Creating a brand promise is key to building a detailed brand identity.

RULE 3 – If you want to define your promise, you need to understand what your different target audiences want and expect from you.

“A brand promise is a commitment to your target audience that you will deliver the promised customer and/or user experience to them.” (Strategyscope)

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?? Remember, it’s not a sales message, not a product description, and not even a slogan for advertising!

?????? A brand promise is not a message that you need to communicate publicly, but rather a fundamental internal statement that speaks to your internal stakeholders, i.e., employees, investors, shareholders and business partners.

?? A brand promise is a clear statement you define about the broader purpose of the brand, such as the product/service category, the solution you offer, the quality, and the brand values it represents, but it never sounds like an offer or mentions numerical data.

?????? The brand promise is a unified message that must be documented and distributed within the company/organization to be embraced and applied by all the employees, external contributors, and anyone who represents the brand publicly, or through customer relationships.

?????? When creating your Brand Promise, you simply have to encapsulate the expectations of your ideal customers/clients in a well-formulated, one- or two-line sentence.

?????? The brand promise statement must be a standard to work, provide services and serve clients accordingly!

Check out our infographic about the “Backbone of the Brand Strategy” by clicking here.

?? SOME EXAMPLES OF BRAND PROMISES

??? Apple – “Think Different”

When it comes to innovation, technology, and high quality in design, it is most probably the most famous brand promise, and also a slogan that pops into the customers' minds. Apple's brand promise is about the guarantee to produce products by seeing the world differently while they inspire their users and fans to embrace this approach.

?? Nike – “To Bring Inspiration and Innovation to Every Athlete in the World”

Nike creates an emotional bond by positioning itself as a brand that empowers people to fight for their dreams and achieve their goals, and through the brand promise, makes its customers adopt this mindset. Nike goes beyond being present in the lives of its customers as a manufacturer of sports clothing and equipment but wants to make an impact with its way of thinking about sports and its actions.

?? Starbucks – “In everything we do, we are always dedicated to Our Mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”

Starbucks is more than a coffee company but a lifestyle. They not only offer a cup of great quality coffee to their customers but much more:

“With our partners, our coffee and our customers at our core, we live these values:

·???????Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.

·???????Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for results.

·???????Acting with courage, challenging the status quo and finding new ways to grow our company and each other.

·???????Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity and respect.

·???????We are performance driven, through the lens of humanity.”

?? Walmart – “Save Money, Live Better”

The brand promise of Walmart is quite simple (and at the same time it is their slogan): they offer quality products for low prices in order to help their customers to live better.

“Walmart customers are able to cope with higher energy costs because we are helping them stretch their money on everyday needs. But we are also helping customers save money on products that reduce their energy bills to begin with. And even more … we are helping the environment in the process. What better way to deliver on the promise of “Living Better?”

?? HOW YOUR BRAND PROMISE CAN BE BENEFICIAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

If your brand promise gives a perfect answer to what both your external and internal target audiences expect from your brand, then it can be beneficial for

• generating brand awareness,
• strengthening the emotional bond, trust and loyalty of the customers and clients,
• strengthening the engagement and loyalty of your Employees,
• developing long-lasting relationships with different stakeholders and making an impact,
• building up inclusive Social Media communities where people want to belong because of living your brand promise.

“Accountability is the new norm that brands must take responsibility for, whether they like it or not. Customers and clients expect them not just to deliver on their promises and walk the talk, but to see them make a purposeful impact.” (Strategyscope)

?? THE NEW BRAND PROMISES IN 2022 AND BEYOND

Strategyscope suggests you consider these aspects in terms of establishing or fine-tuning your brand promise while you are facing ever-changing consumer behaviours and expectations:

?????? Accountability – Customers become more demanding of the brands they buy from in terms of accountability. Accountability is the new norm that brands must take responsibility for, whether they like it or not. Customers and clients hold them accountable for every single interaction they have and aren't afraid to call them out publicly if they see them not delivering on what they promised.

?????? Social Responsibility – Your brand promise should refer to the so-called “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) and the causes you stand by as a brand and brand owner. Especially because several pieces of research proved that customers prefer to buy from and clients want to collaborate with companies, while employees want to work for employers that are committed to social causes and they also take action.

????? Influencer Marketing and Employee Advocacy –There is a huge potential in both to distribute and deliver the brand promise authentically. While the rightly picked influencers can be the voice of your brand promise externally and certify that the promises are kept by the company, your Employee Advocates are the ones who help internally for others to understand and represent it better towards the customers and clients.

And what else?

?????? Convenience and Transparency – “The consumers simply want less friction and more access, so it is convenience and transparency that’s at the core of the new brand promise moving forward”, said Kirk McDonald, Group M’s CEO in North America. Furthermore, he also raised awareness that brand owners must recognise that consumers are in complete control and “that’s why only those who disrupt themselves will actually get ahead of the curve. So, challenger brands are looking to disrupt and innovate.”

?????? More Customer Intimacy – “More customer intimacy without customer intrusive and a thoughtful and empathetic understanding in the context of the moment in time without feeling that it is breached or violated of any of the privacies that are consumers are increasingly so protective of” will lead to the success of brands.?– as Kirk McDonald described.

?? THE PRICE OF THE BROKEN BRAND PROMISE

A promise is a promise, right? It is therefore completely legitimate that customers expect your brand, company, or you as an entrepreneur to keep your word.

Effective internal communication of the brand promise is key because everyone within the company must understand what the corporate brand stands for and what it means, and make an effort to serve customers and clients accordingly at every touch point and whenever they interact with the company's key target groups.

It is important to emphasize that the brand promise is encoded in the minds of customers through many other communication and marketing activities, so there is a high risk that if employees or external contributors do not deliver what the brand promised, they will disappoint customers.

As we cited Gartner’s “2019 Brand Trust Survey” in one of the previous issues of Strategyscope: ?81% of customers refuse to do business with or buy from a brand that they don’t trust, and 89% expect to disengage from a brand that breaches their trust.”

Customers and clients look at brands and their promises, their services and the way they deliver them through a critical lens. Social Media is the noisiest space where brands not only have to fight for the attention of the customers but that’s where reals conversations about the brand happen in real time!

• answer questions,
• give advice and guidance,
• handle complaints and criticism,

That’s why the brand is the most fragile in these Social Media platforms and communities and must be cautious to keep the brand safe!

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Breaking the promise is always a huge risk and playing games can be literally fatal for your brand!

What are the most typical cases of it?

1.)???When your Promise Was Never Kept – Be careful because there is only one chance to make a good impression as they say and because of this reason not everyone will give you a second one.

2.)???When your Promise was Delivered but Not the Way as it was Expected by Your Customers/Clients – That’s the case of misunderstandings we most probably know well. Actually, despite the precise communication, it happens that your target audiences understand or mean something else and this way they naturally expect something more.

3.)???You Delivered your Promise but with a Significant Delay – It also can happen sometimes and it is crucial how you communicate and handle these situations.

4.)???You Made too Many Conditions about your Promise – When your customers are getting used to a standard of how you keep your promise but you decide to change some conditions that they feel are unfavourable for them or unfair.

Conclusions:

A brand promise is not just a marketing or promotional message in your campaign! If you want to open your customers' wallets, using catchy or fluffy messages will not benefit your Brand Equity in the long run.

A brand promise is a commitment to the target audience to provide them with the promised customer and/or user experience. You must consistently deliver it at every touchpoint throughout the customer journey in alignment with the sentiments and expectations of your target audiences, representing the Brand Identity and values, protecting the brand’s safety and strengthening engagement and loyalty. This cannot happen without the involvement, education and commitment of the internal stakeholders, especially your Employees and in which case everyone must understand and represent the brand promise transparently and take it as a standard to work. These approaches and efforts all together will result in developing the ROI (Return on Investment).

?? Stay tuned! In the next issue of the Strategyscope newsletter, we will continue this topic and examine how to build a convincing and long-lasting Brand Promise.

Editor’s Note: Branding Strategy is a huge subject with several various verticals and aspects. Strategyscope will continue to discuss this topic but does not intend to replace Wikipedia or high-quality professional marketing resources. Rather, it aims to provide guidance and share best practices based on real-life experiences and client cases while keeping you up-to-date.        

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STRATEGYSCOPE is the Marketing, Branding & Content Strategy Compass for your business boost. Each week the newsletter covers various topics within these 3 key areas to guide SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) Entrepreneurs, and Solopreneurs to fine-tune their strategies and utilize the potential of Marketing for their sustainable growth.

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