Starting with the very perception of what makes a brand great.

To build a brand that stands out, we need a new definition that holds a gun to our head and hollers, “Do something!” Give yourself permission to be different. Demand it!

We see great brands as a promise wrapped in an experience.

Great brands promise to be something—something that can be delivered through an experience that only they provide. They make a commitment, a word that scares the bejesus out of marketers. And they are active—because commitment means they must deliver on it. And well led brands know that it is personal—a promise from them to each and every customer.

The best brands know that differentiation means discrimination. Your goal is to turn some customers on, turn some customers off, and allow a great many to tune you out because you are of no interest to them.

The most effective brand promises are clear, compelling and they communicate your commitment. No equivocation, no wiggle; just straightforward intention. What could be simpler?

And so we don’t sneak one past you: a compelling promise most often means that you are promising to be better at what you do than any one else—to add value to your customers’ lives in ways that others can’t match. This thought, perhaps more than any other, discourages and defeats most companies. It is a brutally competitive world.  To stand out and to succeed, you must set your sights on being a better “you” than the competition.

The promise is your brand’s foundation. Yet it is the experience you orchestrate that provides real value to your customers and pays off the promise. A simple empirical equation we first heard from a friend of ours in the business, Mark Rikess, says it all:

Commodity + Experience = Price/Value.

Just ask Starbucks. Likewise, your customers will decide through their experience whether you delivered on your promise.

What commitment have you made to your customers? Can it be distilled down to a promise? Have you crafted the entire ownership experience to deliver that promise?

Brand Rules^SM will help you pinpoint what is the most effective way to differentiate you from the competition. Our goal is for you to have a compelling brand promise that excites your team and works in the marketplace. And to carefully craft an experience—using a conceptual tool called the Brand Triangle^SM that weaves the emotions and intangibles that play in your market in a way that attracts your customers.

Until you have a clear brand strategy in place, you are wasting time, energy, and resources that could be building your brand in the market right now.

For more information about Brand Rules^SM, contact us here.
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