3.07 Importance of brand promise

As you might be able to guess, brand promise is very important to brand success. First, it allows a company to differentiate itself from its competition. Take two restaurants, for example. Their menus may be similar, but one restaurant’s brand promise may revolve around being a fun, family-friendly experience, while the other’s brand promise may focus more on its commitment to local, organic food sources. Customers will likely view these two options quite differently.

Brand promise also helps a company to create more brand awareness and brand loyalty. Brand awareness simply refers to how familiar customers and potential customers are with the brand. When a company has committed to its brand promise, keeping that promise becomes a motivating factor in all of its decision-making—marketing, sales, customer service, etc. When represented consistently, the brand promise becomes accessible, even to those who haven’t become customers yet. For instance, you likely haven’t purchased a BMW (yet!), but you probably know that this brand of car is a “high performance driving machine” that many people aspire to own. You have brand awareness.

Brand loyalty refers to customers’ level of commitment to buying the brand. Retaining current customers is one of the best things a business can do to remain profitable. When the business is committed to keeping its brand promise, the result is satisfied customers and increased brand loyalty.

Another key function of brand promise is to provide a common goal for employees. All staff members—regardless of job title—should perform their work tasks with the brand promise in mind. It’s much easier to focus when you know what you’re working toward. Let’s say that a small clothing shop’s brand promise is to make sure that each customer finds her/his unique, individual style. This brand promise motivates Leila, a salesperson, to ask her customers plenty of questions and show them a wide variety of clothing options until they find items they’re really excited about. Leila has a sense of pride in her work because the brand promise has given her something to buy into and work toward in her daily job tasks.