Your corporate brand and branding promise are both the most significant factors in running a successful and progressive business. No matter what size of company you run, own, and/or manage it is crucial that you invest your time into branding yourself and your business.
So what exactly is a brand promise?
It is not surprising to see many business owners lose site of their branding and confuse a company logo and corporate slogan as their brand. Rule number one branding not a quick fix. Branding is all about discipline and a 
commitment to a long-term business strategy that you review on a regular basis and make changes and modifications where you see fit. A logo and slogan are tools to communicate your brand attributes and deliver your brand promise. Your brand promise is what your company stands by, how your markets relates to this positioning and how your businesses stands out from your competitors.
At the management level, the day-to-day strategic approach is a key success factor in building and maintaining a strong brand. If your business strategy gets lost in paper, things can quickly go astray very quickly, as the consumer messaging will become fragmented weakening your branding.
Often staff and management are not singing to the same tune. So take note! Just like your heart you must protect your brand and weigh your decisions extremely carefully so that you are confident that you are being true to your authentic brand identity and branding promise.
Brand strategists are the gatekeepers of your brands and look at the bigger picture on a daily basis. Reviewing how your staff is carrying out their day-to-day functions. Strategic Brand Management also reviews your consumer feedback to effectively deliver your brand promise.
How do you choose your branding promise? We recommend that you hire a professional branding company or marketing company and invest in some time and money and do it right. Do not rush the process!
Engage! Engage! Engage…Engage with your stakeholders, your staff and most importantly with your loyal consumers. And use this information to formulate your brand promise. This exercise is also a very effective way to integrate your brand internally across the board with all staff.
Brand Trust…In such a competitive marketplace trust, accountability and corporate leadership are imperative factors for a business to protect and hone. It’s the little things, like how you react and solve problems, what types of programs do you have in place to react and solve this issues immediately? How do you treat your customers? Is your pricing competitive? How do you support your staff? All of these corporate character traits relate back to your consumer and the markets that you are serving, so be sure to be vigilant.
Brand Values… What kind of value system and culture does your company have? You need to ask yourself this question, day in and day out to be able to assess your values and make sure your team is helping you stay true to the corporate vision. This is also where you can have some fun with your staff and get involved in non-marketing events and do some community relationship building to build your corporate public profile.
Your brand promise is really an extension of you! So at the end of the day, your brand promise is an extension of your business products and services and how your consumers truly relate to them. The big question is what does your consumer need? And this really means what is important to them and how do you differentiate from your competitors?