FBlog

Every now and then it is nice to take a step back and reflect on our business. We often spend so much time in the weeds that questions like this can throw us off.

We have all heard it before, and I have used it many times as well. The classic definition of “a brand is a promise” (or “branding is about making and keeping a promise with your customers” for those keeping track of the actual question at hand). Of course there are many variations.

However, not everyone is savvy with brandspeak. I started to wonder if this whole “promise” idea is too fluffy and brand-y to the point that people don’t truly understand the value of branding?

Based on this, I started to use a definition that I thought would resonate with more sales-driven minds: Branding is about helping people understand why they should choose you over someone else, and then making them believe it. I thought this was a decent solution, and then few months ago I came across another great definition.

A gentleman by the name of Nigel Rayner stated on one of his blogs that a client asked him this very question. After first being caught off guard, he answered, “it’s about creating and managing customer expectation, based on what you can realistically deliver”. And the client understood.

Reading this, I appreciated the straightforwardness of the response (not to mention coming up with a fantastic answer on the spot!). I am a huge supporter of simplifying the language we use, putting it in terms that all people can easily understand.

What are your thoughts? What are your own definitions? Have you ever come across or used a simple definition that people said, “I get it!”?