Brand Promises: Are You Consistently Delivering Yours?

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A brand promise is what your company or brand commits to delivering for everyone who interacts with you. Your brand promise is a pledge, an assurance, or a guarantee that identifies what your customers can expect each and every time they connect with your company—whether it’s through your people, your marketing materials, or your products or services.

 

What makes a brand promise compelling? An effective brand promise must create distinction for your company’s offerings, and connect your purpose, positioning, and strategy. It must describe what customers can expect to receive beyond your product or service. It is more than a purchase—it is an experience, engaging your customers emotionally and allowing you to differentiate from your competitors. When working with our clients to help them develop their brand promise successfully we use our ‘Personality Profile Performer System™’.

 

Your brand promise presents a compelling reason for customers to buy from you, to return for repeat business—and most importantly, to become brand ambassadors, spreading the word about your company organically and enthusiastically. 

 

 Virgin Logo 600px

Image via www.virgin.com

  

 

What Your Brand Promise Should (and Should Not) Be

Organizations often make the mistake of conflating brand promise with marketing. At one end, they may trot out clinically dry descriptions of products or services, on the premise that a brand “speaks for itself.” And on the other, they might make grand and ultimately meaningless statements, replete with abused superlatives such as “best practice”, “world class”, and “market leader.”

 

However, what truly works as a brand promise is not something in the middle, but rather a presentation that takes an entirely different approach to your offerings. A strong brand promise describes how people should feel when they interact with your brand, how your company delivers its products or services, and what sort of character your company embodies.

 Nfl Logo 600px 

Image via www.nfl.com

 

To illustrate this idea in action, here are some powerful brand promises from highly successful brands:

  • The NFL: ‘To be the premier sports and entertainment brand that brings people together, connecting them socially and emotionally like no other’

 

  • Virgin: ‘To be the consumer champion while being genuine, fun, contemporary and different in everything we do at a reasonable price’

 

  • Apple: ‘To make insanely great, imaginative, cool, easy-to-use, cutting edge products that enrich peoples lives’

 

  • Coca-Cola: ‘To inspire moments of optimism and happiness’

   

 

 

  

Typically, a strong brand promise will achieve three key objectives:

  • It must convey a compelling benefit and emotionally resonate
  • It must be authentic and credible
  • The promise must be kept…every time

 

Any brand can create a compelling brand promise. However, the best and most successful brands will also demonstrate a proven track record of delivering on those promises. A powerful brand does not simply “talk the talk” — it “walks the walk,” consistently and reliably.

 

 

The Brand Promise At Work

McDonalds is the brand heard ’round the world. With over 33,000 restaurants in 119 countries, the company has to be doing something right—and the core of their success is their brand promise. They are the first job for many, involved with local communities and always seeking new ways to improve what they do best. When customers see the Golden Arches, they know what they can expect: simple, easy enjoyment with great service, cleanliness and value.

 

This is the brand promise McDonalds stands behind. Their more recent slogan, “I’m lovin’ it,” is a simple phrase in itself, one that can be translated easily within every international market the company serves. The McDonalds brand promise is effective, because the company consistently delivers uncomplicated fun with value and service to customer after customer.

 

Mcdonalds Im Lovin It 600px

Image via www.mcdonalds.com 

 

Effective brand promises aren’t limited to the inexpensive and widely available, either. Successful luxury brands are also making a promise—that customers are paying a higher price, and in return receiving exceptional quality, value, and prestige.

 

European hotelier Kempinski has a stated purpose of “serving guests who expect excellence and value individuality.” As Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group and a five star prestigious brand, Kempinski promises more than lodgings—the company delivers an unforgettable experience for each and every customer by providing “luxurious hospitality in the grand European style.” They believe life should be lived with style!

 

  

 

Start Where You Want To End Up, and Watch Your Brand Take Off

If your brand is already successful, chances are you’re already clear on what you promise your customers—and you’ve managed to consistently keep your brand promise.

On the other hand, if…

…then its time to conduct a brand audit, do a little research, and or re-evaluate your branding strategy.

 

It’s essential to define exactly what your brand promises to your customers. This process begins with research into your market, your target audience, competitors, and business environment. What do your customers really want? How are they getting it now—and how can your offering add even more value to those desires?

 

Your brand promise should deliver something your target audience really wants, but can’t get elsewhere. Remember, you’re creating an experience for your customers. When you define a unique brand promise first, and then consistently deliver, you’re making it easier for your business to keep that promise and realize branding success.

 

Earning Your Brand Promise

Once you’ve defined your brand promise, you need to focus on ensuring that you’re delivering on that promise—every time. Every aspect of your business should reflect what you stand for in your brand, from marketing to employee-customer interaction.

 

A brand that keeps its promises is virtually unbreakable. This is what kept Microsoft from knocking Google off the search engine throne with its “Bing It On” campaign, which attempted to convince consumers that real people choose Bing’s search results over Google.

 

 

 

The campaign failed to make a dent in the search engine giant’s market share—because Google’s brand promise is too strong. Their search engine consistently delivers what people want.

 

 

You Don’t Have to be Huge

Many smaller businesses make the mistake of thinking that only large corporations have the resources to consistently keep brand promises. The truth is, great branding is powerful enough to carry any business model successfully—when it’s done right.

 

Take, for example, The Ginger Pig. This London artisan butchery uses the brand promise of quality meats that taste great due to the care and effort they put forth in raising farm animals. The company emphasizes this brand promise through The Ginger Pig website, which opens with a brief and intriguing story about how they came to be—and their philosophy that well looked-after livestock simply tastes better.

 

Ginger Pig 600px 

Image via www.thegingerpig.co.uk

 

Is your company still looking for that perfect branding strategy? Prepare for success by taking the time to really think about your brand promise—and to ensure that you can, and do, deliver. Whether you’re a brand new start-up, a local supplier, or a national or global business, decide what will make your brand distinctive and memorable—something that’s worth talking about—and focus on delivering every time.

 

When you deliver on your brand promise, you build customer trust. This translates into brand loyalty that markets itself. Word-of-mouth, particularly through social media, will carry your brand promise to an ever-widening audience. As new customers realize they’re actually getting what they were promised, you’ll find more brand ambassadors out there recommending your offerings, all of which will help increase your profitability.

 

The earlier you establish and maintain your brand promise,

the more successful your branding will be.

  

What do you think?

How is your brand walking the talk?

Can a brand exist without brand promise?

Is your brand promising something you can’t deliver?

How can you communicate your brand promise to your customers?

 

Share your thoughts in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.

 

Brand Story : The Key Ingredients to What Makes It Compelling

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If you were asked to sum up your brand story in a valuable two minute radio sound bite or TV interview could you do it? If the answer is “NO” or you hesitate over your reply, then maybe its time to re-evaluate what your brand story is all about.

 

Is Your Brand Story

Worth Listening to?

  

Being able to succinctly articulate a compelling story around your brand, how it came in to being, what its all about, why it matters to your primary customers and where it’s heading into the future is crucial to your success. Stories connect people and your brand story is what gives it meaning and solidity, helps define its values, shapes its destiny and captures your customer’s imaginations, thereby attracting and engaging their ongoing interest.

 

A brand’s story isn’t a nice ‘add on’ for marketing purposes either. Rather it’s the foundations and inspiration for your marketing strategy – supporting the way you drive awareness and sales for your product or services and ultimately increase your business’s profitability and growth. The more compelling your story, the more powerful your brand.

 

A great brand story can be unifying (for both customers and stakeholders), motivating and inspiring for your teams internally and give the work they do more direction and meaning, thereby enriching the environment in which they work, all of which filters through to the experience your customers have with your brand through your front line staff – your brand ambassadors.

 

Brand stories are never static either, they continue to develop over time in order to stay relevant and respond to customer demands and ever changing market dynamics.

 

 Ben And Jerrys Ice Cream

Image via Ben&Jerry’s

 

A great example, amongst many, of a brand with a very powerful story is Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. The tale of two young men who were determined to set up a company which would embrace sustainability and share prosperity (with employees and stakeholders alike) and, incidentally at the same time produce amazing ice cream, all of which hooked the imagination of the US public. Their story then went global and the rest is history.

 

Ben and Jerry’s aim today, they declare, continues to centre around finding interesting and unusual ways to improve the quality of life for individuals, produce top quality all-natural, wholesome ice cream and respect the environment at the same time…

  

 

  

Back in the UK, the well-known healthy fruit drink brand Innocent had a great story which, crucially, captured not only the imagination of consumers but journalists everywhere. Three Oxford educated students who wanted to produce drinks which would boost the nation’s health using only natural ingredients went on to succeed where many others had failed.

 

 Innocent

Image via Telegraph.co.uk

 

Their commitment to their cause and brand ethos couldn’t be faulted. Their packaging was simple and amusing yet full of character – and their social media channels (they were early adopters) reflected the same brand story and personality traits too. They had energy, enthusiasm and innovative marketing techniques to capture their core audiences attention.

  

 

  

Interestingly their brand has been bought over by global giant Coca Cola yet that move hasn’t dented the brand’s success. Innocent still continues to sell under the ‘wholesome goodness banner’ brand story and to this day it still continues to resonate with their customers. The brand was powerful enough in itself that it didn’t matter who owned the company. Their brand ethos and customer base had already been established to such an extent that the smooth take-over was hardly noticed. The brand has become a living entity in its own right.

 

Historically Innocent’s engagement with consumers began even before they’d launched. Following a busy day selling fruit drinks at a festival, the three owners asked their customers there whether they thought they should start up in business. The rest is history and a very successful and profitable one at that.

  

Lego Logo 

  

Lego, another long established and much loved Danish brand, with a compelling brand story too used a series of amusing YouTube vignettes in their video The Lego Story which they used to re-tell their brand story when they celebrated their 80th anniversary last year. It tells of their inventor, the company’s values and the commitment to their product both in terms of quality and the education of children around the globe.

 

  

The story of women’s underwear brand SPANX is very much connected with its founder and owner, the former sales trainer and stand up comedienne Sara Blakely. Her story of being unable to find tights she liked, then inventing her own, resonates with every woman who has a bulge or two to hide (at least the first part does!). This ‘everywoman’ even had her mum draw the design for the original prototype.

 

 Spanx Leggings Packaging

Image via themagicknickershop.co.uk

 

Today, proceeds from every pair of SPANX sold go towards the Sara Blakely Foundation which helps women in underprivileged parts of the world start up their own businesses through education and entrepreneurship.

 

 

Some re-occurring themes, worth reflecting on when reviewing elements of your own brand story, have appeared in each of the powerful brand stories mentioned above – however they must be authentic and real!

  • Share what you care about to engage your audience emotionally
  • Localize wherever possible in order to speak directly to local communities and create engaging connections
  • Encourage individuals to make your brand their own and become your brand champions

 

When creating your own brand story, be absolutely clear on what you want to communicate and why it’s important to both you and your core target audience. This should centre on who you are, why you’re doing it, why it’s important – so customers care, and what differentiates your brand from your competitors. To be truly engaging it must evoke strong emotions in your audience and ooze personality!

 

Your brand story must consistently underpin everything you do within your business, be the filter through which all your communications and brand strategy flows, influence the way in which you interact with your customers and shape the experiences they have through every touch point of your brand.

 

  • What’s the ‘truth’ or ‘inspiration’ behind your brand story?

  

  • What’s significant about your brand story compared to your competitors?

  

  • Have you considered how to consistently communicate your brand story and brand values through your fully integrated brand strategy?

 

 

Limited Editions Packaging : Why They Work

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Most of us at some point in our lives have probably been triggered to make an impulse purchase (or at least considered purchasing) one of our favourite brands solely because of the packaging.

 

There’s a high probability too that the particular brand packaging in question was of a ‘limited edition’ variety. Brands tend to investment considerable effort into limited edition products and, as a result, the packaging design typically has even greater impact on its target audience.

 

Exclusivity Rewards Loyal Customers

However limited edition packaging isn’t always appreciated, as MAC executives discovered when they launched their Wonder Woman range in spring 2011. This was in collaboration with DC Comics who owned the rights to the cartoon character. The MAC range included lipsticks, eye shadow, nail polish and blusher ranging from €6. to €35.

 

Mac Wonder Woman Promo

Image via Flickr and Bruno Boutot

 

The look was bright, dynamic (like the character herself) and, some said, ‘tacky.’ Many of the brand’s followers didn’t approve of the MAC Wonder Woman packaging, believing it cheapened the MAC brand (which is seen as a quality cosmetics leader with a trendy, younger customer base). Other fans defended the brand saying they loved the “fun, funky look.” As a result the controversy received lots of varied opinions and comments on websites, social media and blogs – all which, of course, greatly stimulated brand interest even further.

 

Mac Wonder Woman Range

Image via Cult Beauty

 

MAC executives built up a significant amount of pre-release excitement and anticipation by sending samples to leading beauty bloggers and magazines. Each product in the limited edition range was supported with a detailed descriptions, ensuring plentiful coverage for its target audience to read about.

 

All this pre-launch activity ensured the Wonder Woman limited edition lipsticks, blushers etc. generated lots of online traction thereby making them easy to find on search engines and consequently in retail outlets too when finally released. Cumulatively this integrated pre-launch marketing strategy raised the MAC Wonder Woman limited edition range profile and stimulated greatly increased interest to potentially purchase.

 

In an effort to gain further traction for their limited edition packaging, MAC also initially limited the collections availability. The Pro Members on the MAC website were given access to the MAC Wonder Woman goods 12 hours before anyone else – thereby increasing the range’s exclusivity even further. MAC limited edition products have been known to sell-out within two days. The MAC Wonder Woman range was no exception.

 

Feel-Good Associations

Beefeater Gin chimed into the London zeitgeist last year when it launched a limited edition bottle aimed at celebrating the capital’s stupendous year with the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

 

Their new bottle, coloured pillar box red, celebrated London’s ‘inner eccentricity’ the company said, by showing glimpses of London life inside the outline of a beefeater to reflect the city’s vibrancy and diversity. Pre-orders for the bottle were the highest the company has ever received, which is a testament to its success as a limited edition range.

 

Where Beefeater really excelled with the limited edition brand packaging was in associating their brand with the ‘feel good and success factor’ that was very much an integral experience of London at the time. Beefeater is a London brand and by amplifying its association with key London characteristics around a significant event, Beefeater executives hoped that customers would associate the Beefeater brand with a happy occasion in their lives, and one which brought to mind the feeling of success as well as celebration.

 

Beefeater London Limted Edition

Image via Packaging of the World

 

Reinforcing Brand Identity

Another association which enhanced a brand (also a drinks company) was that of film director David Lynch and Dom Pérignon. The arty and cool Californian-based movie maker designed new ‘ghostly’ labels for the brand.

 

Dom Perignon By David Lynch Vintage Champagne

 

Image via Harvey Nichols

 

According to the brand’s website, the two have much in common. A spokesman for Dom Pérignon said: “The worlds of Dom Pérignon and the one of David Lynch have many points in common: mystery, intensity, commitment, time, the constant reinvention of the self, and above all, absolute faith in the power of creation.”

 

 

 

  

So Why Does Limited Edition Packaging Typically Sell So Well?

Apart from the above ‘success/feel good’ associations (Beefeater) and creating demand through exclusivity (MAC), limited edition brand packaging can also reaffirm to its target customer that he or she has made the right brand choice. Limited edition packaging tends to be of a higher and more eye-catching quality than the standard packaging for the brand, which in turn makes it look even more enticing and, importantly, more exclusive and thereby making it more sought after.

   

Limited Edition Packaging Can Be A Test For Permanent Packaging

And what happens when a limited edition brand is just too popular to remain a one-off? Ask Coca Cola. Such was the popularity of the drink giant’s exclusive diet coke design that it decided to resurrect it a year later and make the bold and more minimalist design its standard Diet Coke can format.

 

The design enlarges then crops the original Diet Coke logo which makes it more eye-catching on shelves, according to the company’s executives.

 

Diet Coke 

Image via CreativeBoysClub.com

 

 

It Can Result In A Whole New Brand Campaign Strategy

Kit Kat wanted to ensure its limited edition white chocolate bars were never forgotten – and managed to boost its free publicity quota as a result.

  

 

 

The Australian branch of the chocolate firm said they were preserving a piece of the brand’s history by saving the last 50 bars and handing them over to illustrator Mike Watt. He then proceeded to melt the bars down and form pictures from the gooey chocolate moulds using a knife. The process makes an interesting video and the final pictures were uploaded onto Kit Kat’s Facebook page leading to increased social media interaction, which in turn also boosted the company’s SEO endeavours and the Kit Kat brand profile.

 

Kit Kat White Final Fifty Posters Tiger

Image via Feel Desain

 

 

Limited edition brand packaging can have multiple advantages when used effectively to leverage a brand, not to mention of course increasing sales and profitability. It can also add greater perceived value to a brand’s existing core product range by making customers feel like they’re receiving something ‘really special’ with an added extra. It doesn’t just increase brand impact in the market, but it can also create an even greater demand for products by marking them with an exclusive tag, which its target audience consequently finds irresistible.

  

• What kind of limited edition packaging could your brand consider?

  

• Could you tie your limited edition packaging in with an appropriate significant event or occasion to amplify its significance?

 

• Who in your current target audience would be extremely attracted to a limited edition range of packaging for your brand?

  

 

Brand Heart: Are You Bringing Your Brand To Life In Your Work Space?

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Hearing someone say they work at Google seems to have the same effect on every listener regardless of their industry background…Wow!

 

Google Green Dublin

 

It’s a true testament to the Google leaders that they have created a reputation of being such a desirable place to work, but lets face it, it’s not just because of the type of work carried out there. With unique, fun, quirky, often bizarre office interiors, which include slides, video games and ski-gondolas, Google lead the way in a trend to change the traditional view of what a corporate office should look and feel like. There is method to the supposed madness.

 

 Google Office Slide

 

Google, Facebook, Airbnb and so many of the newer global companies, along with a few of the longer established, understand that the culture and physical experience of your company is a huge part of your company brand. They understand that it is the people and living experience internally behind the brands that help to dictate how the brand is perceived externally.

 

 Google Ski Lifts

 

An office is far more than walls, desks and computers. It’s a recruitment tool, a second home and a place to inspire those who work within. If a leader’s job is to get the best from their employees then part of that responsibility is creating a space that motivates people to make the most of shaping and growing their brand.

 

 Facebook Office Pan

 

If you care about company culture and authentic brand experience then the office space matters. It is an important part of how the employee views their work. But flashy spaces, open plan offices and bean bags are not for everyone. A place without quite spaces can be just as ineffective as grey cardboard cubicles. There are certain elements however that will provide triggers to employees and customers alike about the company culture that may need to be addressed.

 

 Facebook Office Photo

 

• Collaborative Space

You don’t have to be a creative company to have a need for a collaborative space. If people arrive into the office, go to their desk and stay there until the end of the day then the company is not maximizing the benefits that come from employee interactions between the company thinkers and innovators. A dedicated collaborative space that can be used for informal interactions can make employees more comfortable to contribute, to share opinions and develop new ideas.

 

 Google Hq Zurich

 

• Brand Ambassadors

Employees are your brand ambassadors. Creating an office space that reminds them each day of what they and the brand are trying to achieve can be a powerful motivator.

 

Mindvalley Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

 

• Reflect Your Core Brand Values

If sustainability is an important ‘value’ underpinning your brand, then this should be communicated using internal triggers as well as external communication. Using and promoting recyclable materials within the office for example ensures that those working to build the brand understand that the company genuinely believes and lives by the values they promote. You are authentically living that brand value and reinforcing it everyday in what you do.

 

Education First Lucerne Switzerland

 

• Recruit The Best

Google and Facebook offices are designed not only to serve current employees, but to attract the best talent. They use their office space to communicate the type of culture they promote internally and to attract ‘like minded’ people who can fit within that culture and become part of the brand family. Both understand the needs of the people that work for them and have been hugely beneficial to the organisation, as employees reciprocate with high levels or productivity and efficiency.

 

 Vocus Beltsville Maryland

 

• Create Customer Cues

PR and advertising can support a strategy that communicates a brand’s vision and values, but that can be destroyed at the workplace if the office space doesn’t align with the promise of your brand message. If your brand communicates a sense of community or creativity, but your offices are comprised of people working separately behind closed doors what kind of message does this send to your customers? Internal triggers and experiences can make a significant external impact. Even reception rooms and meeting room names can tell a story that reflects the brand. Think about your customer’s brand journey. How would your offices influence the customer’s perspective and experience of your brand?

 

 Airbnb Conference Room Mushroom Cabin In Aptos California

 

Company culture is not something that can be created from blueprints. It is something that is shaped by the people working within. Leaders can influence it, they can coax and enable the desired type of brand culture but even the well intentioned leader can inadvertently establish dysfunctional workplaces by creating a workspace that is at odds with the brand values and messages the employees are working to shape.

 

Google may have developed a reputation of a fun, goofy place to work, but what it really signifies is a deep understanding by its leaders, that the environment can play a significant role in creating the balance needed to promote problem solving and creativity in an industry that demands both.

 

If you can’t glean clues about the brand or the people behind it from walking in the door of the office you could be in trouble. Get your office ‘on brand’, and it could play a valuable part in supporting your innovation, productivity levels, marketing mix and consequently profitability coupled with long term success.

• What do you think of some of the world’s ‘coolest’ offices?

  

• How does yours compare? Is it ‘on brand’ or congruent with what your brand stands for?

 

• Does your office space encourage collaboration, innovation and creativity?

   

• Does your office space reflect your brand culture?

 

 

De-Branding to Differentiate; Is Your Brand Strong Enough?

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Selfridges department store in London made waves recently with consumers and marketers alike with the launch of their “No Noise” branding project.

 

 

 

In an aim to address the increasingly cluttered world of 21st century marketing, Selfridges opened the Quite Shop in-store. Minimalist art and music, and a ban on mobiles and shoes set the scene for a tranquil consumer experience, but bucking the very core of consumerism, the store went beyond by launching brand-free retail.

 

 Selfridges Launches No Noise

 

Global brands such as Levi’s, Heinz, and Dr Dre Beats all produced products that were void of logo or product information for the project, leaving customers to experience the products without the usual assault of marketing design.

 

 Selfridges No Noise Project Quiet Store Products

 

Arguably a campaign for media publicity the project did highlight two important branding issues:

1.  How Strong Is Your Brand Without Its Logo? 

A truly strong brand transcends its logo, as was evident from the No Noise project. Not only were the brands instantly recognizable when void of logos but critically, consumers had developed such an affinity with the brand through the intangible intrinsic values that even the un-branded product still offered value.

 Levis Jeans Debranded

 

2.  With the Prevalence of Brand Clutter, Can De-Branding be a Valuable Differentiator in the Market? 

The de-branded products of the No Noise project also created exclusivity out of normal brands. Void of logos and product information suddenly made Heinz baked beans tins a desirable limited edition unique offering. In a world where branding information is bombarding the consumer, could the simple brand-free product be the one that makes the biggest impact?

 

 Starbucks Debranded

 

Starbucks might be one of the most recognizable brands in the world but it too has started to explore reducing its brand imagery in an effort to differentiate its business and extend its market catchment.

 

 Starbucks Cups

 

Starbucks global reach meant that the visibility of the brand worldwide was almost having a negative effect with consumers. Over saturation of the corporate logo was almost making it uncool with consumers, with a trend towards local coffee houses emerging.

 

 Starbucks Localised

 

Starbucks began removing their name from their cups, and even redesigned their newer stores to fit into the local environment. In the UK no two stores are the same and the brand is focusing on less corporate branding and offering a more personalized experience to their customer. In a high street with Costco chains blatantly visible, would the de-branded Starbucks coffee house offer a more welcoming personable experience to the consumer?

 

De-branding to gain attention was a strategy adopted by VO5 last year in an effort to target the teenage boy market. The brand’s strategy focused on building brand equity through a meaningful narrative in their advertising.  They wanted to be less pushy with their products and thought that un-branded advertising adds to their credibility with their target market.

 

  

An unbranded 30-second teaser on YouTube spearheaded its new integrated campaign ’Pageant’. The short trailer achieved 180,000 views in two weeks after its launch in October and was also voted one of the most popular videos on YouTube’s comedy channel. The trailer was followed by an online film and a TV spot as well as a YouTube channel and Facebook page.

 

The viral success of the campaign means that there might be credence to the claim that de-branding might just be the key to breaking through brand clutter and gaining the attention of the audience.

 

 Gucci Bag Debranded

 

Branding and logo saturation is something that is having an impact in the luxury brand industry, an industry that once thrived on the power of their logos. Recent years have seen brands like Gucci experimenting with logo-free products where they have achieved success targeting a more sophisticated customer.

 

The customer’s affinity with the product was defined by their interest in the quality of the product materials and design rather than perceived status attained from the visibility of the logo. 

 

With a logo-free product the brand has achieved enhanced positioning and exclusivity with their target consumer. By recapturing a more knowledgeable customer and developing an aspirational product, the brand was rewarded with a 25% increase in annual profit last year.

 

 Coutts Debranded

 

Eliminating the brand name from marketing activity is also evident in the professional services industry. While many brands strive to develop brand awareness in the market, sometimes negative brand connotations make it necessary to de-brand. Coutts private bank recently did just that, dropping the well known but unpopular RBS parent brand from their name in an effort to extend business. 

 

The common thread in the examples above it that, before the de-branding took place, each company had developed an offering that presented value to their customers that extended beyond that tangible product itself. The strength of customer’s brand loyalty enabled the brands to experiment with the de-branding process. For obvious reasons de-branding won’t work in every case.

 

Tesco explored removing their brand name from some products but research has shown that the products were more popular with the Tesco name included as the customer has a better understanding of perceived quality that the brand represented.

 

De-branding certainly is not for every company, but it does force you to think about what elements of your brand make the biggest impact with your customer. Could de-branding be part of your brand strategy?

 

• Does your brand offer value to your customers that extends beyond the tangibles of the product or service?

 

• Do your customers have a clear understanding of your brand and its story, what it stands for?

 

• If you de-branded your product, what are the remaining elements that would have the biggest impact with your customers?

 

 

Company Culture: Your Brand’s Strongest Competitive Advantage

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Company culture may be the most vague aspect of brand management but carefully controlled and nurtured it can provide your brand with a sustainable competitive advantage that even your strongest competitors cannot replicate.

 

Company culture is a culmination of the behaviors, attitudes, relationships, core brand values and environment within a business. Simply put, your company culture can be viewed as “the way we do things around here”.  The manners in which these components are managed make your culture what it is.

 

 

How Does This Support Brand Development?

Many of the strongest brands have a product offering that is similar to that of competitors in the market. What gives them their greatest competitive advantage however is that while competitors can replicate the product, apply similar marketing techniques, and headhunt their staff, they can never fully duplicate their company culture. A company culture is the one truly unique sustainably competitive advantage a brand can have.

 

A winning culture can be a real point of differentiation, but it must be managed, driven, and reinforced in order to truly see results.

 

 Team Culture

  

 

What is the Culture Within Your Company?

Many companies aim to strategically shape the culture that exists within their organisation, but even companies who have never heard of company culture already have one in place.

 

The question is, is your company culture strengthening your brand or holding it back or, worse still, undermining it? A good place to start when developing and understanding your corporate culture is asking your staff and customers what they think of the company; the good, the bad and the ugly. What you need to take from that exercise is what elements of the existing company culture that you like and your customers like, and what needs to be eliminated.

 

 

What You Do, Not What You Say!

The core values you identify for your brand will shape the behaviour of your employees and provide the guidelines they need to best serve the brand. If providing the best customer service possible is a core value of the brand then employees know that they are expected to do their best to achieve this value through all customer interactions.

 

Remember, it is not enough for your brand to have strong core values that are clearly articulated to stakeholders if they are not acted upon. It is what you do, not what you say that counts. It must be a fully integrated and intuitive part of your brand’s signature way of doing things.

 

 

What Is It That Your Company Values?

In order to create a corporate brand culture that yields results you must first identify what is it you value as a company? How to you live and authentically demonstrate the importance of these brand values to your stakeholders?

 

If you want to delight your customers then what is the reward for your employees when they achieve this?  Think of it this way. If your company culture values customer service and your core value is to delight customers, then what happens if two supermarket employees each make sales of equal monetary value but one offers to carry the customer’s bags to the car. Does that employee receive a reward for going out of their way to delight the customer? Or more to the point, is the other employee penalized for not doing so?

 

 Team Hands

 

Reward your staff for embracing your company’s culture. Don’t just review employees based on measuring results, measure their behaviour and what they try to bring to the work environment.  Encourage, support and acknowledge those that not only promote but act on your core brand values.

 

If you want to create a sustainable corporate brand culture than staff recruitment should aim to find employees who fit within the existing brand culture and whose values are closely aligned with the brand.

 

Zappos famously offer potential employees $3000 to leave the company during their initial training to make sure those who choose to stay do so because they believe in the brand and not just the financial benefits of the job.

 

 

The Role of The Leader

The most critical influencer on the development of a corporate culture that supports strong brand development is the leader. Leaders understand that their brand’s identity is shaped through touch points between their customers and their organisation.

 

Leaders cannot possibly anticipate every possible touch point that could influence perceptions of the company’s brand, and advertising can only get you so far, but they can set the example as to the attitude and behavioral cues for the corporate brand culture.

 

Strong leaders understand that in a sustainable winning company culture, the behaviours of employees are intrinsically linked to relationships, informed by attitudes, built on a foundation of core brand values and suitable to their industry environment. By managing these cultural components a leader can create a company culture that supports strong brand development internally.

 

 Southwest Airline Staff 

 

Southwest Airlines embrace a company culture that nurtures staff first and customers second. This may seem counter intuitive but by giving employees the tools to make decisions, by building a culture where people feel respected and valued, Southwest Airlines understood that these values would also be reflected in interactions with customers. Their corporate culture has created an environment where employees want to deliver the best customer service in the business. 

 

 

As Zappo’s CEO Tony Hseih states; “company culture and company brand are two sides of the same coin. Your culture is your brand.”

 

 

• Does your corporate culture nurture your brand and provide a competitive advantage?

 

• How do your core brand values support your corporate culture?

 

• Do you as a company leader understand your role in the development of your company’s brand culture?

 

• Do you need to engage in a Brand Discovery Programme™ to re-evaluate your company culture and brand values so you can reinvigorate your brand’s offering to make it stronger, more relevant and more profitable?