What is a brand promise?
The brand promise is a statement about the special performance that a brand delivers to its customers. For a brand promise to work, it must be known and understood by customers. The brand promise feeds on the brand identity and helps to build a brand image.
What does your brand offer its customers? Are you able to express the central brand promise spontaneously and vividly?
The benefits of a brand promise
Companies that communicate an effective brand promise can earn significantly more for their products than the pure material value. With a good brand promise, you will positively differentiate yourself from your competition and create confidence in your brand. This not only increases sales and revenue, but also increases the earnings value of your company.
Formulating brand promises: How to succeed
The brand promise of professional brand manufacturers often goes far beyond the promise of functionalities and product qualities. The statements range from an increase in the quality of life to security, social inclusion in defined groups to identification and enhancement of the personality of the purchaser. In this way, companies address the basic needs of people. However, it is important that the brand promise is actually anchored in the brand core. Therefore, only formulate statements in the brand promise that your brand can already reliably fulfill.
The brand promise must be as memorable as possible. This is particularly successful when not only rational arguments are used, but also when emotions are addressed. Your target customers should build an emotional connection to your brand; they should identify with your brand.
In addition, logos, claims and key visuals are suitable, which are used consistently in advertising and in [tlink uid=”116″ text=”PR work”.
To underpin the brand promise, it is helpful to cite testimonials in your target markets. In the B-to-C environment, well-known personalities are often taken as substitutes: cool footballers or successful actors. Surveys among customers are also used: “90% of customers would choose this product again. ” In B-to-B environments, customer statements are very valuable: “By using the products of Company X, we have become more successful.”. Such statements create confidence and build a positive image.
Examples for brand promises
Revenues can be increased by a good brand promise.
Example: Apple products are more expensive than products with the same functionality from other manufacturers. Apple has succeeded in establishing its brand in the upmarket price segment. Apple customers are aware that they are paying a surcharge that cannot be justified by material reasons. They pay this extra fee, above all, for being able to show a certain lifestyle. The same applies to customers of Porsche, Louis Vuitton, Rolex and Armani, but also to Coca-Cola and Red Bull.
Branding works not only in business with consumers (B-to-C), but also in business-to-business (B-to-B).
Example: The German ERP provider SAP from Walldorf has achieved an enormously high global market share through branding. Even if SAP is not among the low-cost providers, many companies choose SAP because most of the others have chosen SAP. The teams in which the decision is made (Buying Centers) buy themselves personal security: no one should be able to prove to them that they have chosen an exotic.
Conclusion: The importance of a clear brand promise
A good brand promise helps to position your brand in your target markets. With a brand promise, you can create expectations in your target customers that make shoppers decide for your brand and pay extra.